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Question: FUTURE OF URBAN AGRICULTURE IN INDIA

Answer: Cities in India are beset with many problems which make urban life increasingly difficult
with every passing day. Scarcity of water or mismanagement of water supply, inadequate
waste water treatment and municipal solid waste management leading to the spread of
vector borne diseases and pollution of its soil and water bodies, creation of heat islands
and increasing poverty are some of them. With 50% of the Indian population expected to
live in cities by 2050 and change in climate predicted for the future, these problems are
bound to increase manifold in the days to come.
The percentage of the urban population growing their own food is miniscule. Food and
nutritional insecurity is often considered a rural phenomenon. However, the truth is that
the food and nutritional security of urban dwellers is compromised by many factors
including non-availability of food, price fluctuations and poverty. There is considerable
undernourishment and deficiency of calorie intake in India’s urban areas. Urban
agriculture or peri-urban agriculture (hereafter referred to as Urban Agriculture or UA)
can not only provide nutritional security but also help find sustainable solutions to the
growing challenge of wastewater and solid waste management in addition to helping
alleviate poverty.
Many cities around the world have adopted pro Urban Agriculture policies and promoted
it with varying degrees of success. In India, Urban Agriculture is not a priority at the
moment at the institutional level. A majority of the urban dwellers also do not realise the
need for producing their own food. The conditions presently existing in most Indian cities
are not favourable for the easy adoption of UA. There is a serious problem of economic
incentives. Non-availability of land and astronomically high land prices are major
concerns. Scarcity of water for irrigation is a significant constraint, even as there is a huge
quantum of waste water generated by cities, which can be treated and reused. The paper
argues that UA has to be institutionalized for it to make a significant contribution to
urban food security and income generation through incentive structures. The paper
suggests the following legal and institutional interventions and market instruments for
promotion of UA : 1] ‘zoning’ of land for urban agriculture in urban development master
plans; 2] promotion of urban land market, through enabling laws; 3] imposing tax for
vacant plots; 4] technology extension services through soil and water testing laboratories;
5] volumetric water pricing by urban water utilities; 6] tax incentives for housing societies
which take up UA; and, 7] subsidies for precision farming systems.

(Source: , 23 Sep 2021)

Source Link: http://irapindia.org/images/irap-Occasional-Paper/IRAP-Occasionalpaper-10.pdf