Lok Sabha Question No. 3437 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-21
Subject: Abiotic Constraints
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Brijendra Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS' WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS' WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3437

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  21 st   MARCH, 2023

## ABIOTIC CONSTRAINTS

## 3437.   SHRI BRIJENDRA SINGH:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS' WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the measures taken by the Government to tackle the issue of abiotic constraints in crop productivity that lead to significant yield reductions;
- (b) whether the Government has data on the decline in crop production due to abiotic constraints;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the Government has taken any initiatives to develop abiotic stress-tolerant varieties using modern breeding techniques; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a) to (c): Government of India is implementing various programmes  viz. Rainfed Area Development  (RAD);    Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai  Yojana  (PMKSY);  National  Food Security Mission (NFSM); Crop Diversification Programme (CDP); Mission for Integrated Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH);  Sub  Mission  on  Agro  Forestry  (SMAF);  National Bamboo Mission and  Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for promoting sustainable agricultural  practices      in  the  country  and  to  increase  the  productivity.  Under  these schemes, the financial assistance and technologies are provided to farmers for adopting the  agro-ecologically  suitable  crops  and      efficient  water  management  for  sustainable production. Due to various technical interventions in the programmes of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, food-grains production of country including major crops has enhanced from 285.01 Million Tonnes (2017-18) to  315.62 Million Tonnes (2021-22), which is likely to be  enhanced to 323.55 Million Tonnes during 2022-23  as per the  Second Advance  Estimates.  ICAR  conducts  research  through  its  institute's  namely;  National Institute  of  Abiotic  Stress  Management  (NIASM),  Baramathi  and  Central  Soil  Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal on abiotic stresses caused due to both climatic and edaphic factors in different sectors of agriculture. In field crops, nearly 10% to complete

yield loss has been observed depending on the severity of stress.   In order to educate farmers, ICAR imparts training and organizes Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs). To meet the challenges of sustaining domestic food production in the face of changing climate, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India has launched a flagship network project namely National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA). The project aims to study the impact of climate change on agriculture including crops, livestock, horticulture and fisheries and to  develop and promote climate resilient technologies in agriculture which will address vulnerable areas of the country and the outputs of the project will help the districts and regions prone to extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods, frost, heat waves, etc. to cope with such extremes. The salient achievements under ICAR are as follows:

1.  Sixty  eight  location-specific  climate  resilient  technologies  to  manage  abiotic stresses  have  been  developed  and  popularized  for  wider  adoption  among  the farming communities through farmer participatory research in NICRA villages.
2.  Agricultural  contingency  plans  for  650  districts  have  been  prepared  and  State officials  have  been  sensitized  for  preparedness  through  57  State-level  interface meetings  during  the  past  eight  years.  Agricultural  contingency  plans  have  been made available online for policy makers to take decisions in the event of delayed monsoons and other extreme weather events.
3.  District  level  risk  and  vulnerability  assessment  of  Indian  agriculture  to  climate change has been prepared which is useful for several Ministries/ Departments for prioritizing resources towards developmental programs.
4.  Based  on  vulnerability  assessment,  climate  resilient  technologies  are  being demonstrated on farmer's fields in 151 clusters covering 446 villages.
5.  At  present,  ICAR  in  collaboration  with  India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD)  is issuing Agromet advisories twice a week (Tuesday and Friday) to farmers of the country through Gramin Krishi Mausam Seva program. The advisories are reaching the farmers through, WhatsApp groups, SMS services etc.
6.  During  the  past  decade,  16,958  capacity  building  programs  were  conducted throughout the country under NICRA project to educate stakeholders on various aspects of climate change and resilient technologies, covering 5,14,816 different stakeholders including farmers so as to enable wider adoption of climate resilient technologies.

( d) & (e): Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) through its 57 Institutes and 40 All India Coordinated Research Projects/ All India Network Projects operating in more than 930 centres across 45 State/Central Agricultural Universities is promoting research on  improvement  of  seed  /varieties  /hybrids  including  abiotic  stress  tolerant  varieties adopting modern breeding techniques.  Since 2014, 407 varieties have been bred specially for  extreme  abiotic  stress  conditions  like  flood/  water  submergence/  water  logging tolerance (73), drought/moisture stress/ water stress tolerance (220), salinity/ alkalinity/ sodic soils tolerance (52), heat stress/ high temperature tolerance (49), cold/ frost/ winter chilling tolerance (13) using the precision phenotyping tools. The details on crops, stress traits and number of varieties in each crop are given in Annexure-I.

