International Development Enterprises India, a non-profit NGO has developed human/gravity-powered irrigators, water storage systems and treadle pumps that consume no electrical power, use far less water than current irrigators and are simple, low-cost and user friendly.
80-85% of water utilisation in India is from agriculture, with irrigation also being the largest consumer of agricultural energy. Only 10 percent are big farmers. The rest have to often pool resources. Pumpsets, tractors and fertilisers account for the large energy intake.
Replacing large-scale fertiliser use with mixed crop farming and crop rotation, desisting from slash and burn practice, rainwater harvesting instead of over-exploitation on groundwater, are being advocated to reduce the carbon and water footprint of agriculture.
Will it mean a return to animal power on our farms? Is there any visible reduction in the use of fertiliser? If the nutrients have been removed from the soil, can natural farming address the situation?
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