Ashoka-Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps Blogs
Seeds of Change: How Everyday Food Choices Can Grow a More Sustainable India
In the semi-arid stretches of Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, Rekha Mandhare begins her day early, walking through her farm where cotton and tur (pigeon pea) grow side by side. Years ago, she planted only cotton, but repeated crop failures and poor returns nudged her to rethink. Now, intercropping gives her a modest second harvest and helps conserve soil moisture.
Pic: Pexels
"We don’t rely on just one crop anymore," she says. "We need the crops to survive, but also the water to last."
Rekha's dilemma isn’t hers alone. It represents the story of millions of farmers in India trying to grow food in a climate that’s turning against them. In response, many are rethinking what they grow and how they grow it—looking for ways that are more resilient, less exploitative of resources, and rooted in local knowledge.
This shift is called sustainable agriculture. It’s not just a farming method, but a way of thinking—about soil, water, and people. And believe it or not, the food choices you and I make — from the rice on our plate to the cotton in our clothes — play a role in what happens next.
So, What is Sustainable Agriculture and Why Should You Care?
Sustainable agriculture isn’t just about growing food differently. It’s about ensuring that the way we grow food today doesn’t harm our chances of growing food tomorrow.
Pic: Pexels
It focuses on healthier soils, less water usage, and farming that keeps local communities and biodiversity intact. According to Dr. Pushplata Singh, Associate Director of the Sustainable Agriculture Division at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), sustainable practices like crop rotation, agroforestry, and using natural biofertilizers can reduce emissions, restore soil health, and even fetch better prices for farmers in the long run.
And it isn’t just about what happens on the farm. Apoorve Khandelwal, Senior Programme Lead, Sustainable Food Systems at CEEW puts it simply: “Sustainable agriculture must be socially inclusive, climate-resilient, and environmentally benign.” He adds that practices like intercropping, rainwater harvesting, and organic composting not only reduce emissions but also reduce input costs for farmers and make them more resilient to climate shocks.
In fact, sustainable agriculture in India is undergoing a quiet transformation. From natural farming in Andhra Pradesh to organic farming in Sikkim, different models are showing us how farming can be economically viable and environmentally sound. For example, in Sikkim, in 2016, the government banned chemical inputs entirely and trained all 66,000 farming families in organic techniques, resulting in improved biodiversity and a thriving eco-tourism economy.
Still wondering where you come in?
What’s On Your Plate Matters
Let’s talk millets. Remember bajra or ragi from your grandmother’s kitchen? These traditional grains are making a comeback—and rightly so. They're drought-tolerant, nutrient-rich, and have a significantly lower carbon and water footprint than wheat or rice.
Apoorve points out that rice cultivation alone contributes to 17.5% of India’s agricultural emissions, mostly from methane released due to water-logged fields and overuse of synthetic fertilizers.
In contrast, millets require 70% less water and are more suited to dryland farming. Their return isn’t just a dietary shift—it’s a climate strategy. The government’s declaration of 2023 as the International Year of Millets was a step toward reviving these grains and mainstreaming them into our food systems.
Choosing millets over rice a few times a week may seem like a small act, but multiplied across millions, it has real climate impact.
Pic: Pexels
While millets are celebrated as climate-smart crops, farmers across dryland regions still face barriers that limit their widespread cultivation. Processing remains a major hurdle, especially for smaller-grained varieties that require dehusking, a task that often needs manual effort even after mechanization. Many farmers also lack access to local processing units or reliable procurement systems, which makes it hard to sell millets at competitive prices.
Over the past decade, cultivation has declined in several regions due to these very gaps. Apoorve Khandelwal points out that there’s often a wide gap between the narrative of millets as climate heroes and the on-ground realities faced by farmers cultivating them. In Karnataka, for example, the area under millet cultivation declined from 21 lakh hectares in 2017–18 to 16 lakh hectares in 2022–23. The lack of decentralised infrastructure, limited processing facilities, and weak local procurement mechanisms continue to pose serious hurdles.
