Adaptation strategies

The agriculture sector is an integral part of India’s growth story. It employs 58 percent of the population and contributes 18 percent of the country’s GDP. It is responsible for both food and nutritional security and is key to efforts towards alleviating poverty and reducing inequality. In the first quarter of 2020, agriculture was the only sector that showed some growth (3.4 percent) when the economy contracted overall by a massive 23.4 percent. At the same time, agriculture contributes 16 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the country, second only to the energy sector

Distribution of GHG Emissions (Gg CO₂e) by sector

If India is aiming to transition to a green economy and achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it will have to pay greater attention to the agricultural sector. Agriculture can yet prove to be a catalyst for India to achieve a standard of inclusive, green growth. It is important, therefore, to create a pathway towards climate-smart agriculture that is not just accessible and feasible to India’s small and marginal farmers, but also creates a stable income stream. Consequently, a just transition to climate-smart agriculture requires combining the need for stabilised farmers’ incomes with the shift towards greener and less climate-exhaustive practises.

• Many agricultural  technologies and  practices  such as  minimum  tillage,  different methods of crop establishment, nutrient and irrigation management and residue management can improve crop  yields: nutrient and  water use efficiency  and reduced greenhouse  gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural activities.
• Similarly, the use of improved seeds, rainwater harvesting (RH), Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) ‐based agro‐advisories and crop/livestock insurances can also help farmers to reduce the impact of climate change and variability.
• In general, the CSA options integrate innovative and traditional technologies, practices and services that are relevant for particular location and reduce the effect of climate change and provide the opportunities to stand such changing scenario.
• Adaptation and mitigation are complementary strategies for reducing and managing the risks of climate change.
• Substantial reduction in GHG emission over the next few decades can reduce the occurrence of climatic variability in the twenty‐first century and beyond, increase prospects for effective adaptation, reduce the costs and challenges of mitigation in the longer term and contribute to climate‐resilient pathways for sustainable agriculture.

Mitigation through farming practices

• A change in the system of cultivation, cultural practices, nutrient management and water management helps to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases

Mitigation through transgenic crops

• Agriculture contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
• As indicated by researchers, there is a need to give priorities to develop new varieties of crops cultivars that can reduce GHG emissions in farming systems.
• In this regard, GM crops have been contributing to lower GHG emissions through reducing fuel use, due both to less pesticide applications and increasing the area grown under conservation agriculture (CA), which involves practices such as ‘no‐till’ or ‘reduced‐till’.
• It is reported that, in 2012, GM crops were grown roughly on 12% of the world’s arable land, which reduced over 26.7 billion kg of carbon dioxide (CO₂) or the equivalent of removing nearly 12 million cars from circulation with a total reduction.

Animal breeding

• About one‐fifth of global CH₄ emissions are from enteric fermentation in ruminant animals.
• Apart from various rumen manipulations and emission control strategies, genetic engineering is a promising tool to reduce these emissions.
• The most practical and rapid mitigation procedure may be to reduce the per cow CH4 emission through animal breeding and genetic selection for feed efficiency as it is permanent and cumulative.
• Other options like manipulation in diet composition, supplementation of feed additives and selection of forage plants of high quality for breeding provide solution for reduced CH4 emission from enteric fermentation.

This programme was started by ICAR during February 2011 with the following objectives:

1. Increase the resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and climatic variability by development and implementation of production and risk management strategies.
2. Demonstration of site‐specific technologies on farmer’s field.
3. Enhancing the capacity of scientists and other stakeholders for climate‐resilient agriculture research and its application.

Smart agricultural practices in India promoted by ICAR are as follows:

1. Rejuvenation of farming in cyclone‐ and flood‐prone coastal agro‐ecosystems through land shaping,
2. Staggered paddy nursery as a contingency measure for drought,
3. Water efficient direct‐seeded rice cultivation technology,
4. Drum‐seeded rice for improving water use efficiency,
5. Short‐duration rice cultivar for drought tolerance,
6. Drought‐tolerant short‐duration finger millet varieties for late season drought in south interior Karnataka,
7. Short‐duration crop varieties suitable for late sowings,
8. Crop diversification for livelihood and food security, sustainability,
9. Flood‐tolerant varieties impart resilience to farmers in flood‐prone areas,
10. Improving the resilience of poor farmers reclaiming cultivable wastelands,
11. Community tanks/ponds as a means of augmentation and management of village level water resources,
12. Individual farm ponds for improving livelihoods of small farmers,
13. Jalkund—low‐cost rainwater‐harvesting structures,
14. Check dam‐storing excess runoff in streams,
15. Rainwater harvesting and recycling through temporary check dam,
16. Enhancing resilience through improvement in conveyance efficiency,
17. Recharge of wells to improve shallow aquifers,
18. Integrated Farming System modules,
19. Captive rearing of fish seed—a livelihood opportunity in flood‐prone areas,
20. Management practices to tackle cold stress in backyard poultry,
21. Shelter management for small ruminants to tackle heat stress and rain storm,
22. Small‐farm mechanization through Custom Hiring Centres for farm machinery,
23. Improved planting methods for increasing water use efficiency and crop productivity,
24. Zero‐till drill wheat to escape problem of terminal heat stress,
25. In situ incorporation of biomass and crop residues for enhancing soil microbial population and soil health,
26. Village level seed banks for reducing seed shortages,
27. Improved fodder cultivars to solve the problem of fodder scarcity.

1. Sensor Data Used for Smart Farming: Using aerospace engineering analysis techniques, tests have been carried out at National Aerospace Research Laboratory in the Netherlands (NLR) on facilitating higher yields for the potato crop for the farmers participating in the project. Although these farmers know very well their land and crops, information on how well their crop is growing using such technology will be of interest. By reference to data known on the crops during the previous month, the farmer can use the aerospace engineering based data to help determine the reasons behind the growth deficiency, if any.
2. Climate Smart Agriculture Mechanization Using Robotics: Challenged by the need for mechanized monitoring, pruning, thinning, and even picking produce as alternative to declining number of human workforce,novel approach is to utilize available information technologies through the use of more intelligent machines to reduce and target energy.
3. GPS Technology for Climate-Smart Agriculture: GPS technology already available in smart-phones may be utilized to determine when users should water their crops by estimating how much water the plants are using each day and factoring in area rainfall totals, via connection with the closest weather station.
4. Drones for Climate-Smart Agriculture: Relatively cheap agricultural drones with advanced sensors and imaging capabilities are giving farmers new ways to increase yields and reduce crop damage.
5. Precision Agriculture: Precision agriculture (PA) is a farming management concept based on observing, measuring and responding to inter and intra-field variability in crops. The goal of precision agriculture research is to define a decision support system (DSS) for whole farm management with the goal of optimizing returns on inputs while preserving resources.

• Precise and accurate weather forecasting for different location will help to make contingent plan for different crop and cropping systems.
• Researches on precise water, nutrient and pesticide application technologies suitable for small and marginal farmers are needed.
• Researches on crop residue management, minimum tillage and mulches need to be developed.
• Breeding and biotechnological approaches for crop and varieties need to be developed for adoption in changing climatic scenario.