Lok Sabha Question No. 215 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-11-29
Subject: Impact of climate change
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: V. Kalanidhi, Sajda Ahmed

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 215

TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2021

## Impact of climate change

## 215. DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY: SHRIMATI SAJDA AHMED:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  assessed  the  impact  of  climate  change  on  agriculture productivity and elevated health risk during the recent past and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard
- (c) the details of the target set and achievements made so far and whether it is upto the set target and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) whether the Government has organized vulnerability mapping of Indian states in line with climate change and if so, the details thereof along with the financial assistance provided in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) to (c)The Government is seized of the matter. The impact of climate change on agriculture and  human  health  sectors  is  being  assessed  by  the  relevant  ministries.  The  Indian  Council  of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has initiated a network project, National Innovations in Climate Resilient  Agriculture  (NICRA) in 2011 to study and address  the impact of climate change on Indian agriculture. As per the studies under NICRA, rainfed rice yields in India are projected to reduce marginally (<2.5%) in 2050 and 2080 and irrigated rice yields by 7% in 2050 and 10% in 2080 scenarios. Wheat yield is projected to reduce by 6-25% in 2100 and maize yield by 1823%. Climate change is likely to benefit chickpeas with an increase in productivity (23-54%).

The Government has also assessed the impact of climate change on human health and initiated the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health. The programme aims to  reduce  morbidity,  mortality,  injuries,  and  health  vulnerability  among  the  population  in  the country due to climate variability and extreme weather.

Further,  under  the  National  Knowledge  Network  programme  on  'Climate  Change  and Human Health', the Department of Science and Technology has published a report in thematic areas of vector-borne diseases and heat stress & health and same is available on website at the link :https://dst.gov.in/sites/default/files/Report\_DST\_CC\_Health.pdf.

The Government is implementing the National  Action Plan on Climate Change  (NAPCC) which  provides  the  overarching  framework  for  climate  actions,  through  national  missions  in specific  areas.  The  National  Mission  for  Sustainable  Agriculture,  one  of  the  Missions  under NAPCC, includes programmatic interventions like Soil Health Card, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana,  Mission  Organic  Value  Chain  Development  for  Northeastern  Region,  Rainfed  Area Development, National Bamboo Mission and Sub-mission on Agro-Forestry.

Several crop varieties with special traits have been developed by ICAR to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition. Besides  assessing the risk and vulnerability of Indian  agriculture  to  climate  change,  650  district  agricultural  contingency  plans  have  been developed.  Climate-resilient  villages  have  been  developed,  one  in  each  of  151  climatically vulnerable  districts  under  the  NICRA  Project  and  location-specific  technologies  have  been demonstrated in these districts.

Targets  for  agricultural  production  and  productivity  are  routinely  set  by  the  relevant departments of Central and State Governments. The input of various schemes and programmes are utilized to ensure that these levels of productivity and production are reached, to the extent feasible.  Other  initiatives  are  also  important  such  as  the  dissemination  of  agro-meteorological information  by  the  Indian  Meteorological  Department  through  radio,  television,  print  and smartphones.  These  enable  farmers  to  develop  the  ability  to  cope  with  adverse  climatic  and weather conditions.

(d)      The  Department  of  Science  and  Technology  in  collaboration  with  Swiss  Agency  of Development  and  Cooperation,  and  research  teams  from  the  Indian  Institute  of  Technology Mandi, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru, have studied the nation-wide vulnerability assessment with a financial assistance of Rs 80 lakhs. A report  titled  'Climate  Vulnerability  Assessment  for  Adaptation  Planning  in  India  Using  a Common Framework' has been released. Based on all-India assessment, it identifies the most vulnerable States and districts in India with respect to the current climate and the main drivers of vulnerability based on a set of common indicators (biophysical, socioeconomic, and livelihoodbased  indicators)  and  common  methodology.  The  States  with  a  relatively  high  vulnerability, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal are mostly in the eastern part of the country.

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