To truly bridge this gap, experts emphasise the need for investment in rural infrastructure, such as small-scale processing units, storage facilities, and efficient procurement systems tailored to local contexts. Policy support that ensures fair pricing, reduces processing bottlenecks, and encourages institutional procurement of millets for public schemes can also help turn the millet revival into a genuinely farmer-led movement.
Farming With the Community in Mind
Sustainable agriculture isn’t just about individual farmers changing techniques — it's about systems that support them. From seeds to storage, the choices made across the agricultural value chain affect what ends up on our plates. Uma Pal from the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) explains, “The community is at the heart of sustainable agriculture, not just as beneficiaries but as active decision-makers.”
She highlights a World Bank-backed project, Pokhara project in Maharashtra where farmer-producer companies used climate risk tools to determine cropping patterns suited to their region. By decentralizing decisions and involving smallholders in the planning process, the project ensured stronger resilience against climate disruptions.
Community-led efforts like the Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) in Andhra Pradesh and Rajeevika in Rajasthan are training women farmers, organizing bio-input resource centers, and promoting intercropping techniques that cut costs and increase soil fertility.
When Rekha was introduced to these methods through her local SHG, she tried planting pulses alongside cotton, used compost instead of synthetic fertilizers, and saved water through drip irrigation. "It was more work, but the soil feels alive again." she says.
Innovation is Helping, But the Gaps Remain
From AI-powered pest detection to satellite-guided irrigation, innovation is redefining what's possible in Indian agriculture. In Jharkhand, for instance, a young farmer has started using a mobile app that connects him to real-time weather alerts and crop disease diagnostics, reducing his dependency on middlemen and guesswork. Elsewhere, zero-budget natural farming models are emerging, enabling smallholders to cut down input costs by relying on local resources like cow dung-based fertilizers and bio-stimulants.
Pic: Wikimedia Commons
But despite this momentum, the reality on the ground remains uneven. These innovations often fail to reach the farmers who need them most. “Adoption takes time,” says Dr. Pushplata. “Benefits like improved soil health or reduced pesticide use aren’t always immediately visible. We need locally adapted training and support systems.”
And the economics don’t always work in farmers' favor. Despite growing chemical-free produce, many still can’t access premium markets due to lack of certification. The paperwork is cumbersome, the costs high. As Rekha puts it, "We're growing the good stuff, but no one is asking for it.”
Apoorve notes the need to reform fertilizer subsidies too: “Current subsidies incentivize chemical inputs like urea and disincentivize sustainable methods. This distorts the market and delays the transition.”
Meaningful change will require action at many levels, not just policy fixes from the top.
So, What Can You Do?
- Eat local, seasonal, and diverse: Millets and indigenous pulses are hardy, nutritious, and climate-resilient. Swap out rice sometimes for millets. Choose traditional pulses. Celebrate biodiversity.
- Support sustainable growers: Look for cooperatives, brands, or local vendors who champion natural or organic farming practices.
- Reduce food waste: It’s not just about what you eat, but what you throw.
- Buy directly from farmers: Platforms like farmers' markets and organic delivery initiatives help close the gap.
- Remember: farming doesn’t just feed us. It defines our landscapes, livelihoods, and legacies.
Small actions, when done collectively, shape demand. And demand can shift systems—toward the kind of farming that values people, land, and future generations.
Agriculture in India isn’t just an economic activity — it’s a cultural, emotional, and deeply personal reality. As climate change threatens our food systems, we can't leave the burden on farmers alone.
"Every time you choose what to eat or wear, you're part of a system," says Uma. "And you have the power to make that system more sustainable."
Rekha may be just one farmer. But her choices, like yours, ripple outward.
So the next time you pick up a grain, ask: Where did this come from? Who grew it? And how can I make that journey better?
Because change doesn’t begin in policy rooms alone. Sometimes, it begins in kitchens.
Article by Zoya Hussain
