Cultivating Resilience: Principles of Climate Resistant Agriculture
Guest Author: Puspakanta Sahoo, Sandip Gangil- Principal Scientist, Agricultural Energy and Power Division, Central institute of agricultural engineering, Bhopal, MP, India, Paramanand Sahu- Research Associate, Agricultural Energy and Power Division, Central institute of agricultural engineering, Bhopal, MP, India.
22 January 2025, New Delhi: Human activities like industrialization and lateral developments caused significant alterations to climate, intensifying greenhouse effect, global temperature have risen 1ºC and intended to go beyond 1.5ºC increment in next 10 years. Emergence of climate change and variability as the chief most eminent challenges that face the Indian agriculture performance. Nearly 42.5% of India’s workforce are in agriculture, contributing only 18.2% to GDP. Both the workforce and contribution are slowly diminishing. Around 60% of net sown agricultural area is dependent on monsoon, which continuing to be erratic. According to UNCCD, 36.8% land area is drought prone. From the recent past 2014-2016 Bundelkhand region faced drought years, 2016-2018 southern India faced severe drought impacting Chennai’s water supply to a “day zero” scenario. Heat waves are getting intense, temperature rising beyond 50ºC in most of the states. All the above make Indian agriculture vulnerable.
The economic survey of India estimated an annual loss of $9-10 billion of Indian agriculture due to climate change. Which can become worse in future. Many studies have concluded significant declines in yields in upcoming decades. Climate change is Intended to impact a reduce the production of cereals (rice, maize and wheat) of 10-25% with 1ºC rise in mean surface temperature.
Adaption and mitigation of climate related negative effect on crops, without affecting the yield significantly are key to climate resilient agriculture. These perturbations and disturbances are droughts, floods, heat or cold waves, erratic rainfall, very long dry spells, insect or pest infestations, and other attributed threats from changing climate. Therefore, recovery capability from such events is the capacity of the system. At the same time, such agriculture would possess built-in property recognition of a threatening event and would predispose the system to respond with an understanding of the effectiveness of impact. It is about economically sound and better management of natural resources like land, water, soil, and genetic resources through the best bet practices.
Such practices should be dependent on the requirements of the local and the specific resource type, though they should include building up water conservation structures, lightening grazing, horticulture practice, thermal and moisture pooling practice, rotation for cropping for pulses and rabi maize with with saline water treatment, terrace curbing, cover cropping, poplar-grew-based horticulture, agro-forestry system, a simple dam to collect runoff water from surface drains, overland flow modification, or control. Each practice should suggest adoption as per type of system, type of resource, and special need of the area. You would integrate all but actually integration would not just mean bringing them all together and implementing as above.
It aims to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability while adapting to climate change in the most feasible way.
Principles and Strategies
Design principles
Incorporation of Rainwater harvesting helps alleviate pressure on ground and surface water resources by providing a safe irrigation water. Drip irrigation, saves 70% water compared to flood irrigation and 90% more efficient than sprinklers and can increase yield up to 90%. As planet gets hotter 50% area will suffer from water scarcity, growing drought-resistant crops in water-scarce areas will help mitigate economic impacts on farmers. Finally, the erratic rainfall has increased the dependency on groundwater hence the pump uses, the consumption of electricity may rise to 50% from recent 20% of the total electricity, the adoption of renewable energy will reduce dependency on the central grid. Installing early warning systems allows communities to predict and prepare for climatic anomalies, reducing the risk of crop loss and environmental damage.
Ecological Principles
Maintaining biodiversity ensures stability of system and prevents pest or disease outbreak. Crop production losses to pests is increasing globally, with 2°C rise in global temperature the increase in yield losses due to pests is 59, 92 and 62 metric megatons per year in wheat, rice, maize respectively. In such cases maintaining ecological balance becomes essential. The use of organic amendments and minimal tillage helps preserve soil bacteria populations, boosting soil nutrients for better crop growth while preserving moisture. India burns 92MT of crop residues every year which can be used to improve soil health and can reduce dependency on fertilizers. The integration of agroforestry, along with planting trees, provides farmers with additional income and serves as a natural shelterbelt to protect against wind erosion.
