Precipitation due to the Southwest monsoon – known as the country’s real Finance Minister – determines the fate of crop production along with other weather variables.
Factors affecting food production also include unprecedented heat waves, such as that experienced in northwestern India in early March.
Even as the southwest monsoon arrived three days early through Kerala, progress was delayed in central India and parts of the southern Indian peninsula.
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Due to the increasingly erratic nature of the monsoon, farmers have changed sowing times or switched crops, replacing traditional yields with shorter-lived crops or vegetables, or growing crops with shorter life spans. pregnancy changes. During the webinar, multidisciplinary experts pointed out the difficulties and suggested some measures.
“A 1% change in monsoon rainfall would result in a 0.34% change in India’s agriculture-driven GDP,” said Abinash Mohanty, program leader, Risk & Adaptation, Energy & Water Environment Council. That year, a normal monsoon could increase GDP from transportation, storage, commerce and communications by 1% and 3% respectively in the agriculturally dominant states. we could reduce it by 13% in the event of a weak monsoon. Hydroelectricity, which accounts for 40% of the energy source, could also be affected.”
Affirming that India needs to build resilience through systems, technological and financial innovation, Mohanty said: “The approach needs to be changed from a relief focus to a response and control focus. that can only happen when farmers are provided with detailed climate information that can inform about the impact it will have on the crop and the steps to take in the short, medium and long term. ”
The availability of detailed data is also a common concern flagged by other experts, be it agriculture or weather related information.
Saying that the Russo-Ukrainian war sent a clear message to each country to prioritize food supplies, Devinder Sharma, an agriculture expert told a webinar that monsoon shortages will continue. continued to increase pressure on already high food prices. “We need to build capacity for production rather than worry about food security chains.”
“In the name of climate-smart agriculture, the focus is on collectivizing technologies that are promoted rather than making farming climate resilient,” said Sharma. Furthermore, Krishi Vikas Kendras (KVKs) across India were unable to deliver.”
Anjal Prakash, research director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian Business School and one of the lead authors of IPCC working group report II, concurs.
“New age skills and new age requirements to combat climate change are not there,” he said. Support anything from extension centers related to climate change. The way the Department is organized, they have no lateral objective to understand the impact of climate change on agriculture. ”
Earlier, RK Jenamani, a senior scientist with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) detailed the variations of monsoon rainfall, especially this year. “The Easter winds, which are responsible for bridging the monsoon rains, have been completely absent so far in June. We are seeing southwesterly winds, bringing rain from Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand to northeastern India We don’t expect winter monsoons for the next 4-5 days also a cause for concern for the north region Monsoon rainfall is highly variable because of us It can be seen that the Northwest Plains, along with the Central and Southern states, have large amplitude deficits, while the Northeast regions have large surpluses.”
Jenamani said, IMD is constantly working to provide information in a more decentralized way to the smallest units in the field of agricultural inputs.
Source: IANS
