Part 3/12:
In India, which has the world's second-largest irrigated crop area and is a leading food exporter, these practices have led to declining soil fertility and alarming groundwater depletion. For example, Punjab—India’s granary—once cultivated a diverse array of 250 crop species; now, it predominantly grows two monocultures: wheat and rice. This drastic reduction in diversity has made the ecosystem more fragile, vulnerable to pests, and less resilient to climate shocks.