Overpopulation in India: How it is Affecting Farmers and the Environment

Sindhoora Ponnam

I went to India about eight years ago and it was one of the greatest places ever, it was my ancestors’ home. The people, the food, the culture, the family is what makes India amazing. However, this home is heavily overpopulated. It is estimated that around 75% of India’s total population bases their livelihoods on farming. My father’s side of the family farms to this day and my mother’s side of the family definitely has roots that come from farming. I deeply connect with this thought provoking and alarming subject. With climate change only growing at a faster rate it is no surprise that this significant amount of farming is having negative impacts on the environment, specifically regarding the degradation and depletion of resources.

The wealth gap between the rich and the poor is only broadening as years go by, making wealthier people wealthier and poorer people even poorer. This leaves generations of farmers with few options regarding choice of work. One of the reasons many farmers can not sustain themselves without the help of their environment is because they do not have the money to do so.

Indian farmers have exploited India’s main water reservoirs. Normally they rely on monsoon season to effectively take care of the crops, however, due to climate change the monsoon patterns have changed and farmers many times do not meet their crop sales for the season leading them to commit suicide. The rate of suicide is immensely high because of India’s overpopulation problems, which forces many families to solely depend on agriculture. For some farmers who depend on crops as their main source of food, they starve when rainfall does not adequately satiate the plants.





In addition to water resources, deforestation is occurring at a rapid rate as well. Due to overpopulation more and more trees are being cut down in order to make space, but forests are crucial to farmer as they use them to hunt and gather food as their crops are growing.

The heavy use of pesticides and herbicides leads to them often times coming in contact with large bodies and contaminating them. The regular use of pesticides and herbicides which does help crop growth, kills micro-organisms that live in the soil in the long-term, which then contributes to a reduced fertility in the soil.





A potential solution started to be implemented in 2015: the growth of GMOs or genetically modified organisms. This would make the most use of fertile land, however, because GMO seed prices vary from year to year, this solution would not be plausible for many farmers as of now. If India really does care about its nation it needs to find a way to implement sustainable practices regarding humans and nature.

How can we help the environment in India when so many people’s lives depend on it right now? Can we help the environment and make sure farming families in India have good livelihoods? Are the farmers at fault? Is the government at fault?

Works Cited:
https://paa2007.princeton.edu/papers/7192
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-overpopulation-impacts-the-environment-4172964
http://fubini.swarthmore.edu/~ENVS2/colin/Overpopulation_Essay.html


