Research Interests
Exploring ecological solutions for attaining the UN-SDGs
Restoration Ecology & Land System Management: Drivers of land/soil degradation; Restoration of marginal/degraded/polluted land; Biomass production from marginal/degraded land; Pesticides and emerging pollutants in agroecosystems (plastic pollution); Land/soil system management & UN-SDGs.
Sustainable Agriculture & Agriscape Management: Agrobiodiversity & biocultural diversity; Adaptive & climate resilient, and planet-friendly agriculture for food & nutritional security; Plant-microbe interactions; Soil carbon sequestration; Resilience; Nature-based solutions (NbS); Agroecosystem services; Sustainable agriscape management & UN-SDGs.
System Sustainability & Policy Research: Sustainability Science; Environmental governance; Indigenous & local knowledge (ILK); Bioeconomy; Circular economy; Urban complexity; Policy realignment & Localization of the UN-SDGs.
Latest Research Highlights
Meeting food and nutritional security needs for a growing population is a global sustainability challenge due to the heavy reliance on a few cultivated crops for dietary requirements across the world. To ensure local food security, it is imperative to diversify dietary options with locally available, neglected, and underutilized crops (NUCs) with nutritional and biocultural significance. In this context, the present study aims to explore the role of NUCs for nutritional, ethnomedicinal, and agricultural relevance in two districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, i.e., Mirzapur and Sonebhadra. Extensive field surveys were conducted in the study sites, and a total of 445 local respondents were interviewed based on structured questionnaires for calculating ethnobotanical indices, i.e., relative frequency of citation (RFC), frequency of citation (FC), use report (UR), and cultural importance index (CI) of NUCs. The study identified 116 NUCs belonging to 55 families and 103 genera. All reported NUCs had medicinal value; 55 were edible and used as food; and 41 had agricultural significance. Leaves were the most commonly used plant parts for medicinal purposes, followed by roots and stems, whereas flowers were the least commonly used parts. NUCs were used by the locals for their medicinal properties to treat various ailments, such as skin and eye problems, headaches, and liver problems. They were administered as decoction, paste, vapor inhalation, fruit juice, and poultice. The RFC, FC, UR, and CI values of the NUCs were in the range of 12 to 365, 0.03 to 0.82, 12 to 394, and 0.03 to 0.89, respectively. Fruits were the most commonly consumed part, followed by leaves, tubers, pods, and aerial bulbs, whereas the mode of consumption was stir-fry, soup, vegetables, salad, or in raw form. NUCs were bestowed with essential macro- and micronutrients and were found in the range of Ca (3.79–1147.3), K (2.6–1600.3), Mg (0.8–468.0), Na (0.4–270.8), P (1.15–305), Fe (0.1–327.6), Zn (0.1–84.6), Cu (0.047–33.3), Mn (0.1–62.3) mg/100 g, and vitamins like ascorbic acid (0.04–1561.1), thiamine (0.041–2.4), and β-Carotene (0.2–93.6) mg/100 g. These NUCs were cultivated in different settings, such as kitchen gardens, backyard gardens, border crops, and sometimes agricultural fields. The current study reveals the rich diversity and varied use of these NUCs with respect to their ethnomedicinal, nutritional, and agricultural relevance. Sustainable utilization with large-scale cultivation of promising NUCs can lead to local food security and the subsequent attainment of the associated UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Edible parts of some promising NUCs from the study region
Enhancing the productivity of rainfed crops, especially rice, while coping with climate adversities and saving critical natural resources is essential for ensuring the food and nutrition security of a growing population. With this context, the present study was undertaken to validate promising farm innovation and adaptation practices used by small-medium landholding farmers for rice cultivation in eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP), north India, as well as to examine the sustainability of innovative practices for large-scale adoption. For this, a 3-year study comprising extensive field surveys and experiments was undertaken to compare single transplantation (ST) and double transplantation (DT) in rice along with organic addition (farm-yard manure, FYM) on crop growth, yield, climate resilience, soil quality, and overall sustainability i.e., social (women involvements and labour productivity), environmental (water productivity and nutrient use efficiency), and economic (benefit:cost ratio) dimensions of sustainability. Field experiments were conducted in triplicate using two local rice varieties (MotiNP-360 and Sampurna Kaveri) in two agroclimatic zones, namely the middle Gangetic plains and the Vindhyan zone, in the Mirzapur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The DT practices of rice with and without farm yard manure (FYM) (replacing at a dose of 25% NPK) were evaluated over conventional methods of rice cultivation (i.e., ST, as control) and analysis was done periodically. The DT practice improved growth (p < 0.05), percent fertile tiller and grain (p < 0.05), and rice yield (15–20% higher than ST), while also improving soil quality, yield indices, water and labour productivity, and the benefit-cost ratio. The DT practice also resulted in early maturity (10–15 days earlier than ST), created more labour days for women, decreased lodging and pest/disease incidence, as well as a subsequent reduction in the use of synthetic chemical pesticides and associated environmental costs. Importantly, the residual effects of FYM application significantly improved (p < 0.05) the grain yield in subsequent years of cropping. Optimizing DT cultivation practices, preferably with FYM input for various agro-climatic regions, is essential for large-scale sustainable rice production under changing climatic conditions.