Agricultural principles:
Application of Zero tillage, minimum tillage can check the GHG emission from agriculture which is equivalent to 16.2 billion tonnes now. Crop diversification, avoiding water intensive crops in water scarce areas. Intercropping, reduces dependency on a single crop and spreads risk, making farming more resilient to fluctuating environmental conditions. Integrated pest management (IPM) supports the maintenance of a balanced ecological system by controlling pest infestations through biological means, which is getting famous now and the market size of which is $134.68 billion. Integrating precision farming techniques can increase crop yield by 5-15%, with proper placement of resources it can reduce the fertiliser and pesticide requirement by 7-9% and water consumption by 6%.
Farm Management Principles:
Efficient use of farm machinery, and renewable energy systems can significantly conserve resources and reduce costs, enhancing overall sustainability. Zero till operation costs 2000 rupees less than conventional tillage per hectare, and production increases 6-7%. 10 kg of crop residue can produce 2.2m3 of biogas, which can promote energy independence. Low cost systems like gasifier can produce char which has high demand and syngas for domestic cooking. Integration of solar to fields (agrivoltaics) can increase yield 40-50%, can reduce crop water requirement.
Social and Economic principles:
Improving awareness can increase crop residue management, 1 tonnes of residue contains around 1600 kg of nutrients, this can reduce fertiliser application amount. Farmers field should get insurance against the ill effect of climate leading to yield loss. Spreading awareness about policies and rules of government to small land holders which constitutes 90% of total farmers in India, can make climate resilient agriculture a success.
Policies Promoting Resilient agriculture:
- Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY): Encourages organic farming practices and sustainable agriculture.
- Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY): Enhances public investment in agriculture and allied sectors.
- Soil Health Card Scheme: Provides farmers with information about soil nutrient status and recommendations for balanced use of fertilizers.
- National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA): Promotes climate-resilience and sustainable farming practices, focusing on soil health, water use efficiency, and agroforestry.
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY): provides insurance and financial support to farmers in case of crop loss due to natural disasters, reducing income risks.
- E-NAM (Electronic National Agriculture Market): Facilitates online trading of agricultural produce.
- Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme: Provides farmers with easy and timely credit access for agricultural and allied activities.
- Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs): Offers extension services, training for adaption of new technologies.
- Agriculture Export Policy: Enhances market access promoting agricultural export.
- Sustainable Farming Practices and Organic Certification Incentives: Enhances organic farming leading to premium price of produce.
- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN): Provides direct income support to small and marginal farmers.
- Promotion of Agro-Processing Industries: Encourages value addition, reduces post-harvest losses by food processing.
- National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP): Aims to increase oilseed production to make India self-sufficient.
- Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF): Provision of financial support to strengthen infrastructure, benefiting livestock farmers.
Climate Change Mitigation Potential:
- Conservation agriculture, agroforestry can sequester carbon in soils. Also, it can reduce the greenhouse gas emission by minimal tillage, IPM.
- Maintains biodiversity, pollination and pest control supporting ecosystem resilience.
- IPCC estimates 2-5 Gt CO₂/yr mitigation potential by 2030. FAO estimation is 1.3-2.6 Gt CO₂/yr mitigation potential by 2030 through climate smart agriculture.
Conclusion
Climate resilient agriculture is a vital strategy for ensuring global food security, enhancing biodiversity conservation, mitigating climate change impacts and enhancing economic resilience among farmers. Policy support, international cooperation and climate finance are necessary for scalping up climate resilient agriculture.
References:
1.IPCC (2019)- climate change and land
2.FAO (2019) -The state of climate resilience Report.
3.International Monetary fund – global warming and agriculture report.
4.Institute of life sciences https://www.ils.res.in/building-a-sustainable-future-the-challenges-of-building-a-climate-resilient-agriculture/
5.NAAS 2013. Climate Resilient Agriculture in India. Policy Paper No. 65, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi: 20 p.
6.Emission of Air Pollutants from Crop Residue Burning in India Niveta Jain, Arti Bhatia, Himanshu Pathak Centre for Environment Science and Climate Resilient Agriculture, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India.
7.Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate Curtis A. Deutsch, Joshua Tewksbury, Michelle Tigchelaar, David S. Battisti DOI – 10.1126/science.aat3466.
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