Comments

Anonymous said…
Overpopulation is becoming more and more of an issue in modern times. I’ve never been to India, but I’ve seen pictures of malnourished and undernourished children living in compact areas. There isn’t enough food to feed everyone, so many can’t eat. If GMOs are able to solve this problem, I don’t understand why so many people are still against them. They are proven to be safe and efficient and save lives. I feel like anything that can help the problem of starvation and the lack of food in some areas of the world should be accepted and celebrated.
March 27, 2019 at 8:03 AM
Anonymous said…
A huge problem with Indian society is corruption. People are extremely money motivated, and politicians there will do whatever it takes for personal gain. This results in much of India’s terrain being barren and arid, due to severe deforestation and the use of improper techniques. The main problem in India is that there is no regulations or limitation like in the United States for building constructions, and so people there d9 not really care, and the environment becomes severely degraded over time. I think that the government is the main person at fault because of their unwillingness to educate the people, and the corruption within it. We can try and educate people overseas through social media networking, but there is no way to guarantee that rural farmers will hear the message due to the lack of technology in rural areas in India. But that’s our best bet.
March 27, 2019 at 3:55 PM
Anonymous said…
I don’t think its fair to blame the farmers as they are simply doing what they can to survive. The deforestation in India is a result of overpopulation, but it also may be due to a lack of awareness. Nations that are largely agriculture-based used practices that are potentially harmful to the environment, and it is difficult to control due to the sheer scale of it. I think it starts with awareness and accessibility. If the farmers are not aware that their practices are harmful to the environment, they are not aware that they need to change them. If they do not have access to safer pesticides and herbicides, how can we expect them to use them? I feel as though it is the government’s fault due to their lack of care and education regarding agricultural practices and their effects.
March 27, 2019 at 10:34 PM
Anonymous said…
Back when I was in India, I noticed that there are some locals that simply don’t care about the waste on the street. I was walking down this alley way once and a man was just peeing on the street, and this just seems to be normal there. Urinating in public is disgusting and should be stopped. The government only cares about making more money. There’s a huge difference between the rich and the poor. We need more people that are focused on cleaning up so the initiative spreads. I feel like the government is mainly at fault because they could’ve put in more effort to improve the lives of the majority, but they are just worried about making the most money. Also, items are way cheaper to buy in India but that’s because the income is lower as well. The farmers are not at fault, but the common public may be. People own their own cows, goats, and chickens and let them loose in the road with nobody to really pick up after the animals.
March 28, 2019 at 11:38 AM
Anonymous said…
I believe the government is at fault for not helping these farmers; they’re a main source of income in India and how most of their population is fed, and it ignore them makes them at fault. The farmers aren’t at fault that the economy doesn’t allow them to prosper, and climate change isn’t helping them either. The government should issue the GMOS for the farmers to keep their economies from collapsing again. This needs to be implemented fast because they are poisoning the water hole.
March 28, 2019 at 11:41 AM
Anonymous said…
The consequences of population growth are a problem that the whole world will soon face sooner or later. India is a prime example of how the world will turn out if this trend continues. Drinking water, sewage treatment, inadequate rainfall, rapid depletion of natural resources, extinction of many plant and animal species due to deforestation and loss of eco-systems, increased level of life-threatening air and water pollution, high infant and child mortality rate and hunger due to extreme poverty are some of the results of over-population. This is a harsh reality to come to terms with but solutions need to be implemented for our world to thrive. New energy related strategies need to be put in place to conserve resources and to help the world thrive.
March 28, 2019 at 11:44 AM
Anonymous said…
Seeing this issue first hand when I go to my mom’s childhood home who are farming based entirely. From a young age, I saw the surrounding areas being full of colors and now when I looked last summer, the greenery was brown because they stopped watering the crops so people could make more homes and use thrice as much water. As for who’s at fault, I believe the government is. I’m going to assume nobody follows the Indian elections right now, but these people are crazy and make such large promises to make more jobs and such, but then they would consider the environmental aspects as a taboo. It’s not even that they bring up the issues as something to deal with, they have these tools to fight it, but they cant even fathom a possibility to even talk about it.
March 28, 2019 at 11:48 AM
Anonymous said…
As you mentioned, GMO’s are a solution to this problem. However, the underlying cause of needing this is the change in monsoons. Since the monsoons decreased, crops aren’t growing as they are usually. GMO’s may help with this problem, but at the end of the day plants need water in order to grow. It is hard to be environmentally sustainable in a heavily populated place like India is very hard. Trash is usually found on the streets, animals walk the streets, and overall it is not a clean place. This does not mean that agriculture cannot be environmentally sustainable. We need to find better fresh water alternatives, or else groundwater in India will be depleted rapidly. Who is at fault? I would say definitely not the people, as they are just trying to provide for themselves. But I do not think the government deserves all the blame, as they are working very hard on finding solutions to these problems.
March 28, 2019 at 4:52 PM
Anonymous said…
I honestly don’t know many ways that India can go on in its current population growth rate. I think the bringing the growth rate down is really the only true solution to their problems. I know that morally speaking that this is always questionable to many religions, but the education of contraceptives and possibly even a limit on child births like that of China is one of the plosuble ideas I can think of. It is entirely thee Governments fault, they should have jumped in much earlier into these issues, from the poverty line to the major degradation of their country. The air quality alone has lowered. At this point in the game proper government envolvment may be the only real step to be taken. The Farmers do need help, but GMO farming while a step in the right direction, most gmo crops are sterile, meaning each and every season they would be forced to buy more, which could become very expensive as many... bad people.. have pattens on the crops raising the prices to an unfavorable price. India is in quite the pickle.
March 31, 2019 at 11:00 AM
Anonymous said…