Validation of Single (ST) and Double Transplantation (ST) in Rice with or without FYM Addition
Circular economy and resource efficiency concepts are gaining increasing recognition within the scientific community as enablers of sustainability at the sectoral scale. Simultaneously, the agri-food sector of India while being crucial towards the country's economy also displays tremendous potential in positively influencing the timely attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). The present study therefore focused on ascertaining the status of circularity and efficiency within the agri-food sector of India at the state level. The first objective determined decoupling between energy consumption and economic growth for the agriculture sector at the state level. The second objective focused on developing a Composite Agri-Food Efficiency Index (CAFEI) comprising of 38 indicators distributed across environmental, social, economic and governance categories. The last objective estimated the temporal trend (2009–10 to 2018–19) of efficiency at the state level within the Food Processing Industries (FPIs) using the technique of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The decoupling analysis indicated that agricultural economy of four major food producing states was intrinsically linked with electricity consumption for agricultural purposes. While Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana were front-runners in terms of overall CAFEI scores, considerable variations were visible when individual categories were considered. Average of DEA scores indicated Goa to be the most efficient state followed by Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim. A first of its kind assessment, the present study provides evidence for designing policy frameworks focused around circularity. Results also highlight the importance of developing datasets and indicators related to agri-residue management, storage and processing infrastructure as well as sustainable consumption.
Land degradation across the world has resulted in an unprecedented decline of ecosystem services, affecting the livelihood of 3.2 billion people globally. Sustainable land management is essential to protect our finite land resources from over-exploitation and degradation. Therefore, the present article was aimed to analyze the impacts of various national and international policies on current and future land restoration scenarios in India. A spatially explicit model (CLUMondo) was employed to predict scenarios, i.e., the ‘business as usual’ (BU) and ‘sustainable restoration’ (SR) by 2030. Though the results showed an increasing trend in land degradation , i.e., from 44.28 to 49.74 Mha during the period of 2005–15, a slight decrease was observed in 2019 (49.24 Mha), suggesting a net increase of 11.21% during the 2005–19 period. However, an increase in forest cover by 5.08% under existing policy targets overtook the degradation rate by restoration initiatives. The net decline in degraded land area by 1% with an increased forest cover by 1.83% observed during the 2015–19 periods reflected the positive impact of various national and global policies on existing restoration ventures in India. Our modeled results (weighted AUC = 0.87) also suggested an increase in forest cover by 6.9% and 9.9% under BU and SR scenarios, respectively. Under the BU scenario, degraded land will be restored up to 12.1 Mha; however, 6.27 Mha of these lands will be converted to cropland for food production. Importantly, a decrease in grasslands by 35.1% under the BU scenario warrants the urgency to maintain the integrity of such ecological systems. However, the SR scenario showed an increase in grasslands by 8.9%, with an overall restoration of degraded land up to 18.31 Mha. Moreover, a reduced cropland expansion rate of 1% suggested an effective land management response. While our results may have some uncertainties due to the model limitations, they can still be used for framing suitable land management policies to facilitate sustainable land restoration programs in India.
