Climate-smart villages for resilient agriculture

In the current year, India faced unprecedented climatic extremes, including heat waves, cold waves, cyclones, heavy rainfall, floods and landslides, and periods of deficient rainfall in one or other parts of the country.

- PRAMOD KUMAR AGGARWAL AND ARUN KUMAR JOSHI

Other countries of South Asia were equally affected. The frequency and intensity of such events have increased and are projected to increase further due to climate change. These climatic changes have also led to an unusual increase in insect-pest activities in recent years. A severe desert locust attack on crops in northwestern India was reported in 2020, triggered by climate extremes in Africa, damaging cumin, rapeseed, and mustard in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Similarly, fall armyworm affected maize crops in about 2 lakh ha in Karnataka, western Maharashtra and Gujarat, and eastern states in 2018 and 2019. These climate-related production losses, along with the pandemic, global and regional conflicts, and inflation, have resulted in increased volatility in agricultural systems affecting the food, nutrition, and livelihood security of poor people in the country. Considering that India needs to produce much more food to meet the demand associated with the rising population and income, such volatility is worrisome and warrants quick, proactive action.