## Annexure to the  Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.  3437 due for Reply on 21.03.2023 on Abiotic Constraints

| Traits                                                                                          | Crops (no. of varieties)                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| A. Flood/ water submergence/water logging tolerant varieties (73)                               | Rice (50), Maize (2), Sorghum (1), Jute (4), Rice bean (1), Sugarcane (15)                                                                                                                                                                 |
| B. Drought/moisture stress /water stress tolerant varieties (220: Field Crops- 217; Potato - 3) | CEREALS (114):Rice (51), Wheat (17), Maize (18), Sorghum (7), Pearl Millet (10), Little millet (3), Kodo millet (3), Finger Millet (5)                                                                                                     |
| B. Drought/moisture stress /water stress tolerant varieties (220: Field Crops- 217; Potato - 3) | OILSEEDS (22): Soybean (5), Groundnut (4), Sesame (2), Indian Mustard (6), Niger (1), Toria (3), Taramira (1)                                                                                                                              |
| B. Drought/moisture stress /water stress tolerant varieties (220: Field Crops- 217; Potato - 3) | PULSES (31): Urdbean (2), Pigeonopea (15), Horse gram (2), Cluster bean (1), Chickpea (6), Lentil (2), Cowpea (4), Mothbean (1), Faba bean (1)                                                                                             |
| B. Drought/moisture stress /water stress tolerant varieties (220: Field Crops- 217; Potato - 3) | FIBER CROPS (9): Cotton (6), Roselle (2), Jute (1)                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| B. Drought/moisture stress /water stress tolerant varieties (220: Field Crops- 217; Potato - 3) | FORAGES (15): Pearl Millet (2), Forage Sorghum (1), Forage Maize (1), Napier Bajra Hybrid (1), Cowpea (1), Fescue Grass (1), Guinea Grass (2), Rice bean (2), Marvel Grass (1), Anjan Grass (1), Forage Sewan Grass (1), Setaria Grass (1) |
| B. Drought/moisture stress /water stress tolerant varieties (220: Field Crops- 217; Potato - 3) | SUGARCROPS (23): Sugarcane (23)                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| B. Drought/moisture stress /water stress tolerant varieties (220: Field Crops- 217; Potato - 3) | VEGETABLES (3): Potato (3)                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| C. Salinity/Alkalinity/Sodic soils tolerant varieties (52)                                      | Rice (29), Wheat (2), Barley (3), Indian Mustard (5), Lentil (2), Sesbania (1), Sugarcane, (10)                                                                                                                                            |
| D. Heat stress/ high temperature tolerant varieties (49: Field Crops - 47; Potato - 2)          | Cereals (34): Rice (9), Maize (4), Pearl Millet (4), Wheat (17)                                                                                                                                                                            |
| D. Heat stress/ high temperature tolerant varieties (49: Field Crops - 47; Potato - 2)          | Oilseeds (6): Sesame (1), Indian Mustard (4), Yellow Sarson (1)                                                                                                                                                                            |
| D. Heat stress/ high temperature tolerant varieties (49: Field Crops - 47; Potato - 2)          | Pulses (4):Chickpea (1), Lentil (3)                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| D. Heat stress/ high temperature tolerant varieties (49: Field Crops - 47; Potato - 2)          | Fiber Crop (3):Cotton (3)                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| D. Heat stress/ high temperature tolerant varieties (49: Field Crops - 47; Potato - 2)          | Vegetable crops (2):Potato (2)                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| E. Cold tolerant/Frost/ winter chilling tolerant field crop varieties (13)                      | Cereals (7): Rice (5), Maize (2)                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| E. Cold tolerant/Frost/ winter chilling tolerant field crop varieties (13)                      | Pulses (1):Lentil (1)                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| E. Cold tolerant/Frost/ winter chilling tolerant field crop varieties (13)                      | Forage Crops (3):Setaria Grass (1),Fescue Grass (1), Nepier Bajra Hybrid (1)                                                                                                                                                               |
| E. Cold tolerant/Frost/ winter chilling tolerant field crop varieties (13)                      | Fiber Crop (2): Cotton (2)                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |

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