Lok Sabha Question No. 43 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-11
Subject: ICAR Study on Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: SHIVKUMAR CHANABASAPPA UDASI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 43

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11/12/2018

## ICAR STUDY ON IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURE

## 43. SHRI SHIVKUMAR UDASI:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f"k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=h be pleased to state:

(a) whether ICAR study shows that farming in 20% of districts in India is threatened by climate change and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the ICAR has identified that of the 28 million hectares under wheat, about 9  million  hectares  are  categorized  as  being  prone  to  sudden  heat  stress  and  if  so,  the details thereof; and

(c) whether any steps have been taken by the Government against extreme weather events and if so, the details thereof?

## A N S W E R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f'k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h

## (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a) Yes,  Madam.    As  part  of  ICAR's  National  Innovations  in  Climate  Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project, relative vulnerability of agriculture to climate change was analyzed.    Adopting  the  definition  of  vulnerability  given  by  IPCC,  vulnerability  was assessed for 572 rural districts of India.  Based on the vulnerability index, all the districts were  divided  into  five  categories  with  equal  number  of  districts  and  the  top  20%  of districts (115) were  categorized  as  districts with 'very high' vulnerability.    The vulnerability  of  Agriculture  to  Climate  Changes  (2020-2050)  maps  are  available  at (http://crida.in/Pubs/Vulerability\_Atlas\_web.pdf).

(b) Yes, Madam.  Variability in extreme temperatures and heat waves over the whole country  was  analyzed  using  the  daily  gridded  maximum  temperature  data  of  IMD  for 1951  to  2014  period.    Results  showed  that  the  extreme  warm  days  (ExWD)  have increased throughout India over time but were statistically significant in 42% of the area. The increase was consistent over all the months in North Eastern region, southern plateau and  both  the  coastal  plains.    The  analysis  of  land  area  affected  by  several  levels  of extremes indicated  significant  increase  in  it  during  the  last  three  decades  with  the  rate being highest for higher extremes.

(c) Yes,  Madam.    The  following  steps  have  been  taken  against  extreme  weather events:-

-  The  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  has  launched  a  flagship network project 'National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture' (NICRA) during 2011.
-  Under  strategic  research  component  of  NICRA,  large  number  of  germplasms collected  from  different  hotspot  locations  of  the  country,  which  are  being characterized as a source material for breeding programmes.
-  Heat and drought tolerant wheat, flood tolerant rice, drought tolerant pulses, water logging and high temperature tolerant tomato varieties have been developed.
-  The Technology Demonstration Component (TDC) of NICRA is being implemented in 151 climatically vulnerable districts of the country to address the climate variability and to enhance resilience and adaptive capacity of the farmers.
-  District  agricultural  contingency  plans  have  been  developed  for  633  districts  in order to address extreme climatic events and to provide real time agro-advisories to farmers.

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