"Connecting communities, empowering nations: Unifying the Regional and Global Economy ."

Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects the weather patterns, temperature, precipitation, and sea level rise. It has significant implications for India’s agriculture, which is largely dependent on the monsoon rains and groundwater resources. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), India is projected to experience more frequent and intense droughts, floods, heat waves, and cyclones in the coming decades. These extreme events can have adverse impacts on crop production, soil health, water availability, pest and disease incidence, and farmers’ livelihoods.

One of the major challenges that climate change poses for Indian agriculture is water scarcity. Water is a critical input for crop growth and irrigation, but it is becoming increasingly scarce due to rising demand, overexploitation, pollution, and reduced recharge. India accounts for about 17% of the world’s population but only 4% of the world fresh water resources². The per capita availability of water has declined by 70% since 1950. About 600 million people in India face acute water shortages³, and 21 major cities are expected to run out of groundwater by 2020⁴.

Water scarcity affects both the quantity and quality of agricultural production. It limits the area under cultivation, reduces crop yields, increases input costs, and lowers farm incomes. It also increases the vulnerability of crops to pests, diseases, and weeds. Water scarcity can also lead to conflicts among different users of water, such as farmers, industries, urban dwellers, and ecosystems. Moreover, water scarcity can exacerbate the effects of other climate change impacts, such as heat stress, salinity, and soil erosion.

According to a study by the National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP), climate change is likely to reduce the yield of major crops such as rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, and potato by 6-25% by 2100. The study also found that the impact of climate change varies across different agro-climatic zones in India. For example, rice yield is projected to decrease by 7-10% in the irrigated areas of the Indo-Ganetic plains and by less than 2.5% in the rainfed areas of the coastal regions⁵. Similarly, wheat yield is projected to decrease by 6-23% in the irrigated areas of the north-western plains and by less than 5% in the rainfed areas of the central plateau.

The study also suggested some possible adaptation measures to cope with the impact of climate change on Indian agriculture. These include:

– Improving water use efficiency by adopting micro-irrigation systems, rainwater harvesting structures, watershed management practices, crop diversification, and drought-tolerant varieties.
– Enhancing soil fertility and organic matter by using bio-fertilizers, composts, green manures, mulches, and conservation tillage.
– Promoting integrated pest management (IPM) by using bio-pesticides, bio-agents, trap crops, intercropping, and resistant varieties.
– Adopting climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices that increase productivity, resilience, and mitigation potential of agricultural systems. These include agroforestry, precision farming, digital agriculture, and climate information services.

In conclusion, climate change is a serious threat to India’s agricultural sector and food security. It poses multiple challenges for water availability and quality for irrigation and crop growth. However, there are also opportunities to adapt to the changing climate by adopting sustainable and innovative practices that enhance water use efficiency, soil health, pest management, and crop productivity. These practices require adequate investment, research, extension, policy support, and stakeholder participation.

Source:
(1) Impact of Climate Change on Indian Agriculture: An Agro-Climatic Zone …. https://niap.icar.gov.in/pdf/pb44.pdf.
(2) How climate change is impacting India’s agricultural landscape. https://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/columns/story/how-climate-change-is-impacting-indias-agricultural-landscape-311452-2021-11-06.
(3) Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1696468.
(4) Water and Agriculture in India – OAV. https://www.oav.de/fileadmin/user_upload/5_Publikationen/5_Studien/170118_Study_Water_Agriculture_India.pdf.
(5) Groundwater Loss in India Threatens Millions of Farmers’ Ability to …. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/india-farmers-water-loss-food-security/.
(6) Water scarcity in India – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_scarcity_in_India.
(7) Water and Sustainable Agriculture – AID. https://aidindia.org/water-and-sustainable-agriculture/.