Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 28 launched 35 crop varieties with special traits — developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) — to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition.

According to the PMO, 35 crop varieties with special traits like climate resilience and higher nutrient-content have been developed in 2021. These include a drought tolerant variety of chickpea, wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeonpea, early maturing variety of soybean, disease resistant varieties of rice and biofortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean and faba bean.

These special traits crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health.

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURE

A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) last month said that climate change will have economy-wide repercussions in India if not mitigated, and could lead to shrinking of the agriculture cover in the country.

The IPCC report also said that the impact of climate crisis, like changing monsoon patters, rising sea levels, deadlier heat waves, intense storms and flooding will pose an acute risk to the agriculture sector.

According to ongoing studies by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), farming now consumes up to 30% more water due to “high evaporative demand and crop duration due to forced maturity” in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.

NEED FOR CLIMATE RESILIENT CROP

Experts have been warning about the adverse effects of climate change for years and India turned it into an important area of concern for India to ensure food and nutritional security for growing population.

Accordingly, National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) was launched under ICAR on 2011.

According to ICAR, the project aims to enhance resilience of crops to climate change through strategic research and technology demonstration. It also covers livestock, fisheries and natural resource management. The ICAR also said that climate change is predicted to reduce agricultural yields by 4.5 to 9 per cent.

Source : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PMO=3&PRID=1758852