Post-Green Revolution Degradation of Agricultural Land in India: Role of Mycorrhizae in the Sustainability of Agriculture and Ecosystems

Abstract

The Green Revolution in India was initiated in the 1960s by introducing high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat to increase food production; this led to the loss of specific indigenous crops from cultivation and caused the extinction. India lost more than 1 lakh indigenous rice varieties after the 1970s, which took several thousand years to evolve. There is a clear indication of increasing consumption of chemical fertilizer in Indian agriculture over the past decades; urea showed the highest consumption in agriculture. A significant fraction of the heavily used pesticides and commercial fertilizers accumulates in the soil and severely affects soil properties and micro-flora, leading to soil degradation. Mycorrhiza-assisted remediation (MAR) is an aspect of bioremediation that can be used to treat both organic and inorganic pollutants. It has received much attention in recent years because it enhances the establishment/re-establishment of vegetation on the remediated soil and can equally be achieved at a reasonable cost, which will help to resist abiotic stress, disease, pathogen attack; and increase nutrient availability and growth of plants leading to greater yield. Five plant genes, namely CASTOR, POLLUX, NUP85, NUP133, and CYCLOPS, were identified, which were required to develop the mycorrhizal symbiosis in the plant root. Using mycorrhiza-assisted remediation (MAR) to re-establish a sustainable agricultural ecosystem and increase plants’ nutrient uptake capacity, stress resistance, and disease resistance could be a sustainable approach for satisfying food demand without damaging the ecosystem.