This is a great point. India, along with other countries, pose a great environmental threat, and while awareness is being spread, it’s still an extremely difficult situation to deal with. Overpopulation is hard to control in a humane way, and with too many people in one area, poverty levels rise because of a lack of jobs and higher cost of living. When people are in this situation, their livelyhood depends on making the best of what they have since they cannot afford to move somewhere new. People resort to the easiest and cheapest methods of farming and production since they’re in need of money but the environmental toll is becoming greater by the day. The keys to fixing this issue include spreading environmental sustainability education in areas that need it, and developing sustainable and cheap technologies to be used.
March 31, 2019 at 3:24 PM
Anonymous said…
Overpopulation has been a serious problem in India for a long time. While there isn’t much anyone can do about that, I don’t believe the farmers are at fault for the current state of India. The farmers are doing what they can to make a living and cannot be expected to stop if it is their only option to provide for themselves and their families. The governments lack of initiative and focus on making money is to blame for this problem. The government should focus on their citizens as well as the environment. I believe they should work towards providing their farmers the resources to work sustainably.
April 1, 2019 at 6:46 AM
Anonymous said…
I think a huge part of the problem of farmers suffering in India is simply the fact that they lack regulations and safety policies to help them farm efficiently and safely. I think the government is mostly at fault because they are not showing interest towards helping these farmers by imposing such regulations, causing farmers to suffer. The government needs to place more attention towards this subject, as resources are being depleted quickly and farmers are losing their lives due to this issue. India’s politicians need to be made aware of how serious this issue is and they need to take action towards improving these farmers’ lives. We need to educate them on sustainable practices.
April 1, 2019 at 6:47 AM
Anonymous said…
I think the problem we see is that there is enough food being produced but a lot of it is exported. Farming methods have become a lot better than it used to be after the Green Revolution but I think we need other means necessary to produce more and to distribute it evenly. GMO’s are not seen much in India and I think it must be introduced. I think it would be accepted better than it is here due to the food scarcity. Many depend on agriculture and with the random weather conditions sometimes they aren’t able to produce enough crop to feed their own families leading to many suicides. Therefore I don’t think the farmers must be blamed, the system needs to be blamed. I think GMO’s will go a long way.
April 1, 2019 at 7:11 AM
Anonymous said…
I believe that we all can have an impact on the families who live in India. Small actions in our own world may have huge effects on those hundreds of miles away, including India. How we treat waste, what we do with it, and how it is trashed or recycled can affect the drinking/bathing conditions of those in India. That is just one example however, what really matters is that to help those so far away, we must first help ourselves at home. We must do our best to properly recycle and dispose of trash that way, eventually the effects of our actions can be felt far away. Whether we do this by leading in example, or actually reducing the amount of trash that ends up in the Ganges river or in China’s plastic waste we can have an effect. We must just do what we can at home, and then move onto bigger projects.
April 1, 2019 at 10:33 AM
Anonymous said…
I feel like the fact that there are huge gap between the riches and the poors have a huge effect on the overall environment as well. Like the post said, the amount of poors are increasinga and increasing becasue of the gap. In my opinion, if there are a lot of poors, because of their lifestyles, there will be less attention in protecting the environment. They would usually carelessly throw away their trash without necessarily thinking. I also think that the rate of producing and consuming the food is another problem. I think in order to fix this situation, India must change the system of equally distributing and reducing the gap between the riches and poors. I know this would take a long time, therefore I believe the action should be taken as soon as possible.
April 1, 2019 at 10:34 AM
Anonymous said…
I believe that the government is at fault due to their lack of help for these farmers. These farmers are so important in India due to the fact that agriculture is one of the bigger set sources of income in India as well as a main source of food for most of the population. They are not to blame, they are doing what is necessary to survive and to create a living for themselves and their family. I think their best solution at this point would be for the government to implement GMOs into the country in order to help the economy.😤🤩🤓
April 1, 2019 at 10:35 AM
Anonymous said…
India, holding the largest population in a country on earth, has seen many years of heavily populated streets and heavily populated environments. For many people, simply trying to make a living is a significantly more important priority than protecting their environment. In my opinion, with such a heavy population and not much farm land to work off of, GMO’s would be a great substiute and would greatly benefit the growing population. Although many people many be skeptical of lab food, I believe that this solution would greatly improve India’s population.
April 1, 2019 at 10:37 AM
Anonymous said…
We can do a lot to help the environment. If we think of it as a city dump, then the place is only getting dirtier and dirtier. There are many ways we can help the environment in India. We can reduce the amount of waste generated by purchasing a product in bulk instead of packaging in individual packages. We can also reuse things. You can never scrap unnecessary computer paper, we can use the other side for scratch papers and then recycle them. Instead of wasting broken items, we can donate things such as clothing, furniture, toys and books. Recycling is very simple but everyone needs to contribute. I believe that the farmers are just doing their jobs but the government is at fault because they can at least create awareness instead of giving up and let the place keep on being polluted.
April 2, 2019 at 8:23 AM
Anonymous said…
India is one of th most tightly populated countries in the world. Although the obvious issues such as deforestation and overuse of pesticides are important, the underlying issue is overpopulation. The amount of people that live in India far surpasses the amount of liveable land available to them. To blame the farmer for this issue is not just, for they are simply abiding to what the economy calls for in order to survive. The government should be the one to take responsibility, and should further implament laws that protect both small businesses (farmers) and the enviornment. India should start a program that makes efforts to transition this country to greener ways of production and dealing with waste. Although the people can make efforts, strict guidelines are what will really make the difference.
April 2, 2019 at 10:36 AM
Anonymous said…

