ABSTRACT

The phenomena of industrialisation and urbanisation currently sweeping the Indian economy have both positive and negative externalities for such agriculture. For one, they increase demand for goods produced in urban and peri-urban agriculture, expand markets, and increase employment and income opportunities. Most often, industrial and urban growth pose major threats to agriculture by polluting natural environment and spoiling social environment. Air pollutants that are most damaging to agriculture are Sulphur Dioxide and the Oxides of Nitrogen, which are categorised as acid pollutants, and Ozone together with other photochemical Oxidants. Fluorides are another set of pollutants. Air pollution in the urban and peri-urban areas comes from both urbanisation and industrialisation. It is singularly important to distinguish the challenge facing almost all urban and peri-urban areas in India from these two sources. A major problem for agriculture is the presence of particles, mainly dust and soot in the air. Coal burning produces very high levels of suspended particulates.