The Need
In Tamil Nadu
For the last few decades forest cover in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been relentlessly decreasing. The combined effect of intensive farming methods, industrial growth and the use of trees to meet the fuel and housing needs of a growing population, has reduced the forest cover to just 17%. In response to its own research the Indian national government recommends that forest cover of 33% should be restored in order to maintain the water table and a healthy agricultural ecology.
Evidence of the non-sustainability of the current agricultural model is overwhelming. The absence of green cover has resulted in severe drinking water scarcity. The underground water table has depleted drastically in the past 25 to 30 years and more than half of Tamil Nadu's area, around 53 per cent, has experienced land degradation. The prediction is that, by 2025, 60% of Tamil Nadu will be desert and, as such, unsuitable for food production. Unless corrective measures are taken immediately to increase the green cover, restore soil health and manage natural resources appropriately, agricultural productivity will keep decreasing, further weakening the livelihood of the rural community and raising the threat of enormous food shortage and mass rural migration.
