Indian agriculture is increasingly becoming a victim of unpredictable weather. Be it the Monsoon fury or dreading the drought, Indian agriculture is still bearing the brunt of inclement weather by way of declining farm produce and shrinking exports. This grave concern has been once again pointed out by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee who feels that despite the advances made in the last few decades, agriculture in India is yet to be made completely weather-resistant.
As per industry reports, almost 120 million hectares of the available 140 million hectares of crop area in the country are in various stages of degradation. Emphasis thus should be on water use efficiency in agriculture, besides addressing the issues of water productivity, according to the President.
For instance, the impact of a deficit Monsoon is such that a country that registers a record foodgrain production of 265 million tonnes in 2013-14, faces a drop of 4% as output fell to 253 million tonnes in 2014-15.
Developing technologies, timely weather advisories, adopting advanced farming techniques and provision of healthy soil are some of the measures that the President Pranab Mukherjee feels should penetrate deeper into the hinterland of India.
Scientists at IARI (The Indian Agriculture Research Institute) have studied the subject and have used a variety of crop growth models to evaluate potential climate change impacts on wheat and rice (India’s primary crops), and other crops such as sorghum and maize. Climate change is affecting the Indian agriculture in a big way and so making Indian agriculture climate resilient, by embedding various adaptation measures, is clearly the need of the hour.
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