Tropentag, September 16 - 18, 2026, Göttingen "Towards multi-functional agro-ecosystems promoting climate-resilient futures"

Agriculture in India’s high-biodiversity areas: Bridging practice and policy for sustainable landscape management

¹Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, School of Public Policy, India
²Inst. for Global Environmental Strategies, India

Abstract

High-biodiversity regions in India, such as the Western Ghats, Himalayas, Indo-Burma, and coastal–island ecosystems, are essential for maintaining ecological processes and services that underpin social and environmental well-being. Yet these areas currently face increasing threats from agricultural expansion and intensification, as well as human activities. Population growth and land-use changes, along with a shift to monoculture and input-heavy farming, have led to habitat fragmentation, chemical pollution, and the decline of ecosystem functions, especially in sensitive and protected zones. While traditional and indigenous farming systems once balanced livelihoods and biodiversity with diverse, low-input methods, modern, production-focused approaches are disrupting ecological balance and weakening resilience.
This study investigates the role of agriculture in driving ecological change in these regions, using a practice-to-policy approach to examine how current on-the-ground methods can inform better, context-specific policies. It highlights that agroecological practices such as agroforestry, mixed cropping, and integrated farming are promising ways to reduce ecological impacts while supporting sustainable agriculture. These methods boost biodiversity, soil health, water efficiency, and climate resilience. However, their adoption remains limited due to weak policies, fragmented governance, and a lack of institutional support. Challenges also include poor enforcement of environmental laws, the absence of incentives for biodiversity-friendly farming, and limited access to sustainable inputs, markets, and extension services. To address this, a shift toward integrated, landscape-level governance is needed, one that considers cumulative impacts on ecosystems. Connecting local practices with policy frameworks is crucial for reducing ecological harm and enabling agriculture to operate within environmental limits, thereby promoting biodiversity conservation, resilient livelihoods, and sustainable development in India’s high-biodiversity landscapes.

Keywords: Agrobiodiversity, landscape governance, policy integration, sustainable agriculture

Contact Address: Rajarshi Dasgupta, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, School of Public Policy, 110016 New delhi, India, e-mail: rajarshidg1iitd.ac.in