‘Steps needed to mitigate impact of climate change on agriculture’

Mr Mangala Rai, the Director General of Indian Council of Agriculture Research, has called for immediate steps to adapt ways to mitigate the impact of climate change on agriculture, as it is a cause of concern. A National Network Project titled ‘Impact, Adaptation, and Vulnerability of Indian Agriculture to Climate Change’ has been launched with a focus on impacts of climate change on different sectors of agricultural production. An outlay of Rs 422 crore has been made for the modernization of Agricultural Universities’ farms for the renovation and modernisation of farm infrastructure and facilities, he said.
Delivering the keynote address at a national seminar on ‘Enhancing Agricultural Productivity and Profitability’ here on Saturday, he pointed out that the revised Post Graduate course curricula would make higher education in agriculture more utilitarian and relevant in tune with the scientific and technological advancements and the country’s growing economic demands.
The share of agriculture in national income declined from 38.8 per cent to less than 18 per cent between 1980-81 and 2000-01 and the workforce engaged in it registered a marginal reduction of only 8 per cent, from 60 per cent to 52 per cent. Slow growth in agriculture with no significant decline in labour force has created a serious disparity between agriculture and non-agriculture sectors and urban and rural India, he said. He called for a multi-pronged strategic intervention to address the various challenges faced by the agriculture sector. Such a strategy should focus on five areas – enhanced investment in agriculture, development of human resources and effective knowledge management system, enhanced productivity and competitiveness of farm produce, promotion of farmer-consumer linkages, and an enabling policy environment that would help farmer to assess input and output markets, reduce cost, and receive remunerative prices making agriculture a profitable as well as an honourable venture.
Mr Rai also called for sustainable development of potential sources of water warning that by 2020 agriculture would demand 29 per cent more water as against a 12 per cent reduction in water availability. It was necessary to use quality seed to achieve the national goal of increasing production and enhancing agricultural growth, he said.
He stressed the need for the National Soil Use Policy to focus on maintaining the health of soil to facilitate its various productions, environmental and hydrological functions. A remote sensing and geographic information system based decision support system complete with a database on climate, soil, land use and crop yields should be developed to assess, map and monitor land use performance under given technological conditions, he said.
The Business Line, 31st August 2009