To initiate us into the agricultural process, Mr. Gupta wanted to share with us how Chemicals start entering our food. From preparing the soil, procuring the seed, applying fertilizers and pesticides to transportation and storage, chemicals are introduced and applied to the produce in different ways and quantities. Did you know that almost 50 percent of vegetables and fruits are laden with toxic chemicals of some sort? Or that ignorant farmers apply 100 times the recommended level pesticides? Or that pesticides that are banned world over are still being used in India – legally or illegally?

Introduction of chemicals in food production cycle

1. Treatment of seeds with fungicides
Seeds need to be treated for the control of soil borne diseases. These diseases can affect the plants in the initial stages. The bigger issue here is how to manage the soil so that there are no risks to the seed and plant from these diseases.

Can it be done? Yes, this is possible, once again through better management of soil and its biology.

It is similar to taking medicine in anticipation of a viral infection. It is much better to build the immunity so that there is no infection.

2. Chemical fertilizers like urea, DAP etc. are used in farming of almost all crops.
The use of DAP & Urea in food plants is like living on Vitamins and Tonics. In humans it is only the sick people who are recommended to take them, but in agriculture, it has become a practice to have food production totally dependent on these synthetic fertilizers.

Actually (if we use the right type of soil), the plant's requirement for nutrients is met completely by soil. Soil can be rich in nutrients either naturally or through “below ground bio diversity management”. A soil rich in nutrients will not need any chemical form of nutrients.

With the advent of Chemical Nutrients and methods to supplement nutrient deficiency with the use of chemicals, this mal practice got accepted as an easy solution and thus large-scale adoption resulted.

Over the years the soils have been robbed from its own capacity to provide nutrients through natural processes. With the result the agriculture today is completely dependent on chemical nutrients.

If we want to reduce the consumption of chemicals in agriculture, we have to re build the soil capacity to assimilate and transfer nutrients through natural processes only. This can be best done through bio mass recycling. We can enrich the soil naturally by reusing the organic waste and making it into organic manure.

Use and over use of Urea and DAP

The nutrients present in Urea & DAP are essential for the development and growth of the plant. The harm that their use does is the destruction of soil's own biological capacity to assimilate the nutrients through natural processes.

When the farmers apply these chemical fertilizers, the concentration levels are very high. This damages the soil biology. Continuous use completely damages the soil’s ability to get nutrients from natural resources.
With this grave damage to soil biology, the biomass recycling process also comes to a halt, which in turn affects the natural capacity of soil to recycle the biomass.

Other inorganic (synthetic) fertilizers used by farmers in India

After Urea and DAP, in terms of quantity the next largest consumed nutrient is Potash (K). However, now many more nutrients also known as micronutrients such as Zinc, Calcium, Manganese, and Iron etc. are used. In fact in many places today the soil analysis reports are showing deficiency of almost all the nutrients, thus necessitating the external applications.

Next in the series, we’ll be covering the pesticides used conventionally and their harmful effects