Lok Sabha Question No. 3783 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-17
Subject: Impact of Climate Change on Cultivation
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Jayant Sinha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3783

TO BE ANSWERED ON 17/03/2020

## IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON CULTIVATION

## 3783. SHRI JAYANT SINHA:

## Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षि एवं ककसान कल्याण मंत्री be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there has been research conducted on the impact of climate change on cultivation of indigenous varieties of crops and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  awareness  programmes  held  by  the  Government  to  inform farmers about the increasing incidences of flash floods and droughts; and
- (c) the details of special crop insurance and irrigation support to farmers who are affected by unexpected drought?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ षि एवं ककसान कल्याण मंत्री

(SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a) Yes,  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  under  its  flagship program  of  National  Innovations  in  Climate  Resilient  Agriculture  (NICRA)  has screened large number of indigenous crop varieties including local germplasm and improved crop varieties of pulses (black gram, green gram, pigeonpea, chickpea) and cereals (rice, wheat, etc.) for major abiotic stresses like drought and heat to identify superior  cultivars for cultivation  on  farmers'  fields. The  details  of  varieties developed,  their  yield  potentials  vis-à-vis  special  traits and  suitable  areas  for cultivation are given in Annexure - 1.

…….2/-

(b) As part of the Technology Demonstration Component (TDC) of the NICRA, awareness programs are taken up in drought and flood impacted districts. A total of 8866 awareness programs were conducted on drought involving 1,71,790 farmers and 2131 programs were taken up on flood awareness involving 43,756 farmers. Further, the  ICAR has established a network of 717 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) at the district level in the country mandated technology assessment and demonstration for its  application  and  capacity  development.    During  2018-19,  42,361  on  farm  trials (OFTs) for assessing technologies and 2,74,736 frontline demonstrations (FLDs) on various technologies were conducted.  To update the knowledge and skills, 47,000 trainings were organised benefiting 13.51 lakh farmers and farm women.

(c) Government  has  introduced  yield  based  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana (PMFBY)  and  weather  index  based  Restructured  Weather  Based  Crop  Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) from Kharif 2016 to provide financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of natural calamities, adverse weather incidence and to stabilize  the  income  of  farmers  etc.      Under  PMFBY,  immediate  relief  is  also provided to insured farmers in case of adverse seasonal conditions during the crop season due to which expected yield during the season is likely to be less than 50% of the Threshold Yield in the concerned insurance unit.

The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched during the year 2015-16 with the objective of 'Har Khet Ko Paani' for providing end-to-end solutions in irrigation supply chain, viz. water sources, distribution network and farm level applications. One of the components under PMKSY is watershed development which  is exclusively for providing irrigation support to farmers affected by unexpected drought.

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- ◼ Rice  variety  CR  Dhan  201  is  a  medium  duration  (110-115  days),  semi  dwarf,  nonlodging type suitable for water limited/aerobic conditions with an average productivity of  3.8  t  ha-1.  It  is  also  moderately  resistant  to  leaf  blast,  sheath  rot,  stem  borer,  leaf folder and thrips etc. This variety was released for states of Chhattisgarh and Bihar for aerobic conditions.
- ◼ Mungbean  variety  IPM  205-7  (Virat)  is  early  maturing  (52-55  days),  high  yielding, resistant  to  yellow  mosaic  disease  with  an  average  productivity  of  1.4  t  ha-1.  It  is suitable for summer cultivation for states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil  Nadu,  Madhya  Pradesh  and  Gujarat.  Another  short  duration  variety  IPM302-2 has also been identified and is under cultivation.
- ◼ Drought tolerant maize hybrid CMH 08-287 with average productivity of 8.0 t ha-1 is identified  for  cultivation  in  the  States  of  Uttar  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Jharkhand,  Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
- ◼ Rice  variety  NICRA  Aerobic  Dhan  1  /  TRC  2015-5  (IET  26178)  was  identified  for release by CVRC in 2019. The variety is moderately drought tolerant and is identified for aerobic conditions in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh & Karnataka.
- ◼ Apart  from  these,  already  available  varieties  for  drought/heat  tolerance  in  wheat, chickpea  and  sesame  were  successfully  demonstrated  in  various  parts  of  the  country under respective stresses which performed better with improved yields. In case of rice drought tolerant variety - Vandana and flood tolerant varieties viz., Swarna sub1, MTU1061,  MTU-1140,  etc.  have  been  demonstrated  for  its  superiority  and  replaced traditional long duration varieties.
- ◼ Further, several genotypes of different crops with enhanced CO2 fixation potential and high water and nutrient use efficiency (18), adoption to drought, flood, salinity and high temperature  (20)  were  identified  for  using  in  the  crop  improvement  program  under climate change research.

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