LULC in the 2030 under the Business as Usual (BU) & Sustainable Restoration (SR) scenarios
Tectona grandis L.f. has considerable potential to restore marginal and degraded lands as it offers multiple co-benefits during the restoration venture. It provides good quality wood for multipurpose use, including biomass for bioenergy and noninvasive traits. For this, aboveground biomass (AGB) was assessed along with testing the critical soil properties (soil physicochemical and biological properties) across different plantation sites during a 4-year study period (2015–2018). The study suggested that the soil properties like bulk density, moisture content, pH, organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium have shown significant mean improvement in all planted sites collectively. These were improved by −0.21 g cm−3, 0.68%, −0.68, 0.27%, 13.69 mg kg−1, 11.77 mg kg−1, 95.20 mg kg−1, respectively, in an arid area (Mirzapur, i.e., M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, and M6 sites, representing a warm and tropical dry climate) from the unplanted control (CM1) during 2015–2018. Moreover, the microbial biomass carbon and dehydrogenase activity were significantly improved by 56.71 mg kg−1 and 6.92 μg TPF g−1 hr−1, respectively, from CM1. Similar results were also observed in the semiarid areas of Varanasi, representing a humid subtropical climatic pattern (i.e., V4 and V5 sites) compared to the unplanted control in the (CV1). Furthermore, the AGB was found between 12.56 and 229.13 kg tree−1, representing 5 and 30 years of plantation, respectively, in 2018. Reference sites (V1, V2, and V3) were also considered that reflect a planted control, which helped assess the comparison between variable sites and the sites under restoration. Therefore, the study further suggested that this tree species has the tremendous potential to restore marginal and degraded lands in the arid and semiarid areas of North India with a significant biomass supply as an additional benefit.
Analysing the sustainability of cultivating biomass and biofuel plant species on marginal and degraded lands is essential for assessing the socio-economic and environmental perspectives. Various approaches have been suggested for the sustainability analyses, such as life cycle assessment, footprint analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis, and emergy analysis. Among these approaches, the emergy analysis is one of the most direct methods to assess the system's sustainability. The present article was aimed to perform the emergy analysis to quantify the ecological impacts, bioenergy potential, socio-economic efficiency, and the sustainability of the bioenergy production systems. The emergy-based sustainability analysis was conducted for the Soyabean-, Pongamia-, Jatropha-based biodiesel and Tectona-based biomass production systems from the Indian marginal and degraded lands. Results depicted that under a set of system boundaries for each plant species, total emergy output (U) of 1000 kg biodiesel (biomass in case of Tectona) was calculated to be 0.99E+16 for Soyabean-; 1.01E+16 for Pongamia-; 1.33E+16 for Jatropha- and 0.72E+16 sej for Tectona-based bioenergy production options. Emergy of fuels dominated the economic inflows (F) (32.53%) under the Soyabean-based option making it the second system to represent a greater environmental load ratio (ELR) of 17.98. Furthermore, the emergy of water resources was dominated under F in other studied bioenergy options, i.e., 38.08% of F in Pongamia-, 44.54% in Jatropha-, and 66.52% in Tectona-based systems. The emergy sustainability indices (ESI) of 0.06, 1.04, 0.34, and 0.02 were found for Soyabean-, Pongamia-, Jatropha-, Tectona-based bioenergy production systems, respectively. Sensitivity analysis further suggested that a decrease of 3.5% in F resulted in a 10.02% increase of ESI for the Pongamia-based option. Pongamia-based options depicted an ESI > 1, which could be considered to have a sustainable contribution to the economy for medium periods. The estimated ESIs were fundamentally low because the systems were dependent mainly on the F.
Agroecological interventions are imperative for boosting agricultural productivity and soil fertility while increasing profitability of subsistence farmers in low-income countries by replacing synthetic fertilizers. With this context, the present study was aimed to evaluate the impact of animal manures (sheep and poultry manure) and plant residue-based organic amendments (rice husk biochar and sugarcane pressmud) on soil quality, nutrient uptake and balance, yield, and sustainability of rice-wheat cropping in alluvial (rainfed) and red lateritic soil (dryland) of middle Gangetic plains (Narayanpur) and Vindhyan region (Rajgarh) of Mirzapur district in eastern UP. The field experiments were conducted for three years at the above two sites and amendments were done at a rate by replacing 30% standard recommended doses of fertilizer (RDF) for rice-wheat cropping system. Field trials were conducted with the 100% RDF as control, and 70% RDF with sheep manure, poultry manure, rice-husk biochar and sugarcane pressmud in a randomized block design. The organic amendments were done during the rice cultivation stage and the residual effect was observed during the subsequent wheat cultivation. Though soil organic carbon (SOC) was found to show significant (p ≥ 0.05) increase in biochar amended plots, animal manures followed by pressmud showed year wise increase in both SOC and microbial biomass carbon. In rainfed areas, plant growth and yield attributes for both rice and wheat were at par in amendments than control while in dryland, the 100% RDF showed better performance during the first year, after that amended plot showed better performance. All amendments resulted in higher benefit: cost ratio except biochar addition in Narayanpur, whereas in Rajgarh, the poultry manure resulted in significant improvement in benefit: cost ratio from second year onward. Our study advocates that validation of suitable amendment packages based on organic inputs are imperative for improving the yield, soil quality and nutrient balance of rice-wheat cropping system and thereby attaining the UN-SDGs at the village/local level.
