Lok Sabha Question No. 4309 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-13
Subject: Impact of Climate Change
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Kunwar Danish Ali

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO . 4309

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2019

## Impact of Climate Change

## 4309. SHRI KUNWAR DANISH ALI:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  undertaken  a  study  on  the  impact  of  climate  change including changing monsoon patterns and its effects on the agriculture sector of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of land and crops in hectares which were affected by flood and drought in the country during the last three years, State-wise; and
- (d) the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

(a) and (b) As part of the first and second National Communications submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Ministry has conducted studies on impact  of  climate  change  in  India.  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences,  Government  of  India  has studied the variability of weather events in Indian Region. Studies on the impact of rainfall variation and its consequences on crops are carried out by Central Research Institute for Dry Land  Agriculture  (CRIDA),  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR),  Hyderabad which  has  come  out  with  district  level  contingency  plans  based  on  rainfall  deviations  for adoption by the farmers. In addition, CRIDA also implements 'National Initiative on Climate Resilient  Agriculture  (NICRA)'  to  address  such  issues  with  mitigation  measures  through advisories to the farmers.

(c)  As per information of Central Water Commission, in the year 2017, due to floods/heavy rains, 6.076 million hectare (mha) of area was affected and damage to crops represented an area of 4.972 mha.

As per information of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, five States were affected by drought in 2016-17 and 2017-18, whereas six States were affected by drought in the year 2018-19. The details, State wise is represented in the below mentioned table.

| S.No.   | Name of State affected due to drought   | Area affected (in ha.) 2016-17   | Area affected (in ha.) 2017-18   | Area affected (in ha.) 2018-19   |
|---------|-----------------------------------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1.      | Karnataka (Kharif)                      | 3635721.74                       | ---                              | 2022418                          |
|         | (Rabi)                                  | 1371769.29                       | ---                              | 1938715.43                       |
| 2.      | Chhattisgarh                            | ---                              | 605803                           | ---                              |
| 3.      | Madhya Pradesh                          | ---                              | 1864339.97                       | ---                              |
| 4.      | Andhra Pradesh                          | 1273732.24                       | 131531                           | 1361531.54                       |
| 5.      | Rajasthan                               | 2002727                          | 1706791                          | 2965295.99                       |
| 6.      | Tamil Nadu                              | 2037032.29                       | ---                              | ---                              |
| 7.      | Kerala                                  | 51894.09                         | ---                              | ---                              |
| 8.      | Jharkhand                               | ---                              | ---                              | 530386.80                        |
| 9.      | Gujarat                                 | ---                              | ---                              | 110514                           |
| 10.     | Uttar Pradesh                           | ---                              | 109835                           | ---                              |
| 11.     | Maharashtra                             | ---                              | ---                              | 7264063                          |

(d)    India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD)  in  collaboration  with  CRIDA  is  continuously issuing Agromet Advisories using Extended Range Forecast (ERFS) throughout the season particularly during prolonged dry spell / poor rainfall situation for farmers and other users. Through this project, rainfall condition is monitored jointly by IMD and State Departments of Agriculture at district levels and if variation in rainfall arises, contingency crop planning is advised based on the situation. Crops of shorter duration varieties and deep root system are normally  advised  to  the  farmers  during  deficient  rainfall  in  the  early-season  followed  by adequate  rainfall.  During  deficient  rainfall  in  the  mid-season,  measures  like  moisture conservation  strategies,  reduction  of  planting  densities,  supplemental  irrigation  based  on available water source are advised.

The Govt. of India has launched the Flood Management Programme (FMP) during XI Plan with an outlay of Rs 8,000 Cr for providing central assistance to States for taking up works related to river management, flood control, anti-erosion, drainage development, flood proofing  works  restoration  of  damaged  flood  management  works,  anti-sea  erosion  and catchment area treatment. The scheme with outlay of Rs 10,000 Cr was continued during XII Plan also.

A comprehensive scheme titled  'Flood  Management  and  Border Areas  Programme (FMBAP)' with an outlay of Rs 3342.00 Cr for period 2017-2020 with merged components from the existing Flood Management Programme (FMP) and River Management Activities & Works related to Border Areas schemes during XII Five Year Plan has been approved by the Union  Cabinet  on  07-Mar-2019  and  aims  at  completion  of  the  on-going  projects  already approved under FMP.

Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmer Welfare (DAC&FW) is implementing Per Drop More Crop component of PMKSY which is operational from 201516. The PMKSY- Per Drop More Crop mainly focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm  level through  precision/micro  irrigation  (Drip  and  Sprinkler Irrigation).  Besides promoting  precision  irrigation  and  better  on-farm  water  management  practices  to  optimize the use of available water resources, this component also supports micro level water storage or water conservation/management activities to supplement Micro Irrigation.

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is anchoring the National Mission for Sustainable  Agriculture  (NMSA)  under  the  National  Action  Plan  on  Climate  Change.

Rainfed Area Development (RAD) is being implemented as a component under NMSA from 2014-15. RAD focuses on Integrated Farming System (IFS) for enhancing productivity and minimizing  risks  associated  with  climatic  variability.  Under  this  system,  crops/cropping system  is integrated with activities like horticulture, livestock, fishery, agro-forestry, apiculture  etc.  to  enable  farmers  not  only  in  maximizing  farm  returns  for  sustaining livelihood, but also to mitigate the impacts of drought, flood or other extreme weather events with the income opportunity from allied activities during crop damage.

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