Relevance : GS Paper III (Ecology and Environment)
[850 words reduced to 150]
- The world has become 1°C warmer because of human activities.
- Indian agriculture amid increasing warming
- high monsoon dependence and 85% small and marginal landholdings make it highly sensitive
- less than normal rainfall during the last four years
- 2014 and 2015 were drought years
- escalation in heat waves is affecting crops, aquatic systems and livestock.
- farm income losses could rise to 20%-25% for unirrigated areas
- Steps needed to build climate resilient agriculture
- reshaping both the micro- and macro-level decision-making.
- Corroborating traditional wisdom with climate assessments
- promoting climate resilient technologies
- practices such as inter cropping , crop-rotation; shift to non-farm activities; insurance covers
- educating farmers by reorienting Krishi Vigyan Kendras and other grass-root organisations
- mainstreaming climate adaptations in the developmental framework
- improving irrigation efficiency, satellite-enabled agriculture risk management, providing customised real time data, etc.
- interventions such as the PMKSY, PMFBY, Soil Health Card, PKVY, e-NAM
- greater expertise and consultations
- Efforts to make agriculture climate-resilient must be scaled up and consolidated.