Study area
Rice-wheat cropping design
Education in particular Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are considered pivotal in promoting and implementing the targets of the United Nations-Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). However, frameworks, curriculums, pedagogies and governance policies best suited for promoting sustainability through HEIs are still widely debated. The present article, therefore emphasises on imagining HEIs as Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) instead of rigid units that are capable of adaptation and evolution based on the ‘feedbacks and demands’ of the society to which they cater. The article attempts to define the basic attributes of CAS and how can they prove beneficial in transitioning HEIs towards sustainability by fostering governance and policy changes.
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Bioenergy production from marginal and degraded lands is getting worldwide attention due to its potential for renewable energy, land restoration, soil sacrbon sequestration and also for meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, majority of the literature reported the bioenergy production prospect based on a single bioenergy crop production system. Therefore, the present article utilizes a multi-criteria analysis to identify India's potential marginal and degraded lands (Pml) and their suitability for bioenergy crop production based on a polyculture zonation technique (PZT) with the projections for bioenergy and carbon mitigation potentials. Ten multipurpose bioenergy crops have been studied, out of which seven hardwood tree species were further selected based on ecological and climate suitability. Results suggested that India accounted for 45.13 million ha (Mha) of Pml, and it could produce 96.82 Mt y−1 of biomass and 6.16 Mt y−1 of biofuel, considering half utilization of the plantation areas. Such productions represent 2.22 EJ y−1 (equivalent to 618 TW h y−1) of bioenergy potential. Around 64 Mt C y−1 can also be sequestered by these plantations and additionally help in meeting carbon sequestration over 2800 MtCO2 by 2030, corresponding to India's nationally determined contribution. According to the spatial validation results via centroid coinciding approach, 14 randomly generated points out of 24 coincided on the centroids of randomly identified land parcels, which were further validated through the ortho-imagery from Google Earth. Our study results can be used for framing suitable strategies for exploring bioenergy production from similar agroecological conditions and also for attaining India's national and international commitments related to land restoration and renewable energy production.
Assessing the impacts of unprecedented biodiversity loss on planetary resilience, The Economics of Biodiversity: the Dasgupta Review (“Dasgupta Review”) asserts that sustainable engagement with nature is crucial for sustaining the livelihoods of present and future generations. It further urges the integration of biodiversity into national accounting and science-based decision-making processes in order to advance the well-being of both people and the planet. Here, we present the salient features of the Dasgupta Review along with several recommendations for strengthening global biodiversity and ecosystem conservation efforts. Although institutional transformations at regional and national scales are essential to facilitate the recognition of economies’ dependence on nature, behavioral changes at the level of the individual are also needed to better understand, value, manage, and utilize biodiversity. Formulation of inclusive policies prioritizing biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource consumption is also essential for averting future public health risks associated with ecosystem degradation and species loss.
Biodiversity as a Living House
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the development trajectories of several world economies with India being no exception. The country presently is the second worst affected in terms of total infections despite inducing a nationwide lockdown in the initial stages. In addition to curtailing infection spread, ensuring food security during and post pandemic is a major concern for the country owing to the high percentage of stunting and undernourishment already present and a relatively high proportion of vulnerable workforce with no regular source of income amidst the lockdown. The present article therefore ascertains the impact of the pandemic on the food systems which can potentially affect food security in the country as well as the government introduced reforms and policy measures to tackle them. Following the analysis, we suggest measures like digitally enhancing connectivity of neighbourhood retail or ‘Kirana’ stores in urban and rural areas, distribution of therapeutic foods and immune supplements among the impoverished societal sections through existing government schemes and promotion of ‘planetary healthy diets’ for overcoming food-insecurity while increasing nutrition security and ensuring long term food sector sustainability.
