The Top 100 questions for the sustainable intensification of agriculture in India's rainfed drylands

Zareen Pervez Bharucha; Simon Attwood; Shrinivas Badiger; Arun Balamatti; Richard Bawden; Jeffery W. Bentley; Mahesh Chander; Leonora Davies; Harry Dixon; John Dixon; Marcella D'Souza; Cornelia Butler Flora; Michael Green; Deepa Joshi; Adam M. Komarek; Lesley Ruth McDermid; Erik Mathijs; Agnes C. Rola; Sasmita Patnaik; Sandip Pattanayak; Prabhu Pingali; V. P. Vara Prasad; Rudy Rabbinge; G. V. Ramanjaneyulu; N. H. Ravindranath; Colin Sage; Amrita Saha; Ceccarelli Salvatore; Lopamudra Patnaik Saxena; Chandni Singh; Pete Smith; Arjuna Srinidhi; Rudresh Sugam; Richard Thomas; Norman Uphoff; Jules Pretty

doi:10.1080/14735903.2020.1830530

The Top 100 questions for the sustainable intensification of agriculture in India's rainfed drylands

Zareen Pervez Bharucha^*
, Simon Attwood
, Shrinivas Badiger
, Arun Balamatti
, Richard Bawden
, Jeffery W. Bentley
, Mahesh Chander
, Leonora Davies
, Harry Dixon
, John Dixon
, Marcella D'Souza
, Cornelia Butler Flora
, Michael Green
, Deepa Joshi
, Adam M. Komarek
, Lesley Ruth McDermid
, Erik Mathijs
, Agnes C. Rola
, Sasmita Patnaik
, Sandip Pattanayak

Prabhu Pingali, V. P. Vara Prasad, Rudy Rabbinge, G. V. Ramanjaneyulu, N. H. Ravindranath, Colin Sage, Amrita Saha, Ceccarelli Salvatore, Lopamudra Patnaik Saxena, Chandni Singh, Pete Smith, Arjuna Srinidhi, Rudresh Sugam, Richard Thomas, Norman Uphoff, Jules Pretty

^*Corresponding author for this work

Aberdeen Centre For Environmental Sustainability

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

India has the largest area of rainfed dryland agriculture globally, with a variety of distinct types of farming systems producing most of its coarse cereals, food legumes, minor millets, and large amounts of livestock. All these are vital for national and regional food and nutritional security. Yet, the rainfed drylands have been relatively neglected in mainstream agricultural and rural development policy. As a result, significant social-ecological challenges overlap in these landscapes: endemic poverty, malnutrition and land degradation. Sustainable intensification of dryland agriculture is essential for helping to address these challenges, particularly in the context of accelerating climate change. In this paper, we present 100 questions that point to the most important knowledge gaps and research priorities. If addressed, these would facilitate and inform sustainable intensification in Indian rainfed drylands, leading to improved agricultural production and enhanced ecosystem services. The horizon scanning method used to produce these questions brought together experts and practitioners involved in a broad range of disciplines and sectors. This exercise resulted in a consolidated set of questions covering the agricultural drylands, organized into 13 themes. Together, these represent a collective programme for new cross- and multi-disciplinary research on sustainable intensification in the Indian rainfed drylands.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	106-127
Number of pages	22
Journal	International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
Volume	19
Issue number	2
Early online date	1 Dec 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2020.1830530
Publication status	Published - 2021

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
We extend grateful thanks to all the colleagues who have responded thoughtfully to our call for questions and canvassed their professional networks to ensure input from a wide range of stakeholders. The lead author extends thanks to Anglia Ruskin University for supporting two Undergraduate placements, providing essential research assistance for the project. The authors thank anonymous reviewers for their comments on the paper, which have significantly strengthened the manuscript.

Funding

We extend grateful thanks to all the colleagues who have responded thoughtfully to our call for questions and canvassed their professional networks to ensure input from a wide range of stakeholders. The lead author extends thanks to Anglia Ruskin University for supporting two Undergraduate placements, providing essential research assistance for the project. The authors thank anonymous reviewers for their comments on the paper, which have significantly strengthened the manuscript.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 2 Zero Hunger
SDG 13 Climate Action
SDG 15 Life on Land

Keywords

Drylands
India
rainfed agriculture
sustainable intensification

Access to Document

10.1080/14735903.2020.1830530Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

Bharucha, Z. P., Attwood, S., Badiger, S., Balamatti, A., Bawden, R., Bentley, J. W., Chander, M., Davies, L., Dixon, H., Dixon, J., D'Souza, M., Butler Flora, C., Green, M., Joshi, D., Komarek, A. M., McDermid, L. R., Mathijs, E., Rola, A. C., Patnaik, S., ... Pretty, J. (2021). The Top 100 questions for the sustainable intensification of agriculture in India's rainfed drylands. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 19(2), 106-127. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2020.1830530

