IMPACT OF CLIMATE CRISIS ON AGRICULTURE
IMPACT OF CLIMATE CRISIS ON AGRICULTURE I RACE IAS : Top IAS coaching institute of Lucknow I Current Affairs
IMPACT OF CLIMATE CRISIS ON AGRICULTURE
Mains General Studies: Paper-III
(Issues and challenges related to Agriculture sector)
Context:
- The biggest challenge facing the world at present is the climate crisis. If the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture are not taken seriously, there is a possibility of a huge food crisis in the near future.
- In the last decade, crops have been continuously affected in the country due to reasons like floods, drought, extreme cold, heavy rains in a short period of time, heat waves and temperature rise.
Far-reaching impacts of the climate crisis on agriculture:
- According to a World Bank report, 45 million people in India will be forced to live in extreme poverty in the next fifteen years due to reduction in production due to climate crisis.
- In the next decade and a half, an increase of two degree centigrade in the temperature of the country's earth is believed to be fixed. As a result, the intensity of monsoon will increase by ten percent. That is, a lot of rain in a short time, the size of water drops will increase, the frequency of cloud bursts and lightning will increase.
- Statistics of the last five years show that the incidence of lightning has increased at the rate of fifteen percent in Himachal, Uttarakhand including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
- Excessive rains in a short span of time are creating flood situations. After the rains, long dry conditions have developed in these places.
- According to scientific estimates, the country's wheat production will decrease by one crore tonnes due to increase in temperature by two degrees.
- Due to the increase of carbon dioxide, the amount of other elements including proteins in the crops will decrease.
- With the decrease in the fertility of animals, there will be a decline in their milk production capacity.
- According to a research by Punjab Agricultural University, the climate crisis is expected to reduce the production of rice by 1 percent and the production of maize and cotton by 13 and 11 percent respectively by the year 2050.
- Last year, there was a drastic drop in wheat production forecast due to sudden heat waves at the time of crop ripening.
- Last year in 2022, due to delay in monsoon and excess rainfall, the production of kharif crops including urad, moong, oilseeds and paddy was less than estimated.
- Due to the climate crisis, the amount of organic matter in the country's agriculture has decreased rapidly. Instead of three to six per cent of the essential organic matter in the arable soil, it has reduced to only 0.5 per cent.
- If the process of destroying organicity continues like this, then in the next fifty years the fertility of India's agricultural land will be completely finished.
- In the coming days, meteorologists have expressed the possibility of premature increase in temperature, premature heat wave in North India. Due to its effect, the wheat crop along with the pulse crops will get ready before time and there is a possibility of decline in the yield.
- India ranks fourteenth among the countries most likely to be negatively impacted in the Global Climate Index. Average rainfall days in India are projected to decline by 60 per cent by 2050, leading to a sharp decline in yields.
- Dire conditions of production decline are possible in neighboring countries.
Factors causing Climate Crisis for Agriculture
- Crop residue and straw
- Every year 700 lakh metric tonnes of crop residue is generated in the country from wheat, paddy, maize and soyabean crops. Farmers burn twenty percent of it every year, which is responsible for increasing the amount of toxic gases in the atmosphere, loss of ozone layer, destruction of soil organic matter and converting phosphorus and potash available in the soil into solid form by making them insoluble. . Due to this, there is a lot of damage to the water absorption capacity of the soil along with its fertility.
- Overuse of Nitrogen
- Excessive emission of nitrogen in the country is also a major reason for the climate crisis. Limited use of nitrogen is necessary to provide essential nutrients to plants and in protein formation, but its indiscriminate use is highly detrimental to soil's water absorption capacity and biodiversity.
- Optimum use of Urea
- The dangers of indiscriminate use of urea will also have to be avoided. Due to this, the pace of growing climate crisis will slow down a bit and agriculture will also be saved.
Government of India's programs to deal with the climate crisis:
- The Government of India has not yet presented any specific action plan to save agriculture from the consequences of the climate crisis.
Climate Smart Agriculture
- Climate smart agriculture has been implemented in the country to meet the interrelated challenges of food security and climate change at the national level.
- It is an integrated approach, which includes provision for management of cropland, livestock, forests and fisheries.
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Suggestions to deal with the climate crisis:
- It is not possible to reverse the bad effects of climate crisis, but as a measure, an action plan can be prepared to protect the yield in adverse conditions.
- There is a need to work in a time bound manner by preparing plans to save the yield instead of making announcements that give momentary benefits to the farmers.
- For this, first of all work has to be done on rain water conservation and agriculture based on it. In view of the possibility of excessive rainfall in a short time, not only rain water has to be stopped in the fields, but also it has to be brought inside the ground.
- It will be mandatory to tie ponds, bunds and plant trees on them in every farm.
- Rain water harvesting is now the only option for irrigation in hot summer and short rains.
- Along with this, to make underground water safe for the future, it will be necessary to bring rain water into the ground through tube wells.
- Government of India should promote organic agriculture.
- India ranks top in the world in exploitation of underground water. On the contrary, the country's contribution to underground water accumulation is negligible. A research related to organic agriculture suggests that if the organic capacity of agricultural land is increased even by one percent, then it is possible to increase the water holding of 75 liters per hectare of land.
- In order to prevent the water preserved in the fields from evaporating in the hot summer, the scheme of power generation in the fields should be materialized along with stopping the evaporation of water by installing solar panels on the upper surface of the fields and ponds.
- The country's agricultural universities and research centers are developing high-yielding seeds that require more irrigation. In view of the challenge of climate crisis, now there is a need to develop seeds that tolerate short duration, less irrigation and seasonal changes.
- The country now needs to adopt hydrogel technology to protect crops from seasonal changes and drought.
- Popular in developed countries, hydrogels work to protect crop plants from drought and wilting, including seed germination, root growth. Hydrogels are able to function at temperatures as high as forty degrees Celsius, while reducing water evaporation. They work by absorbing water four hundred times of their dry weight and reaching it to the roots of the crop during drought.
- Conservation agriculture and dry farming should be promoted.
- Every village should be informed about the forecast of rainfall along with weather based early warning related to various crop pests and epidemics.
- Absorbs continuous irrigation water, air humidity and dew drops and supplies water to the crop at the required time. This technology is eco-friendly and cost-effective, being compatible with the country's agricultural system. The government should encourage it. Compost made from cow dung and crop residues is the best to save the soil organicity.
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Mains Exam. Question:
Discuss the adverse impacts of climate crisis on agriculture.