Dr Trilochan Mohapatra
Secretary, Department Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi
IISD's invited Distinguished Guest Blog

Climate Change will affect the agricultural productivity. It is high time to implement climate-resilient agriculture by adopting stress tolerant varieties, water and nutrient management for efficient resource utilisation, conservation agricultural practices and efficient soil management. Climate-resilient agriculture is an approach that includes sustainable use of existing natural resources through integrated crop and livestock production systems to achieve long-term higher productivity and farm incomes. Climate resilient agriculture encompasses the incorporation of adaptation and resilience enhancing practices in agriculture which increase the capacity of the system to respond to various external stimuli. It is the ability of the system to bounce back with optimum management of natural resources, land, water, soil and genetic resources through adoption of best practices.

Our country is committed to reduce emission intensity and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels. Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has taken steps to initiate a project on climate resilient agriculture in response to the recommendations of Standing Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Government of India. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is implementing the project 'National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)' to develop various models and best practices to combat with climate induced variables. In this direction, ICAR also showed the preparedness by implementing a project on "Bio prospecting of genes and allele mining to abiotic stress tolerance". The project prospected biological resources and targeted eight major traits namely moisture stress, salinity, sodicity, acidity, heat, cold, submergence and anoxia. It covered several microbes, seven plants, fish, goat and camel and operated at 36 ICAR institutes and SAUs. Collaborative efforts involving multidisciplinary approach led to identification of stress tolerant and susceptible phenotypes for further genomic analysis. Genotyping, phenotyping, and computational genomic capabilities have been developed to handle the climate change. Genomic resources in the form of genome and transcriptome sequences, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) and genes with differential expression under varying stress conditions were developed for future use. A pool of trained human resources and state-of-art infrastructure to handle large scale genotyping of germplasm and computational genomics were generated to carry out research in the area for meeting challenges due to climate change.

Varieties and Technologies for Climate Change Adaptation
ICAR has emphasized on developing good agricultural practices, precision farming, regional crop plans, climate-resilient and water-economising technologies to enhance productivity and income security to farmers. Stress tolerance traits such as disease resistance, drought tolerance and submergence tolerance were transferred to high yielding background to make crops resilient to adverse climatic variations. There are 1020 climate resilient varieties to withstand various biotic and abiotic stress in different climatic and soil types developed during the period 2015-2021. Multiple stress tolerant varieties of different crops were developed. CR Dhan 801 and 802 were developed as submergence and drought tolerance. Arka Rakshak and Arka Samrat Tomato varieties with triple disease resistance to Tomato Leaf Curl Virus + Bacterial Wilt + Early Blight have been developed. Tomato for high temperature tolerance variety VRNTH-20131 yielded 55.6 ton/ha with availability of fruits from 2nd week of May to 2nd week of June when average temperature ranged from 40/23^oC (day/night temperature) to 43/30^oC. Flood tolerant rice varieties namely Swarna Sub1, Ranjith sub- 1, Ratnagiri- 1, 5, 7, MTU-2537 were demonstrated in several cyclone and flood affected areas with better yield.

Climate resilient agriculture will help to sustain agricultural production by developing specific models at village level and further propagating at global level. Improved access and utilisation of technology, transparent trade regimes, increased use of resources conservation technologies, increased adaptation of crops and livestock to climatic stress are the outcomes from climate-resilient practices. ICAR has developed climate resilient village models at selected vulnerable districts and demonstrated proven technologies for adaptation of crop and livestock production systems with respect to climate variability. The demonstration of location specific interventions was carried out in 151 districts involving one lakh farm families across the country for large scale adoption by farmers in future.

Selection of appropriate crops, varieties, management practices and cropping systems are important for minimizing the impact of climatic variability. The introduction of drought/temperature/flood tolerant varieties, advancement of planting dates of rabi crops in areas with terminal heat stress, water saving paddy cultivation methods, frost management in horticulture through trash burning, community nurseries for delayed monsoon, location specific intercropping systems with high sustainable yield index are some of the interventions that are imparting climate resilience.

Improved high yielding short duration varieties along with proper management practices are to be promoted to improve the resilience of farming in the drought prone areas. Drought-tolerant early maturing cultivars of green gram, chickpea and pigeon pea were introduced in the farmer's fields in Maharashtra and produced 20-25 per cent higher yield than the indigenous cultivars. Short duration finger millet is an important staple rainfed crop in southern parts like Karnataka. Adoption of short duration varieties such as ML-365 is suitable for late planting in case of delay in monsoon or due to deficit rainfall conditions in July. This variety performed significantly better with an average yield advantage of 33% compared to other varieties. Apart from good grain quality, this variety has good fodder quality and improves milk productivity in milch animals. Short duration varieties suitable for tackling contingency situations under rainfed conditions should enter the seed supply chain.

