CLIMATE CHANGE, INDIA DEVELOPING WEATHERPROOF CROPS

With the entire World’s focus on climate change, India has already initiated an ambitious project to engineer crops that can withstand extreme climate.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Processing has set up a network project in February 2011 dubbed National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) under the Indian Council of Agricultural Rearch (ICAR.)

NICRA is mandated to undertake research work on crop development that is “weatherproof” keeping in mind global warming and the changing Monsoon pattern.

The project is being monitored directly by the Prime Minster’s Office and has been allotted Rs. 305 crore to carry out its research and technology in the first year. There is all likelihood fund flow would increase for the agency, during the twelfth five year plan.

Under the project, climatologists together with agriculture scientists are mapping 500 districts of India and documenting their changing climatic pattern over the past several years. Not less than 19 other different agricultural research projects are being carried out under NICRA.

“The climate changes in 500 districts across India would be documented by the end of March 2012. This would help scientists to prepare better crop varieties based on the climate needs of a specific district,” AK Singh, Deputy Director General, National Resource Management division of ICAR, said.

A recent study says that grapes in Australia are ripening prematurely due to global warming. The Melbourne's School of Land and Environment reported that in certain wine-growing regions in Australia, grape maturation dates have advanced about eight days per decade due to climate change.

As of now, Indian agricultural scientists say the country need not worry too much about global climate change and its impact on agriculture, but must remain cautious against extreme seasonal behaviours that affects crop.

“Global temperature is increasing by .2 degree Celsius annually, data from the past 50 years suggest. Such increase isn’t a worry so much as extreme weather conditions in a season where temperature increase by over four to five degree Celsius in a day,” Singh said.

Cautioning that there are indications of the Indian Monsoon getting “more intense” in the years ahead, Singh said, short burst of heavy rainfall followed by long dry spells and similar short spell of high and low temperature are the challenges ahead for the Indians farmers.

 

“In the north-eastern part of the country flash flood due to intense Monsoon are an impending threat. We are developing seeds that can withstand submergence for a longer duration,” he added.

Scientists in the northeast informed that under NICRA they are already working on a flash flood resistant variety of Rice. The rice variety – RC Maniphou 7 - can withstand water submergence for twelve days and have 78 per cent fertility rate.

Similarly, developing extreme temperature resistant Rice variety – RCPL 132 and 136 - that can withstand temperature of up to 45 degree centigrade is in the trial process.

 “Agriculture is India’s mainstay and so the government is investing in research and development of new technology to ensure food security for the people in the years ahead,” he added.