Climate Smart Agriculture: An

Approach to Sustainable

Development

Submitted To

Dr. Rajshree Upadhyay

Presented By

Shalini Pandey

Agriculture

Challenges

Population: 9 billion

(By 2050)

Increased consumption

pattern

Increased competition

• Land

• Water

• Energy

• Other inputs

Challenges posed by

Climate change

Non environment friendly

agricultural practices

Increasing Green house gases emission

Farms emitted 6 billion ton of GHGs in 2011

(19 % of total global emissions )

Countries with largest emission: China, Brazil, USA and India.

Major emission in form of methane and N2O

Wheat production: -6 to 23%

(By 2050)

Climate Smart Agriculture

• Concept put forth in 2010 by the FAO.

• Also known as Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA).

Agricultural Approach

Sustainably increases productivity

Resilience to environmental pressures

Reduces greenhouse gas emissions

drought

flooding

heat/cold wave

erratic rainfall pattern

long dry spells

insect or pest population explosions

Incorporation of

Adaptation

Mitigation

Other practices

increases the capacity of

the system to respond to

various climate related

disturbances

CSA’s OBJECTIVES

Increase agricultural productivity to support increased incomes and food security

Increase adaptive capacity at multiple levels (from farm to nation)

Decrease greenhouse gas emissions

CSA practices and technologies adopted include -

Improved crop varieties for higher yield

Varieties suitable to cope with drought and excess

water or high temperature

Laser land leveling

Zero tillage

Residue retention

Site specific nutrient management

Legume integration

Cropping system diversification

Use of solar pump

Use of crop sensor to assess crop health

CLIMATE-SMART VILLAGES (CSVs)

CSV is a model of local actions for climate risk management in

farming communities that

promote adaptation

build resilience to climate stresses

enhance food security

CGIAR (Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research)

Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)

CSVs

Researchers Local organizations Farmers Policymakers

Collaborate

To select the most appropriate technologies and

Institutional interventions

based on global knowledge

and local conditions

•Enhance productivity

•Increase income

•Achieve climate resilience

•Ensure food security

The key focus of the CSV model

to enhance climate literacy of farmers and local stakeholders

develop a climate resilient agricultural system by linking existing government village development schemes and investments

Promotion of combination of CSA practices and technologies

csv

Climate Information

Services

Local Knowledge

& Institution

Village Development

Plans

Climate Smart

Technology

COMPONENT

Climate Smart Villages in India

In Haryana

• 27 CSV in

Karnal district.

In 4 blocks of

• Nilokheri,

• Indri,

• Gharaunda and

• Nissing

In Bihar

Blocks of

• Rajapakar,

• Bali Bathna and

• Lal Pokhar

in Vaishali district

From 2011

Under CCAFS

Trial in 70 villages in Haryana, Bihar,

Punjab, Gujarat, Karnataka and Orissa

Agriculture Practice Adopted

Direct seeded rice

Alternate wetting and drying in rice

ICT services to access weather+ agro advisories

Zero-tillage

Laser land levelling

Residue management/mulching

Crop diversification

Agroforestry

Precision nutrient management

NATIONAL INITIATIVE ON CLIMATE RESILIENT

AGRICULTURE (NICRA)

• ICAR project- 2011

• covered 151 villages across the country

to take up long term strategic research to address the

impacts of projected climate change on Indian agriculture

demonstrate the existing best practices to enable

farmers cope with current climate variability

first ever vulnerability atlas of India at district level

which aid in prioritizing investments in vulnerable regions.

SAP Promoted by ICAR

Rejuvenation of farming in cyclone and flood prone coastal agro-ecosystems through land shaping

Community paddy nursery as a contingency measure for delayed planting

Direct seeded rice for promoting water use efficiency

Drum seeding of rice for water saving and timeliness in planting

Drought tolerant paddy cultivation to tackle deficit rainfall situations

SAP Promoted by ICAR

Short duration finger millet varieties for delayed monsoon

Short duration crop varieties suitable for late sowings

Crop diversification for livelihood security and resilience to climate variability

Flood tolerant varieties impart resilience to farmers in flood-prone areas

Improving the resilience of poor farmers reclaiming cultivable wastelands

SAP Promoted by ICAR

Community tanks / ponds as a means of management of village level water resources

Individual farm ponds for improving livelihoods of small farmers

Jalkund - low cost rainwater harvesting structures

Check dam - storing excess-runoff in streams

Recharge of wells to improve shallow aquifers

SAP Promoted by ICAR

Improved planting methods for enhancing water use efficiency and crop productivity

Integrated Farming System modules

Zero till drill wheat to escape terminal heat stress

In situ incorporation of biomass and crop residues for improving soil health

Village level seed banks to combat seed shortages

• Zero tillage and line showing instead of broadcasting

of seeds increased wheat and rice production by 10-

15 per cent in Karnal, Haryana.

• Zero tillage cut the diesel use by 80 per cent per

hectare.

• Direct seeded rice which involves showing of rice

seeds directly, compared to the traditional method of

sprouting rice in a nursery and transferring the

seedling to a field with standing water, reduce water

use by 25 per cent and methane emission by 40 per

cent.

• Bed planting of maize and wheat, which is at the

level raised from the soil, cuts water use by 30-35 per

cent.

• Zero tillage, residue management and diversification

brings down fertilizer use by 20 per cent after three

years.

• According to a World Bank-commissioned study in

2013, total crop production in India is expected to

rise 60% by the 2050s without climate change, but in

the event of a temperature increase of 2 degree

Celsius since the industrial revolution, the increase

will only be 12%. Moreover, it will have to import

twice the amount of food grains than in a scenario

without climate change.

• Field measurements done at a

groundnut (also known as peanut)

farm in one of the most arid regions in

India show that integrated nutrient

management led to a number of

benefits in a drought-hit year,

including a 40-60% reduction in total

nitrogen fertilizer use, increased crop

yield by 35-50%, and net profit by 70-

120% – while decreasing GHG

emission intensity (per unit yield) by

50%.

CHALLENGES

1.

• Intersections of food security, adaptation and mitigation, always occurs in the context of region-specific conditions and cultures

• CSA, as currently conceived and implemented, fails entirely to recognize different actors between different provisioning demands for food, water, energy, materials and ecosystem services

2. • CSA fails to consider possible impacts of agriculture on other ecosystem

services, biodiversity conservation and broader social, political and cultural dynamics.

3.

• focus exclusively in developing countries

• Food security, nutritional security and nutritional health are obviously not limited to the developing world; there is also a widespread prevalence of food insecurity in high-income countries

FUTURE RECOMMENDATION

Key elements that need to be in place include:

• Mechanisms to reach large numbers of farmers,

• Information services that use mobile phones, radio, and

other mass media;

• Well-organized and broadly based farmer groups;

• Policies that support secure land tenure;

• Citizen/farmer participation in science; and

• Government action to integrate climate considerations in all

agricultural investment plans.

Conclusion

• Climate-smart agriculture is a sort of concept originally put

forth in UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Up until

now it’s been a bit vague, a general idea about adjusting all

forms of agriculture (“farms, crops, livestock, aquaculture,

and capture fisheries”) to better adapt to a changing climate.

• It isn’t a set of guidelines, or even recommendations, really;

it’s more of a philosophy that various global organizations are

attempting to push.

• In order to be realistic it need to incorporate a more integrated

approach including majority of stakeholder.

• It should try to include not only few developing countries but

also developed country and least developed country than only

this approach will be able to mitigate the effect of climate

change on agriculture and will make this sector sustainable.