The adoption of short duration and drought tolerant varieties of Paddy that are amenable both for transplanting and direct sowing fit well into contingency plans for all types of farming situations (upland, midlands and lowlands). The yield of short duration varieties is slightly lower as compared to long duration varieties due to early maturation. However, short duration varieties serve as best bet options for drought proofing in rainfed rice cultivation as they provide significant yield advantage in drought years over the traditional long duration varieties. Yield advantage with these varieties in drought years range between 8.3 to 38.4% when compared to the existing long duration varieties. Direct seeded rice with short duration varieties such as PR - 127 and PR - 121 were demonstrated in Punjab for timely sowing and efficient use of water.

Drought and Flood are the major challenge for rice production in the country. Farmers can adopt flood tolerant varieties that can withstand inundation for an extended period and reduce the risk from flood damage. Flood tolerant varieties ensure reduced pest infestation and disease incidence. Demonstration of flood tolerant varieties of paddy farmers in states such as Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh showed a yield advantage ranging from 18.1 to 77.2% compared to farmers' practice. Direct seeded rice is a best strategy to cope with water shortage and is relatively more popular in the rainfed rice growing states like Chhattisgarh.

Crop Diversification
Crop diversification is an important risk minimizing strategy for drought proofing in the scarce rainfall zones. Inter cropping is a feasible option to minimize risk in crop production, ensure reasonable returns and improve soil fertility with a legume intercrop in such areas. Cotton, soybean, pigeon pea and millets are the major crops in the scarce rainfall zones. Inter cropping of these crops is more profitable. In contingency situations such as delay in onset of monsoon, adoption of inter cropping for delayed plantings can be remunerative instead of sole cropping. Inter cropping systems such as Groundnut + Red gram (10:2), Maize + Pigeon pea (6:1) were demonstrated in drought prone districts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh. It is profitable to grow groundnut, sunflower and sesame under rice fallow situations. Upland rice with oil seed and pulses have been demonstrated for profitability in rainfed situation. Similarly, Bajra with small ruminants has been demonstrated in rainfed areas of the country.

Agro forestry products such as timber, fibre, fruit, food, fodder, fuelwood, fertilizers, medicine and others are meeting the subsistence needs of farmers and providing greater opportunity for sustained productivity. The promising systems suitable for different agro-ecological regions of the country have been demonstrated for sustainable yield. Casuarina, Teak, Gamhar, Shisham, Mangium, Bamboo, Ardu, Mulberry, Calliandra and Mulberry, Peach and Apricot based agro forestry models have been developed and demonstrated by ICAR for sustainable yield.

Integrated Farming System Modules
Mono-cropping is generally practiced in areas prone to floods and extreme weather events such as frost/cold stress and water scarcity. Diversification of farm enterprises can augment farming income and build resilience among the farming community to tide over losses. Several integrated farming system modules with a combination of small enterprises such as crop, livestock, poultry, piggery, fish and duck rearing can be adopted by farmers. Integrated farming system modules minimize risk from a single enterprise in the face of natural calamities and diversified enterprises can provide better income to farmers and improve their livelihoods. Integrated farming system modules such as Crop + cow + fish, Crop + goat + poultry, Rice + coconut + cows, Rice + goat + mango + sapota, Pearl millet - chick pea - papaya - cows, Crop + livestock + fish, Maize - groundnut + cow, Rice + coconut + goat, Pearl millet + guava + goat / cow, Pearl millet + agro forestry + goat / sheep have been demonstrated in different agro ecological regions for better profit. In Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, improved maize (African Tall),oat (Palampur-1), Berseem (Muskewi) and barley (HBL-180) cultivars were demonstrated to increase the productivity of livestock and farmer's income by providing quality green fodder. In mango based integrated farming system under rain-fed condition, total net returns of Rs. 1,44, 760/year/ha with 226% higher returns obtained with inter cropping over mono cropping of mango (Rs. 63, 910/year). The productivity was enhanced under inter crops by means of highest yield with sweet potato (7.36 t/ha) compared to sole crop (3.47 t/ha and organic carbon content increased to 0.74 per cent in Mucuna puriens + Pumpkin mixed crop.

Water-Smart technologies like furrow-irrigated raised bed, micro-irrigation, rainwater harvesting structure, cover-crop method, greenhouse, laser land leveling and reuse wastewater, can support farmers to decrease the effect of variations of climate. The technologies such as groundwater recharge techniques, adoption of scientific water conservation methods, altering the fertilizer and irrigation schedules, adjusting the planting dates, irrigation scheduling and adopting zero-tillage will help farmers for satisfactory crop yield. Resilient practices such as drought, flood, heat, cold, salinity tolerant and short duration varieties of various crops, inter cropping systems, improved planting material of fodder crops, can be upscaled by building capacities of communities in seed production. Developmental agencies can support the spread of proven promising varieties among the farming community. Development of institutional frameworks locally can play a significant role in the adoption and spread of resilient varieties. The proven practices are to be targeted depending on the bio-physical environments, prevailing production systems and the perceived needs of the farmers. ICAR effort will lead to stabilization of food production under changing climate scenario and bring greater precision in genetic improvement programmes thereby increasing the capability of Indian agricultural research system to maintain the productivity.
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Dr Trilochan Mohapatra is the Secretary, Department Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi.

This is an IISD's Invited Guest Blog, under Distinguished Personality Category.