Bharucha, ZP, Attwood, S, Badiger, S, Balamatti, A, Bawden, R, Bentley, JW, Chander, M, Davies, L, Dixon, H, Dixon, J, D'Souza, M, Butler Flora, C, Green, M, Joshi, D, Komarek, AM, McDermid, LR, Mathijs, E, Rola, AC, Patnaik, S, Pattanayak, S, Pingali, P, Prasad, VPV, Rabbinge, R, Ramanjaneyulu, GV, Ravindranath, NH, Sage, C, Saha, A, Salvatore, C, Saxena, LP, Singh, C, Smith, P, Srinidhi, A, Sugam, R, Thomas, R, Uphoff, N & Pretty, J 2021, 'The Top 100 questions for the sustainable intensification of agriculture in India's rainfed drylands', International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 106-127. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2020.1830530

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abstract = "India has the largest area of rainfed dryland agriculture globally, with a variety of distinct types of farming systems producing most of its coarse cereals, food legumes, minor millets, and large amounts of livestock. All these are vital for national and regional food and nutritional security. Yet, the rainfed drylands have been relatively neglected in mainstream agricultural and rural development policy. As a result, significant social-ecological challenges overlap in these landscapes: endemic poverty, malnutrition and land degradation. Sustainable intensification of dryland agriculture is essential for helping to address these challenges, particularly in the context of accelerating climate change. In this paper, we present 100 questions that point to the most important knowledge gaps and research priorities. If addressed, these would facilitate and inform sustainable intensification in Indian rainfed drylands, leading to improved agricultural production and enhanced ecosystem services. The horizon scanning method used to produce these questions brought together experts and practitioners involved in a broad range of disciplines and sectors. This exercise resulted in a consolidated set of questions covering the agricultural drylands, organized into 13 themes. Together, these represent a collective programme for new cross- and multi-disciplinary research on sustainable intensification in the Indian rainfed drylands.",

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note = "Acknowledgements We extend grateful thanks to all the colleagues who have responded thoughtfully to our call for questions and canvassed their professional networks to ensure input from a wide range of stakeholders. The lead author extends thanks to Anglia Ruskin University for supporting two Undergraduate placements, providing essential research assistance for the project. The authors thank anonymous reviewers for their comments on the paper, which have significantly strengthened the manuscript.",

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AU - Bharucha, Zareen Pervez

AU - Attwood, Simon

AU - Badiger, Shrinivas

AU - Balamatti, Arun

AU - Bawden, Richard

AU - Bentley, Jeffery W.

AU - Chander, Mahesh

AU - Davies, Leonora

AU - Dixon, Harry

AU - Dixon, John

AU - D'Souza, Marcella

AU - Butler Flora, Cornelia

AU - Green, Michael

AU - Joshi, Deepa

AU - Komarek, Adam M.

AU - McDermid, Lesley Ruth

AU - Mathijs, Erik

AU - Rola, Agnes C.

AU - Patnaik, Sasmita

AU - Pattanayak, Sandip

AU - Pingali, Prabhu

AU - Prasad, V. P. Vara

AU - Rabbinge, Rudy

AU - Ramanjaneyulu, G. V.

AU - Ravindranath, N. H.

AU - Sage, Colin

AU - Saha, Amrita

AU - Salvatore, Ceccarelli

AU - Saxena, Lopamudra Patnaik

AU - Singh, Chandni

AU - Smith, Pete

AU - Srinidhi, Arjuna

AU - Sugam, Rudresh

AU - Thomas, Richard

AU - Uphoff, Norman

AU - Pretty, Jules

N1 - Acknowledgements We extend grateful thanks to all the colleagues who have responded thoughtfully to our call for questions and canvassed their professional networks to ensure input from a wide range of stakeholders. The lead author extends thanks to Anglia Ruskin University for supporting two Undergraduate placements, providing essential research assistance for the project. The authors thank anonymous reviewers for their comments on the paper, which have significantly strengthened the manuscript.

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AB - India has the largest area of rainfed dryland agriculture globally, with a variety of distinct types of farming systems producing most of its coarse cereals, food legumes, minor millets, and large amounts of livestock. All these are vital for national and regional food and nutritional security. Yet, the rainfed drylands have been relatively neglected in mainstream agricultural and rural development policy. As a result, significant social-ecological challenges overlap in these landscapes: endemic poverty, malnutrition and land degradation. Sustainable intensification of dryland agriculture is essential for helping to address these challenges, particularly in the context of accelerating climate change. In this paper, we present 100 questions that point to the most important knowledge gaps and research priorities. If addressed, these would facilitate and inform sustainable intensification in Indian rainfed drylands, leading to improved agricultural production and enhanced ecosystem services. The horizon scanning method used to produce these questions brought together experts and practitioners involved in a broad range of disciplines and sectors. This exercise resulted in a consolidated set of questions covering the agricultural drylands, organized into 13 themes. Together, these represent a collective programme for new cross- and multi-disciplinary research on sustainable intensification in the Indian rainfed drylands.

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KW - sustainable intensification

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DO - 10.1080/14735903.2020.1830530

M3 - Article

SN - 1473-5903

VL - 19

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JO - International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability

JF - International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability

IS - 2

ER -

The Top 100 questions for the sustainable intensification of agriculture in India's rainfed drylands

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this