Alarmed by crop failures and reduction in yields due to climate change, the Central government has selected six districts in Andhra Pradesh to study crop and production patterns and introduce remedial measures.
The districts selected for climate change studies are West Godavari, Krishna, Mahbubnagar, Khammam, Srikakulam and Anantapur. Scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research have selected 1,000 farmers in each of these districts and have introduced latest scientific farm practices to fight climate change.
At the end of the Kharif and Rabi seasons, the scientists will compare the input costs and total yields in normal fields with those in the selected farms. The comparison will help scientists understand whether traditional practices are sufficient to beat the changes triggered by climate change, or whether technological intervention is needed.
“We have selected both wet and dry districts for our study. We will know the results next year. We will device our strategy based on the outcomes to meet the challenges of climate change,” said Dr B. Venkateswarlu, director of the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture. He said that small and marginal farmers were losing crops and this was a cause for concern. “We will give suggestions to farmers once the results from these districts are out,” he added. Climate data collected by the ICAR shows there has been a significant negative rainfall trend in certain parts of the country, while in other areas there has been increase in rainfall. There has also been a sharp rise in temperatures since the turn of the millennium. The scientists have observed that there was an impact of high temperature on pollen sterility and germination in rice. Maximum temperatures above 35°C and minimum temperatures below 23°C during flowering stages increased pollen sterility in varieties of rice. Lab studies have shown that the degrees of reduction in grain yield enhanced with the rise in ambient temperature at 1, 2 and 3 degrees C. This reduction of grain yield was to the extent of 70 per cent in certain rice varieties. High thermal stress during post-flowering duration manifested 18 per cent reduction in economic yield of wheat and 60 in case of mustard.