Agroecosystems are the largest human-natural coupled production system covering ~40% of the planet earth and provide essential ecosystem services for a good quality of life and human wellbeing. The sustainable management of agroecosystems are therefore essential for meeting the food, fuel, fiber, and fodder demands of the rapidly growing human population. Agroecosystems also play a key role in trace gases emission, and also affect the quality and usage of life-supporting resources such as air, water, soil etc. Though the sustainable management of agroecosystems are imperative for achieving UN-Sustainable Development Goals, they are frequently under degradation due to multiple drivers of changes such as unsustainable land-use practices, biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change, etc. Therefore, cordial efforts at national, regional and global levels are essential for managing agroecosystems to meet out the global goals and also the targets of the United Nations- Decade o-n Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030). Here we opined various strategies for restoring degraded agroecosystems for sustainable development including the adoption of emerging paradigms such as micro-agriculture, urban agriculture, and landless agriculture for averting the mounting pressure on agroecosystems for the benefit of both people and the planet.
Global agricultural production is accountable for the emission of ~30% of greenhouse gases. Therefore, the wide-scale adoptions of low-input, soil-friendly, and resource-conserving agronomic practices are imperative for the ‘planet healthy food production’ and also for reducing the carbon emissions from agricultural soil. In this context, the present study aimed to analyze the impacts of integrated agronomic interventions i.e., the application of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) + reduced tillage (RT), biochar + RT, and AMF + biochar + RT, on spatiotemporal variations in soil-quality and soil-sustainability indicators, including microbial and soil respiration, in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) of North India. For this, field experiments on the above-mentioned agronomic interventions were employed using three different staple crops (Zea mays, Vigna mungo, and Brassica juncea) growing in three different agro-climatic zones of IGP (Varanasi, Sultanpur, and Gorakhpur) in a randomized block design. Periodic data collection was done to analyze the changes in physiochemical, biological, and biochemical properties of the soil, and statistical analyses were done accordingly. Irrespective of the sites, the experimental results proved that the integrated application of AMF + biochar + RT in V. mungo resulted in the highest soil organic carbon (i.e., 135% increment over the control) and microbial biomass carbon (24%), whereas the same application (i.e., AMF + biochar + RT) in Z. mays had the maximum reduction in microbial (32%) and soil (44%) respiration. On the other hand, enhanced occurrence of glomalin activity (98%) was noted in Z. mays cropping for all the sites. Significant negative correlation between soil respiration and glomalin activity under AMF + biochar + RT (−0.85), AMF + RT (−0.82), and biochar + RT (−0.62) was an indication of glomalin’s role in the reduced rate of soil respiration. The research results proved that the combined application of AMF + biochar + RT was the best practice for enhancing soil quality while reducing respiration. Therefore, the development of suitable packages of integrated agronomic practices is essential for agricultural sustainability.
Restoring the health of degraded land is critical for overall human development as land is a vital life-supporting system, directly or indirectly influencing the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). However, more than 33% of the global land is degraded and thereby affecting the livelihood of billions of people worldwide. Realizing this fact, the 73rd session of the UN Assembly has formally adopted a resolution to celebrate 2021–2030 as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (UN-DER), for preventing, halting, and reversing degradation of ecosystems worldwide. While this move is historic and beneficial for both people and the planet, restoration of degraded land at different scales and levels requires a paradigm shift in existing restoration approaches, fueled by the application of applied science to citizen/community-based science, and tapping of indigenous and local knowledge to advanced technological breakthroughs. In addition, there is a need of strong political will and positive behavioral changes to strengthen restoration initiatives at the grassroot level and involvement of people from all walks of life (i.e., from politicians to peasants and social workers to scientists) are essential for achieving the targets of the UN-DER. Similarly, financing restoration on the ground by the collective contribution of individuals (crowd funding) and institutions (institutional funding) are critical for maintaining the momentum. Private companies can earmark lion-share of their corporate social responsibility fund (CSR fund) exclusively for restoration. The adoption of suitable bioeconomy models is crucial for maintaining the perpetuity of the restoration by exploring co-benefits, and also for ensuring stakeholder involvements during and after the restoration. This review underpins various challenges and plausible solutions to avoid, reduce, and reverse global land degradation as envisioned during the UN-DER, while fulfilling the objectives of other ongoing initiatives like the Bonn Challenge and the UN-SDGs.
