Climate change in India has a big crisis on crop yield and economic status of farmers

A few days ago, the India Meteorological Department has predicted ‘more rainfall than normal’ during the monsoon in the country this year. However, statistics suggest that there is no direct connection between good rainfall and reduction in inflation. That is, it is not necessary that inflation will decrease due to adequate rainfall during monsoon. In the year 2023, the southwest monsoon across the country was 6 percent less than normal. The average food inflation was 7.49 percent in the year 2023-24, while in the next year i.e. in 2024, the entire country received 8 percent more rainfall, but there was no significant difference on the average inflation (7.29 percent) across the country. Important factors like spatial distribution of excess rainfall, rain and expansion at the right time due to cumulative rainfall decide how the performance of the agricultural sector is going to be a year. But every year, the spatial distribution of rainfall, its timeliness and expansion uncertainty is increasing. Sometimes, in spite of extreme seasonal incidents such as floods, cloudbursts and long-term drought conditions, monsoon remains around the country. Due to lack of uniformity in the regional distribution of rainfall, the sword of uncertainty is always hanging over the agriculture sector in a huge country like India. These clouds of uncertainty are not stunned until concrete steps are taken on a large scale. These measures include anti -climate change seeds, about 100 percent irrigation facility and other ways to deal with the risks associated with sudden changes in weather patterns. The Economic Review of FY 2017-18 presented in Parliament referred to the medium to long-term risks for the Indian agriculture sector from climate change. Economic reviews estimated that crop production in unirrigated areas could decrease by 20-25 percent due to climate change. According to the review, the adverse effects of climate change according to the current agricultural income reduced the income of the middle farming family more than Rs 3,600 annually. A detailed analysis in the review stated that during the last few years, the number of dry days (less than 0.1 mm per day) and wet days (more than 80 millimeters per day) has increased. The review said, “Due to excessive temperature in unirrigated areas, the production of kharif and rabi crops decreases by 7.0 percent and 7.60 percent respectively.” The government said that the government should promote drip and sprinkler irrigation on a large scale to reduce the impact of climate change. The review also said that the government should make provision for direct income instead of giving direct subsidy in the power and fertilizer sector and also review the grain-centric policy. The inter-government panel (IPCC) report on the last climate change released in the year 2022 mentions the threat signs. The report said that the risk of adverse effects on agriculture and related works in India has increased. Due to adverse effects of climate change, crop yields in India will be reduced, the production of commercial fish species like ‘Hilsa’ and ‘Bombay Duck’ will also be reduced and labor related capacity in the agriculture sector will also be reduced. The report states that the production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse grains can be reduced by 9 percent by 2050. If carbon emissions are high, maize production in the southern part of the country may decrease by about 17 percent. The report said that climate change will also reduce the energy prepared by aquatic plants and algae. This energy is considered very necessary to increase fisheries production. Due to rising temperature due to climate change, there will be a decrease in labor ability in India. The average global income can be reduced by 23 percent due to excessive emissions and India’s average income in 2100 may be 92 percent lower. The report also said that the adverse effects of climate change will also affect the international supply system, market, finance and trade, which will reduce the availability of goods in India and their prices will increase. This will also harm markets which are very important for Indian exporters. The report also states that apart from the excess of temperature and low availability of water, events related to climate change will also affect the availability of clean water and the amount of biological carbon and toxic elements dissolved in the water will increase. This will affect the availability of clean water in India and internal fisheries business. Another recent survey found that more than 50 percent of the marginal and backward farmers were destroyed in the fields of more than half of the crops in the fields due to extreme seasonal incidents. Excessive or unseasonal rains, severe winter for more days, drought and flood etc. are called extreme seasonal incidents. The analysis was part of the second annual survey on ‘India’s marginal farmers’ status, 2024′ by Development Intelligence Unit (DIU). The survey was started by the Forum of Enterprises for Equitable Development (Feed). ‘Feed’ raises voice for the interests of marginal and backward farmers. A total of 6,615 marginal farmers participated in this study, who were selected from a large farming committee. The first phase was surveyed in 2023 and in this the selection of farmers was done according to their land holdings. Such farmers from 21 states were selected through tele-inviting. The study showed that during the last five years, more than 50 percent of paddy and more than 40 percent of wheat crops of farmers have been destroyed. In the case of all other crops, 45-65 percent of the farmers suffered losses of more than half of the crops. According to the survey, as far as the actual loss is concerned, assuming that the average land holdings of marginal farmers in India are 0.38 hectares, the income of 50 percent marginal farmers who grow paddy in the kharif session decreased by 72 percent. Similarly, if the size of the land holdings, the paddy crop suffered 26 percent loss, assuming between 0.40–1.0 hectares. The same thing was seen in wheat crops in the Rabi session. Some studies also states that rice and wheat production in India may be reduced by 6-10 percent due to climate change, which will make it difficult for crores of people to provide cheaper grains. Measures are being taken by the Central and State Governments to deal with the dangers of climate change and the damage caused to crops due to hot weather. In the last kharif session, about 25 percent of the total paddy area was installed in anti -climate change varieties, while in the case of wheat, the figure increased to about 75 percent. Most of the anti -climate change varieties of wheat are capable of withstanding extreme temperatures, while these varieties of paddy are able to withstand excessive rainfall. The last financial year the government gave more than 119 anti -climate seeds to farmers growing various crops. Apart from this, various government programs are being run, crores of rupees are being spent on anti -climate change agricultural works. Through these measures, special attention is being paid to the research and development of seeds and new varieties. Special attention is being paid to conservation of resources in the National Sustainable Agricultural Mission under the National Action Plan (NAPCS) on Climate Change, ensure fertility in soil and increase productivity. Steps are also being taken towards soil health management in agricultural areas dependent on integrated agriculture, efficiency in water use and rainfall. This mission is also cooperating in reducing the risk of climate change and is benefiting Indian agriculture. Other programs are also being run to deal with the challenges related to climate change, including the Pradhan Mantri Agricultural Irrigation Scheme (PMSKY), Soil Health Card, Traditional Agricultural Development Scheme (PKVY), Agricultural Emergency Scheme and National Innovation (Nikra) on Current Agriculture and Sub-Affairs on Agricultural Forestry. The Central Government has established Anti -Climate Change villages in 151 districts of India through the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE) and Indian Agricultural Research (ICAR). All these have been developed as an ideal village which aims to promote climate change tasks in the Indian agriculture sector. These ideal villages are being established in many other states of India to deal with the effects of climate and to deal with the effects of climate change. First Published – April 18, 2025 | 10:36 pm IST related posts

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