Lok Sabha Question No. 1987 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-11
Subject: Climate-Resilient Agriculture Technologies
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1987

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH  MARCH, 2025

## CLIMATE-RESILIENT AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGIES

## 1987.  SHRI RAMASAHAYAM RAGHURAM REDDY:

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

- (a) the measures undertaken in order to develop climate-resilient agricultural technologies;
- (b) the measures undertaken in order to encourage crop diversification;
- (c) whether the Government plans to promote drip irrigation technology to staple crops, if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the measures taken to upgrade Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in order to ensure that they can meet climate resilience challenges?

## ANSWER

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

(a): The Government has under taken several steps to develop and out-scaling  climateresilient agricultural technologies through Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW). ICAR through network project on National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) has developed and promoted climate resilient agriculture to address vulnerable areas of the country to cope up with extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods, frost, heat waves, etc. It has three components viz. strategic research, technology demonstration and capacity building.

ICAR also works on development of climate resilient crop varieties suitable for extreme weather  situations,  identification  of  the  most  vulnerable  districts/regions,  management practices for adaptation & mitigation and development of climate resilient livestock, fisheries and  poultry  rearing  practices.    DA&FW  implements  National  Mission  for  Sustainable Agriculture  (NMSA)  to  make  agriculture  more  resilient  to  the  changing  climate  through  its schemes  viz.    Per  Drop  More  Crop,  Rainfed  Area  Development  and  Soil  Health  & Management.

(b):      ICAR  implements All India Coordinated Research Programme on Integrated Farming Systems (AICRP-IFS) in 25 States/UTs through which alternate efficient cropping systems for crop diversification are developed and promoted.

DA&FW Crop Diversification Programme under Pradhan Mantri- Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana in states viz; Punjab and western Utter Pradesh to divert the area of water guzzling paddy crop to alternative crops like pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals, nutri-cereals, cotton and Agroforestry.  The  programme  has  been  extended  to  tobacco  growing  states  of  Andhra Pradesh,  Bihar,  Gujarat,  Karnataka,  Maharashtra,  Odisha,  Tamil  Nadu,  Telangana,  Uttar Pradesh  and  West  Bengal  to  encourage  tobacco  growing  farmers  to  shift  to  alternate crops/cropping system.

DA&FW also implemented another Pilot Project through AICRP-IFS progamme of ICAR for Crop Diversification under Krishi Unnati Yojana from 2023-24 in the 75 identified districts in  17  States  to diversify  the existing  crops with  less  water intensive  crops such as pulses, oilseeds and millets. A total of 19 State Agricultural Universities and 5 ICAR Institutes are involved in implementation of the project.

Under NICRA project also crop diversification of paddy and wheat with groundnut and mustard in low rainfall areas; maize with medium duration blackgram; high value vegetables for  flood  prone  areas;  mulberry-sericulture  for  risk  minimization  in  drought  prone  regions; respectively; and short duration foxtail millet varieties as an alternative crop to pigeon pea, cotton, sunflower and sorghum are promoted.

(c): The Government implements Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) in the Country from 2015-16. The PDMC focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation namely Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation Systems covering various crops including staple crops. Financial Assistance @ 55% for Small & Marginal farmers and @ 45% for other farmers is provided by the Government for installation of Micro Irrigation under the Scheme. ICAR - Indian Institute of Water Management through 26 network centres has developed drip irrigation and fertigation schedules which are disseminating to the farmers.

(d): In all the 731 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) several activities are undertaken to meet the climate resilience challenges by conducting location specific resilient technologies demonstration  on  farmers'  fields  through  Front  line  demonstration  scheme  throughout  the country. The efforts are more intensified in the 151 KVKs of risk prone districts spreaded across 28 states and 5 Union Territories through NICRA.

KVKs  also  have  village  level  institutions  such  as  Village  Climate  Risk  Management Committees, seed and fodder banks and Custom hiring centres to help farmers in taking up timely farm operations. KVKs are also involved in issuing agro-advisories to farmers to tackle aberrant  weather  situations.  Further,  ICAR  Institutes  and  Agricultural  Universities  provide technological  backstopping  to  the  Subject  Matter  Specialists  of  KVKs  to  upgrade  the knowledge on climate resilience agriculture for further dissemination to the farmers.

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