Agriculture is central to overall development of humankind and plays a decisive role in the timely realization of several UN-Sustainable Development Goals. Nevertheless, agriculture is the largest nonpoint source of pollution primarily due to rampant use of agrochemicals, and contributes ~34% of the annual greenhouse gases emission globally. Agricultural practices are also one of the major drivers of global biodiversity loss, and exerts a heavy footprint on water amounting to 70% of the world's freshwater withdrawal annually. As per projections of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, agricultural production has to be doubled by the year 2050 to feed a global population of ~9.7 billion. However, this intensification must be done in an ecological way (not at the cost of planetary resilience) while designing novel strategies to reinforce agriculture's crucial role in achieving Global Goals. Hence, the notion of ‘planet friendly agriculture’ wherein food production has to be achieved within the planetary boundaries is getting global priority as a transitional as well as transformative solution for improving the wellbeing of people while safeguarding life-supporting systems of a heavily polluted, overexploited and resource crunched planet. This graphical review aimed to portray various planet friendly farming practices based on resource conservation and replenishment to strengthen food and nutrition security of the current and future generation while reducing pollution, greenhouse gases emission, biodiversity loss, and water footprint, even under changing climatic conditions.
Sustainable agronomic practices are being implemented worldwide to promote the cleaner and planet friendly crop production. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the effect of agro-waste derived biochar and vermicompost on soil quality and yield in Cicer arietinum L. Field experiment was carried out at three different agro-climatic regions (Varanasi, Sultanpur and Gorakhpur) of Uttar Pradesh, India and periodic soil and crop sampling were done accordingly. Experimental results proven that a significant increase (p < 0.01) in total organic carbon, available N, P and K content was observed under vermicompost followed by biochar amendment at each site. Similarly, irrespective of the experimental site, a significant increase (p < 0.01) in microbial biomass carbon was recorded under vermicompost amendment. Furthermore, the addition of vermicompost increased the grain yield (28–39%) than biochar (23–36%) addition whereas the higher microbial and soil respiration (2–6%) found in former field than the biochar added field (1–3%). Significant correlation (R2=0.61–0.99) was found between the sustainable yield index and soil fertility factors at each site. Assessment of agricultural soil sustainability indicators (ASSI) suggests that the biochar was more effective in enhancing the soil carbon stock (21 ± 1.31 Mg C ha−1) and higher glomalin activity (62%). The study also confirmed the increased alkaline phosphatase (two fold) and β-glucosidase activity (one fold) along with enhanced urease (45%), soil dehydrogenase activity (36%) under vermicompost amendment followed by biochar. Present study highlights the significance of sustainable agronomic practices for improving the soil quality and agricultural yield while reducing adverse impact.
Adoption of circular practices within environmental management is gaining worldwide recognition owing to rapid resource depletion and detrimental effects of climate change. The present study therefore attempted to ascertain the linkages between circular economy (CE) and sustainable development (SD) by examining the role of renewable energy (RE) and waste management (WM) sectors in CE combined with policy setup and enabling frameworks boosting the influx of circularity principles in the Indian context. Results revealed that research dedicated towards energy recovery from waste in India lacks integration with SD. Findings also revealed that although India is extremely dedicated towards attainment of the SDGs, penetration of CE principles within administration requires considerable efforts especially since WM regulations for municipal, plastic and e-waste lack alignment with CE principles. Integration of WM and RE policies under an umbrella CE policy would provide further impetus to the attainment of circularity and SD within the Indian economy.
The doctrine of Sustainability Science (SS) is widely acknowledged as a tool for attaining global sustainability and is becoming the core philosophy of national and international developmental agendas. Goal 4 of the United Nations-Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) clearly acknowledges the role education plays in the promulgation of Sustainable Development (SD) by acting as a thread that concatenates the other SDGs. Hence, it is gaining global popularity as an academic discipline. However, SS as a standalone course is yet to gain prominence in Indian education systems, even though certain principles and practices of this science have been included within existing courses like Environmental Sciences. Therefore, we have designed a template for SS syllabus relevant in the Indian context. Besides, two models namely the ‘infusion model’ for introduction of SS as a separate academic course and the ‘diffusion model’ for customization of the existing courses by integrating the principles and practices of sustainability were also proposed. The effective utilization of these models can propel the implementation of SS within Indian higher education for nurturing a future generation of students having sustainability ethos in their words and deeds for addressing the developmental challenges of India.