I can’t really say who is at fault. It isn’t necessarily India’s fault for having such a big population nor is it the farmers fault becuase they are only doing what they have to do in order to survive. The government could help those who are poorer or are farming for a living. We can definitely help the environment and the families who farm have a good livelihood by making this problem known. There isn’t much we can do to bring back efficient monsoon seasons but we can definitely make an effort to implement GMOs.
April 2, 2019 at 12:12 PM
Anonymous said…
Overpopulation is a big problem in many countries, with India being one of the most high density populated countries. With most of its residents being farmers, the use of pesticides will reduce the fertility of the soil and end up not having enough nutrients to support the population. I don’t really know if it’s the farmers’ fault or the government’s, but I think it’s both groups’ responsibility to try and come up with solutions for the problem. GMO’s could help, or growing certain crops at different times of the year to maximize to soil’s potential and to conserve as many nutrients as possible.
April 2, 2019 at 4:20 PM
Anonymous said…
I don't think we can really say who is necessarily at fault. However, the government definitely needs to start taking more responsibility and leadership to help poor farmers. They can subsidize the cost resources so that farmers are able to afford the items they need to sustain their farms and meet their requirements. While GMOs get a bad reputation, they may be helpful in this case and would allow farmers to maximize the use of what fertile land they have remaining. Regardless of what the government does, they are the ones who need to take responsibility so that this issue does not get worse as India's population continues to grow.
April 2, 2019 at 4:51 PM
Amogh Gokhale said…
I think seeing how India has one of the highest population densities in the world, it is safe to assume that some problems will occur. The use of herbicides is a big problem, but there are not that many options due to the wealth gap. I think we should work on making sure food is of the best quality, with little impact to the environment, that will be a be a big step in making sure other problems can be solved as well.
April 2, 2019 at 5:03 PM
Anonymous said…
Overpopulation is a problem that is affecting countries such as India and China right now but can soon affect the whole world. To reduce factors of overpopulation, the government should take initiative and give a helping hand to the farmers who make up 75% of the total jobs in their country. Laws should be put in place to help with farmers in their industry. Herbicide use should be reduced but unfortunately I think the damage is done, but can be helped. All in all, India's government should strive to make an effort to help the farmers and their country by reducing herbicide use, making laws to help farmers, and to implement GMO's.
April 2, 2019 at 6:00 PM
Anonymous said…
If overpopulation is the problem, then perhaps anti-population laws is the solution. India can enforce a policy similar to China's One-Child policy, until population has decreased a bit. Unfortunately, India has a culture of having many kids (India's population is the same as China's, despite having only half the land area), so such a law is unlikely to pass. Corruption in the Indian government makes it unlikely that wealth will be equally distributed among the poor. So it seems that there is no realistic solution.
April 2, 2019 at 9:51 PM
Anonymous said…
While i don't think that the issues in india are the governments or the farmers fault, I do think that the indian government might want to consider creating programs to help farmers through bad environmental times. The government could also provide subsidies to some of the larger farms, to further assist the farmers. Lastly, while GMO's are sometimes viewed negatively, I think it would be a very positive thing if india decided to implement them.
April 3, 2019 at 4:23 PM
Anonymous said…
Overpopulation is, in my humble opinion, possibly one of the most serious problems the earth faces. Consider this, we have no natural predators. Humans are the very top of the food chain and our numbers are just getting bigger. Every new disease meant to kill us, is cured. The planets Apex predators are our entertainment. No habitat is out of our reach. If nature isn’t able to limit us then we must limit ourselves. India is unfortunately a great example of the problems that overpopulation will cause. China on the other hand is a great example, they have successfully slowed down their population growth with the one-child policy. However not every country has a government as powerful as Chinas, so laws like these are much more difficult to pass. Unfortunately I don’t think this law will pass.
April 8, 2019 at 11:26 AM
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