The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), established by the government in 2008, plays a pivotal role in addressing the significant challenge of climate change in the agricultural community. This comprehensive policy framework outlines a national strategy to adapt to climate change and enhance ecological sustainability. One of its key components is the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), which is dedicated to making agriculture more resilient to the changing weather conditions.
ICAR’s NICRA Initiative: Building Climate-Resilient Agriculture for Vulnerable Regions
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has launched a flagship network project, National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA). This successful project conducts studies on the impact of climate change on agriculture, including crops, livestock, horticulture, and fisheries. Also, it develops and promotes climate-resilient technologies in agriculture for vulnerable areas of the country. The project outputs help the districts and regions prone to extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods, frost, heat waves, etc., to cope with such extremes. During the last 10 years (2014-2024), ICAR has released 2593 varieties; out of these, 2177 varieties have been found tolerant to one or more biotic and/or abiotic stresses.
At the district level, offices have carried out the risk and vulnerability assessment of agriculture to climate change. It covered 651 predominantly agricultural districts per Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) protocols. Out of 310 districts identified as vulnerable, authorities have categorized 109 districts as ‘very high’ and 201 as ‘highly’ vulnerable.
District Agriculture Contingency Plans (DACPs) for these 651 districts will address weather aberrations and recommend location-specific climate-resilient crops and varieties and management practices for use by the State Departments of Agriculture. NICRA has initiated the concept of “Climate Resilient Villages” (CRVs) to enhance farmers’ resilience and adaptive capacity to climate variability. Location-specific climate resilient technologies have been demonstrated in 448 CRVs of 151 climatically vulnerable districts covering 28 states / UTs for adoption by farmers. ICAR, through its NICRA project, creates awareness about the impact of environment on agriculture among farmers. Capacity-building programs educate farmers on various aspects of weather changes for broader adoption of climate-resilient technologies.
Government Schemes
Considering the challenge posed by climate change in agriculture, the government has initiated several schemes under NMSA to deal with the adverse climate situations in the agriculture sector across the country. The government launched the “Per Drop More Crop” (PDMC) scheme during 2015-16 to increase water use efficiency at the farm level through micro-irrigation technologies, such as drip and sprinkler irrigation systems.
The Rainfed Area Development (RAD) scheme is a component under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) from 2014-15. RAD focuses on the integrated farming system (IFS) to enhance productivity and minimize risks associated with climatic variability. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Agroforestry & National Bamboo Mission also aims to increase climate resilience in agriculture. Further, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), along with the weather index-based Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS), provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop by way of providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen natural calamities, adverse weather incidence and to help stabilize income of farmers and ensure their continuation of farming.
The Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Bhagirath Choudhary, played a pivotal role in disseminating this information in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today, keeping the public informed about the government’s initiatives in the agricultural sector.
Source: http://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=2081582
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