In this multi-part series Miguel Brazanga, who resides in Goa and is involved in a number of volunteer activities with various groups and organizations, shares some of his knowledge of Goa's little known biodiversity. The following is posted with his permission in connection with GOA SUDHAROP's "YEAR OF THE GOAN VOLUNTEER SPIRIT".
Agricultural biodiversity Agricultural biodiversity encompasses the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms which are necessary to sustain key functions of the agro-ecosystem, its structure and processes for, and in support of, food production and food security. (FAO, 1999) These locally diverse food production systems are under threat and, with them, the accompanying local knowledge, culture and skills of the food producers. With this decline, agricultural biodiversity is disappearing and the scale of loss is extensive and with the disappearance of harvested species, varieties and breeds goes a wide range of unharvested species. • More than 90 per cent of crop varieties have disappeared from farmers' fields due to mechanization promoting monoculture and large scale production of rice, wheat, corn and potato to the exclusion of other food crops during the “Green Revolution” of the 1960s and 1970s; • Half of the breeds of many domestic animals have been lost or destroyed to promote high milk yielding breeds as done in “Operation Flood” of the “White Revolution” of the 1970s and 1980s. • In fisheries, all the world's 17 main fishing grounds are now being fished at or above their sustainable limits, with many fish populations effectively becoming extinct during the “Blue Revolution”. The genetic erosion of agricultural biodiversity is also exacerbated by the loss of forest cover, coastal wetlands and other 'wild' uncultivated areas, and the destruction of the aquatic environment. This leads to losses of 'wild' relatives, important for the development of biodiversity, and losses of 'wild' foods essential for food provision, particularly in times of crisis. Fortunately for the human race, the world is turning back to its good old ways through a growing Organic Agriculture movements world wide [See www.ifoam.org; www.ofai.org; www.pgsorganic.in], re-introducing mixed cropping and multiple cropping and actively promoting agricultural biodiversity in all its meanings. To be continued .....
