Lok Sabha Question No. 377 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-04
Subject: Climate-resilient Crop Varieties
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Benny Behanan

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 377

TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH  FEBRUARY, 2025

## CLIMATE-RESILIENT CROP VARIETIES

## 377.   SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  encouraging  the  development  of  climate-resilient  crop  varieties suited to Kerala's agro-climatic conditions, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps being taken to integrate water management policies across departments to ensure a holistic approach to water and agriculture challenges; and
- (c) whether the Government has set up adequate monitoring and early warning systems in Kerala to mitigate the impact of extreme weather events on agriculture, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षि और ककसान कल्याण राज्य मंत्री (SHRI BHAGIRATH CHOUDHARY)

(a): National Agricultural Research System (NARS) including ICAR Institutes and State/Central Agricultural Universities (CAU/SAU) under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed 2900 varieties of different crops during 2014-2024, out of which 2661 varieties are climate resilient. During this period, 63 field crop varieties have been developed for Kerala state, comprising of 23 of cereals, 2 of oilseeds; 10 of pulses; 15 of forage crops and 13 of sugarcane of which 58 are climate resilient.

- (b):      Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Per  Drop  More  Crop  (PDMC)  of  Govt.  of  India,  has  been implemented since 2015-16 which focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through micro Irrigation system like drip and sprinkler Irrigation systems. The PDMC was implemented as a component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) during 2015-16 to 2021-22 and under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) from 2022-23 onwards. The various components of this  scheme  helps  in  water  saving  as  well  as  reduced  fertilizer  usage  through  fertigation,  labour expenses,  other  input  costs  and  overall  income  enhancement  of  the  farmers.  The  Government provides financial assistance @ 55% to the small and marginal farmers and @ 45% to other farmers for installation of drip and sprinkler systems under the PDMC.

(c): To help the farmers for taking decisions on day-to-day agricultural operations for reduction of crop damage and loss due to extreme weather as well as taking advantages of benevolent weather conditions, India Meteorological Department (IMD) runs a scheme - Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) to render weather forecast based operational Agrometeorological Advisory Services (AAS) in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), State Agriculture Universities

(SAUs) and other institutions for the benefit of farming community. Under this scheme, presently 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs), located at SAUs, institutes of ICAR and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) etc. are operational across the country. Along with the biweekly bulletins, daily weather forecast and nowcast information are also disseminated to the farmers by Regional Meteorological Centers (RMCs)  and  Meteorological  Centers  (MCs)  of  IMD.  Out  of  the  130  AMFUs,  5  AMFUs  viz. Ambalavayal,  Pillicode,  Thrissur,  Vellayani  and  Kumarakomare  preparing  the  district  level  AAS bulletins  for  all  agriculturally  important  districts  of  Kerala.  These  units  are  also  involved  in dissemination  of AAS  to  the  farmers  through  multichannel  dissemination  system  like  print  and electronic media, Door Darshan, radio, internet etc. including SMS using mobile phones through Kisan Portal and also through private companies under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. SMS-based  alerts  and  warnings  along  with  suitable  remedial  measures  are  being  sent  during extreme weather events like cyclone, deep depression etc. through Kisan Portal.

Farmers  access  weather  information  including  alerts  and  related  agromet  advisories specific to their districts through the mobile App viz., 'Meghdoot' and 'Mausam' launched by Govt. of India. To extend real-time weather updates to farmers for taking appropriate decisions on farm operations, AMFUs also use Social media platforms like 'WhatsApp', 'Facebook', 'YouTube' etc. In Kerala,  these  services  have  been  integrated  in  Agriculture  Information  Management  System (AIMS), Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt. of Kerala. About 40 lakhs farmers are accessing the information in English and regional language from this platform.

Recently,  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences  (MoES),  in  collaboration  with  the  Ministry  of Panchayati  Raj  (MoPR),  has  launched  Panchayat-level  weather  forecasts  for  nearly  all  Gram Panchayats in India on 24th October 2024. These forecasts are accessible on digital platforms such as e-Gramswaraj (https://egramswaraj.gov.in/), the Meri Panchayat app, e-Manchitra of MoPR, and Mausamgram of IMD, Ministry of Earth Science.

For  drought  monitoring,  Department  of Agriculture  &  Farmers'  Welfare  (DA&FW)  has developed a Geoportal in collaboration with Space application Centre (SAC), ISRO. This Geoportal hosts data of multiple drought indicators related to rainfall, soil moisture,  remote sensing based crop condition, water storages etc. This portal is a single window digital platform which provide drought indicators and enable various stakeholders towards easy, timely and objective assessment of drought situation at district or tehsil level. It also helps in identifying potential drought conditions enabling timely interventions to support effective drought management strategies.

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