Climate Change-Implications for Agriculture and Food Security

Abstract

Abstract
The warning signs of global warming have appeared everywhere, right from increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, to increasing temperatures, and occurrence of extreme events like droughts, floods, intense rains, and cyclones, besides melting of glaciers and rise in sea levels. The objectives of this paper are to present likely scenarios, risks to agriculture, food security and livelihoods arising out of climate change in coming few decades. Further, the paper analyses the projected situations in 21st century with special reference to climate change impacts on groundwater resources, agricultural and horticultural crops besides dairy and allied sectors in Indian context. In addition to carrying forward the analyses on the underlying forces of climate change, it gives a comprehensive account of climate profile of India. It suggests various measures required to minimize the adverse effects of climate change on environment. It also explains in depth the salient features of India’s National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), launched in 2011, and how it is being implemented at micro-level in villages/clusters to develop climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in a technological, management, and socio-economic level to protect the losses to food and commercial crops. At the same time, NICRA aims to protect the livelihoods of vulnerable people in rural areas by giving them access to information, technical and institutional support from the Government and agricultural research Institutions to manage their crops and allied enterprises that may happen to be under climate change threat. The paper also analyses the framework of The National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) launched in 2010 under the domain of National Action Plan on Climate Change that was announced earlier in 2009. The major objectives of NMSA mission are to develop adaptive crop varieties by conserving, enriching and exploiting the genetic pool of agricultural and allied sector crops to lessen the adverse impacts of climate change on their yields and provide the much needed food security to Indian population. The paper concludes by recommending that India should invest in research and development (R&D) activities for introducing high-yielding new generation of climate change adaptable crops, along with improved farm management practices specific to such climates, in order to maximize nutrient utilization and water use efficiencies that are essential in raising real time crop yields. Also, alternate cropping systems should be practised to prevent crop failures from extreme events.

Key words: climate change, greenhouse gases (GHGs), intergovernmental panel on climate change ( IPCC), carbon dioxide (CO2), emissions, temperature, floods, climate, livelihoods, south-west monsoon, rainfall, rainfed, crop yields, adaptation, mitigation, carbon sequestration, sustainable, resilient, and food security