Diffusion Model
Infusion Model
The plant-based restoration of marginal and degradaded land is a part of India’s commitment to ‘Bonn Challenge’, ‘The Paris Agreement’ and also for the attainment of several targets and goals of ‘UN-SDGs’. Unfortunately, there is no standard or benchmark for assessing the progress of plant-based restoration. In the present work, we had come up with a simple index called Saline Soil Reclamation Index (SSRI) for assessing the restoration progress of saline land in Gundi Village of Ahmedabad, Gujarat on the basis of indexing critical plant growth attributes and key soil parameters by principal component analysis (PCA). The trees having high SSRI are most suitable for the reclamation of saline soil and therefore, SSRI can be used as an efficient tool for assessing the performance of plant-based restoration of saline land in a simplified manner.
'Miyawaki' plantation model
SSRI of various trees
Aligning existing agricultural polices with UN-Sustainable Development Goals is imperative for the transition towards a cleaner and planet friendly food production, especially for a geographically and demographically diverse country like India. In this context, the present study focuses on ascertaining the major social and environmental challenges affecting agriculture in India, while evaluating the potential of efficient policy restructure in boosting growth within this sector. The results highlight that despite attaining sufficiency in terms of food production, access to food by all in the country remains a major challenge along with incoherence between certain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators and their corresponding data values. Furthermore, a critical analysis of operational as well as recommended agriculture and farmer welfare policies indicate that formulation of an overarching policy influencing sustainable management of agricultural systems, combined with proper implementation of social welfare schemes, would lead to the timely realisation of SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (zero hunger), and SDG 3 (good health and well-being) in India. Consequently, an umbrella policy (National Policy on Eco-Agri-Food Systems) has been proposed by authors for sustainable management of the country’s entire agricultural value chain. Recommendations related to agricultural waste management and adoption of planetary healthy diets have also been suggested for enabling the smooth transition of agriculture as a sustainable enterprise in India.
Policy framework for a Sustainable Agriculture Value Chain
Innovative cropping patterns are essential for doubling the farm yield and soil sustainability
Sustainable soil amendments are important for improving the soil quality and health while increasing crop yield to promote the cleaner and planet friendly food production. We investigated the effect of agro-waste derived biochar and vermicompost on soil quality and yield in Cicer arietinum L. Field experiment was carried out at three different agro-climatic regions (Varanasi, Sultanpur and Gorakhpur) of Uttar Pradesh. Experimental results proven that a significant increase in total organic carbon, available N, P and K content was observed under vermicompost followed by biochar amendment at each site. Similarly, irrespective of the experimental site, a significant increase in microbial biomass carbon was recorded under vermicompost amendment. Although the addition of vermicompost increased the grain yield than biochar, higher microbial and soil respiration found in former field than the biochar added field. Assessment of agricultural soil sustainability indicators (ASSI) suggests that the biochar was more effective in enhancing the soil carbon stock and glomalin activity. Study highlights the significance of sustainable soil amendments for improving the soil quality and agricultural yield while reducing adverse impact.
Exploring the ‘Safe Operating Space’ of nations are important for devising suitable strategies for the effectual implementation of UN-Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). In this context, the present study attempts to ascertain the environmental and social challenges hindering sustainable development (SD) in India along with linking these challenges to the SDGs and policy mechanisms in place for their alleviation. Environmental issues were determined by down-scaling the planetary boundaries (PB) to national scales while the social issues were highlighted in terms of their deprivation rates fixing the possession rates for all indicators at hundred percent. Gender inequality and severely stressed biocapacity as well as land use change are the major social and environmental issues, respectively. However, indicator based statistics compiled for rural India showed improved possession rates in the sanitation and electricity sectors thereby signifying the progress achieved by the country in these fronts. Analysis of policy frameworks revealed the existence of multiple interconnections between the SDG targets and environmental and social dimensions and thereby highlighting the role of governance for SD. A national policy for ‘Safe Habitat and Sustainable Environment’ along with several policy recommendations such as exploring the potential of education and research for SD were proposed for boosting the sustainability governance in India.
