Impact of climate change on productivity of food crops: a sub-national level assessment for India

Abstract

Climate change is considered as a potential threat to sustainability of agriculture in India. Considering the importance of agriculture in the pursuit of the country’s development objectives, including the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, understanding possible impacts of climate change on productivity of major food crops in the country assumes importance in developing appropriate policies and programmes for agricultural technology development and transfer in general and for climate change adaptation in particular. Such an understanding at a scale where most of the development planning is done will be more useful in policy planning. This paper analysed climate change impacts at district level for major food crops using the district level climate projections for two time periods viz., mid-century (2021-2050) and end-century (2071-2098). Yields of most crops are projected to decrease in a majority of districts during mid-century period. The yield impacts are deeper and wider during end-century period. The yield impacts are relatively smaller and even positive in case of rapeseed & mustard and soybean. Some of the policy implications emerging from this study are: (i) Efforts are to be targeted and prioritized in the districts where the yields are likely to suffer more (ii) Concerns related to abiotic stress, especially those related to heat/temperature stress, need more attention in crop improvement and natural resource management programmes and (iii) Considering the dimension of climate change along with other bottlenecks to sustainable agriculture in the research and development process is a desirable way of mainstreaming climate change in to economic development programmes.

The Sustainability Of Agricultural Activities Meets The Welfare Indicators Of Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Sdg 13): Systematic Literature Review

“…The exposure of this technology should be expanded to increase the awareness and understanding of farmers on the importance of sustainable agriculture. The community needs to understand that this sustainable agriculture can help reduce the negative effects of climate change and increase agricultural yields (Rama Rao et al, 2022b). Such awareness can be increased through educational programmes as well as environmental awareness campaigns.…”

“…Based on careful reading and analysis, 16 articles were selected to understand the author's point of view, research results, and survey analysis. Most of the articles provide information on sustainable agricultural practices (Mamabolo et al, 2020;Qian et al, 2022;Setsoafia et al, 2022;Streimikis & Baležentis, 2020) and the approaches and technologies used in implementing sustainable agriculture (Amadu et al, 2021;Begum et al, 2022;Bijarniya et al, 2020;Kwon et al, 2021b;Mottet et al, 2020;Rama Rao et al, 2022c;Sarkar et al, 2020;Sethuraman et al, 2021). In addition, the article also discusses factors and challenges in the integration of sustainable agricultural practices in achieving the sustainable development goals of SDG 13 (Amadu et al, 2021;Mottet et al, 2020;Nazu et al, 2021;Setsoafia et al, 2022).…”

“…In addition, Sarkar et al (2020) added that Low input Sustainable Agriculture (LISA) can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, increase crop yields, protect the environment and produce quality and healthy food. The use of artificial rain technology is also certain to reduce the impact of rising temperatures such as in India which has reduced the total agricultural area by 50% (Rama Rao et al, 2022c). Amadu et al (2021) also said Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA) is a project that can be used to increase the resistance of plants to climate change by increasing nitrogen content (41%), potassium (31%), organic matter (57%), and organic carbon (44%).…”

Modelling of Ladyfinger Plantations Using Open Data Malaysia: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Techniques

“…Climate data plays a critical role in agricultural practices and outcomes. Studies have shown that climate factors such as temperature, rainfall, and humidity have a significant impact on crop growth and yield [17], [18]. Therefore, integrating climate data from Open Data Malaysia with agricultural data can enable the development of predictive models for crop yield and growth.…”

Can remote sensing enable a Biomass Climate Adaptation Index for agricultural systems?

“…Landscape-level stakeholders such as regional governments, private sector companies, NGOs and financing entities (Conde and Lonsdale, 2005;Galarraga et al, 2011;FAO, 2013) are important actors involved in the implementation of adaptation plans and programmes as they have more interaction with people than national stakeholders (Galarraga et al, 2011). This level of governance can enable the development of policies informed by local needs, such as better allocation and management of resources at a landscape level (Rama Rao et al, 2022). Targets set by central government, such as in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), can be developed by local government to take into account the specific socioeconomic, political, and environmental factors of a particular landscape (Ji et al, 2022).…”