Interrogating the Idea of ‘Sustainable Agriculture’ and its Impact in India

Abstract

This research paper aims to explore the paradigms responsible for using the term sustainability in agriculture, trace the trajectory of the concept of ―sustainable agriculture‖ used in contemporary times and assess its social impact in the Indian context. The study was conducted using primary documents like reports of international organizations and those published by the Indian government and secondary literature i.e. popular articles, academic writings, journalistic pieces, online articles and blogs, to trace the usage of the concept ―sustainable agriculture‖ and understand the social impact of using the sustainable agriculture approach. The study began by tracing the emergence and need for sustainability as a concept in agriculture on a global platform and its introduction in India. The paper ends with an outline of some of the policies and schemes formulated by the Government of India. It focuses on its impacts in due course of time to understand the current situation regarding the implementation of sustainability.