Insect conservation in Northeast

The World Migratory Bird Day Campaign in 2024 has called for checking the decline of insects as part of the conservation of migratory birds across the globe. India’s Northeast can showcase to the global community how its traditional and organic farming system provides a safe habitat for insects and other prey species of the winged visitors found in abundance in the region’s wetlands. Amur falcons, which travel about 22,000 km along its flyway and arrive in Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur every October, also indicate the health of the ecosystems. The raptor is an insectivore, and the arrival of the migratory bird species in large numbers points towards the northeast region, which has abundant supplies of insects as its winter diet. Modern market dynamics of increasing agricultural production and productivity have led to a steady increase in the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the region. As the Green Revolution in the rest of India bypassed the northeast region, the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, and insecticides has remained low-key, even though in some areas in Assam it has increased significantly compared to hill states. The average consumption of fertilisers in the region is less than half of the national average. This is a blessing in disguise for the region, as the demand for organic food products has increased worldwide due to a rise in health consciousness and a drastic decline in soil health in regions that overuse chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Besides, contamination in food in those regions has increased, which has posed health hazards to humans, wildlife, and plant species. The push for organic farming by the central government and various state governments in the region has multiple benefits. Organic farming on a commercial scale and robust market linkage can unlock tremendous market opportunities for farmers and traders. It builds resilience against climate change due to its low carbon footprint and assures a steady supply of healthy food for growers. It also helps in the sustenance of a healthy population of insects, which are sources of energy for migratory bird species like the amur falcon. The arrival of migratory birds to wetlands, grassland, and forests in the region is a great attraction for eco-tourists to visit the region. Over the years, the arrival of eco-tourists, birders, and experts to watch, document, and do research on migratory birds in the region has brought additional benefits to eco-tourism in rural areas. The ecological fragility of the region keeps reminding the indigenous farming communities, policy planners, and governments not to go for industrialization on a scale that is unsustainable and causes irreversible damage. Commercial organic farming and eco-tourism remain sustainable options. The scientific community has sounded the alarm bell about which insecticides and pesticides protect the crops farmers grow and cause harm to insects. The scarcity of insects that are rich in protein and energy adversely affects the migratory birds as their immune systems get weakened, resulting in mortality for both adult birds and their offspring, they have cautioned. If vast tracts of farmland in the region, which are organic by default, get converted into agricultural hubs of high-yielding varieties grown with higher consumption of chemical fertiliser and pesticides to boost production for an adequate marketable surplus, then it is going to affect the migratory birds. The decreasing number of migratory birds will also have a negative impact on the arrival of ecotourists, as they will have no attraction to visit the same sites. Eco-tourism ventures will become financially unviable, and sources of additional income for farming households will be lost. The Mission Organic Value Chain Development in the North East Region is a pragmatic solution to the problem but has not gained the momentum it requires. So far, 379 farmer producer companies have been formed, comprising 1,89,039 farmers and covering a 1,72,966-hectare area under the mission, while Assam alone has 27 lakh farmers’ households. The certification of agricultural produce as organic continues to be a grey area. The claim that farm produce is organic by default does not work commercially, as global marketing agencies and consumers are not going to accept any such claim as authentic without proper certification of global standards. In the absence of certification, genuine organic produce may not fetch a remunerative price, and farmers are not encouraged to produce surplus quantities for fear of wasting their hard labour and initiative. Traditionally, insects in such a fast-changing agricultural practice find pesticides quite challenging.  farmers in biodiversity, organic manure, and organic pesticides so that they do not harm the rich biodiversity, including the insects and birds. However, organic farming in isolation is not feasible if adjacent farm plots flood crops using chemical fertiliser and pesticides. Surface run-off during rains or floods also contaminates the plot under organic farming. Conservation of insects in such a fast-changing agricultural practice becomes quite challenging. The campaign for the World Migratory Bird needs to be spread to build awareness among all stakeholders in the region, including farmers, to boost organic farming for the conservation of insects and migratory birds.