State of environmental challenges for India. a Circumplex chart: The spokes in yellow indicate the present status of the selected indicators while the green circle (100% or the 10th sector) reflects the limit for national boundaries. The length of the yellow spoke extending beyond the national boundary (in the red zone) reflects increasing level of stress on that particular environmental dimension (except biodiversity conservation measures). b Bar graph representing the actual values for the selected indicators. The bars in green indicate positive trend while those in red represent
Restoration of marginal and degraded lands is essential for regaining biodiversity and ecosystems services, and thereby attaining UN-Sustainable Development Goals. During the last few decades, many fast growing and hardy trees have been introduced worldwide to restore the marginal and degraded lands for ecosystem stability. Unfortunately, most of these introduced species have become invasive and invaded the nearby productive systems, leading to significant biodiversity loss and land degradation. Therefore, it is imperative to conduct a sustainability analysis of the introduced species for necessary course correction and also for preventing the future utilisation of such species for land restoration. With this backdrop, the present study was conducted to analyse the socio-ecological impacts of a widely used species, i.e., Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC based restoration of degraded land of Lucknow, North India. While there was a positive difference in the key physico-chemical properties of the P. juliflora-invaded soil than the non-invaded site, the belowground microbial load was significantly lower in invaded land as compared to the non-invaded one . Additionally, the invasion of P. juliflora had significantly reduced the biodiversity by displacing the local flora. Although the local people utilised P. juliflora as fuelwood mostly during summer and winter seasons, the invasion resulted in a fodder deficit leading to resource scarcity in the invaded area in comparison to the non-invaded area. Ecodistribution mapping clearly showed that P. juliflora is already found in most of the tropical and subtropical countries (~103) including in India and has become invasive in many countries. Therefore, P. juliflora must be wisely used for the land restoration programs targeted during the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030) as this species has invasive traits and thereby reduces the ecosystem sustainability of the invaded areas.
Native, naturalised and invaded regions of of Prosopis juliflora
Ecological plasticity of Prosopis juliflora
Ensuring the food and nutritional demand of the ever-growing human population is a major sustainability challenge for humanity in this Anthropocene. The cultivation of climate resilient, adaptive and underutilized wild crops along with modern crop varieties is proposed as an innovative strategy for managing future agricultural production under the changing environmental conditions. Such underutilized and neglected wild crops have been recently projected by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations as ‘future smart crops’ as they are not only hardy, and resilient to changing climatic conditions, but also rich in nutrients. They need only minimal care and input, and therefore, they can be easily grown in degraded and nutrient-poor soil also. Moreover, they can be used for improving the adaptive traits of modern crops. The contribution of such neglected, and underutilized crops and their wild relatives to global food production is estimated to be around 115–120 billion US$ per annum. Therefore, the exploitation of such lesser utilized and yet to be used wild crops is highly significant for climate resilient agriculture and thereby providing a good quality of life to one and all. Here we provide four steps, namely: (i) exploring the unexplored, (ii) refining the unrefined traits, (iii) cultivating the uncultivated, and (iv) popularizing the unpopular for the sustainable utilization of such wild crops as a resilient strategy for ensuring food and nutritional security and also urge the timely adoption of suitable frameworks for the large-scale exploitation of such wild species for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Various steps involved in the sustainable utilization of wild and neglected crops for global food and nutritional security
The present study was undertaken to evaluate various adaptive agronomic practices employed by local farmers of eastern Uttar Pradesh in North India. For this, extensive field survey was conducted in selected districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and various practices done by farmers were noted for further studies. The promising practices were classified at three distinct level such as (1) crop or species level, (2) farm or field level, and (3) landscape level. Major emphasis was given to documenting crop diversification strategy, varietal selection and preferences over the period (especially in rice) and critical natural resource conservation methods that is employed by the local farmers themselves to sustain food production under changing climatic conditions. We identified promising practices for further validation and the subsequent scaling-up. Integrating traditional and indigenous farming technologies offer huge promise in climate change adaptation in agriculture and is a sustainable and adaptive way for maximizing food production under changing climatic conditions.
