Changes in weather patterns — excessive rainfall, varying seasons, higher temperatures — have affected agriculture
Climate change is the most dominant threat that the world faces now. It has compelled people and communities to embrace a range of adapting strategies. However, it is the agriculturalists who are the worst hit due to climate change alterations.
Higher temperatures have reduced yields of desirable crops, while encouraging weed and pest proliferation. Changes in precipitation patterns are increasing the likelihood of short-run crop failures and long-run production declines. High dependence on factors like rainfall, sunshine and humidity is making the agriculturalist highly vulnerable to sudden erratic weather behaviors. Climate change also threatens global food security.
A major flux in the weather pattern has been noticed in Assam, which has affected annual tea production. Tea, which is the second most popular beverage in the world, is under threat due to rising temperature in core areas, where it is being cultivated. Climate change has altered the flushing cycle (the four seasons in a year, where tea leaves are plucked) of the crop in most of the tea growing districts across the Brahmaputra river in Assam.
Pradip Baruah, a small grower from Jorhat district notes a delay of 15 to 20 days in all the four flushing cycles. This variation has an adverse impact on the quality of produce, eventually affecting the demand-supply chain, as well as international market trade.
The major reason behind these delays is the change in the rainfall pattern. Erratic rainfall has become another issue for the past two to three decades.
The most valuable ‘second-flush’ crop has been the worst hit because of rainfall alteration, putting the growers and their livelihood in hot waters. Adapting to such a variation adds extra costs to the growers.
Scientists at the Tocklai Tea Experimental Station in Jorhat observe that with rising temperatures, soil productivity is going down. Many parts in Sivasagar district are becoming drought-prone, posing a threat to small plantations.
lack of clarity with respect to institutional support is adding to the existing anxiety among tea growers. Tea comes under the broad umbrella of both the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Many planters have reported a gap between direct help from institutional setups as well. Fragmentation in the national institutional setup needs to be resolved, since institutions also play a vital role in resolving everyday challenges of the growers.
Coordination between different governing actors like national bodies, Governments and local extension organisations should be done to buffer farmers from the vagaries of climate change. Rural infrastructure should be uplifted to strengthen agriculture management in rural areas. Policy formulations should adopt bottom-up approach — considering the knowledge and practices of small farmers.
Also, little attention has been given to the formulation of new policies and rectification of existing ones. If we analyse the national directive based State Action Plan on Climate Change, one of the many shortcomings in specific reports is in addressing the agricultural sector which brings large amount of revenue and stability not only for the State but also to the country. These bottlenecks in agricultural policymaking need to be resolved.
Concerted mitigation and adaptation efforts are required to decrease the vulnerability of Indian agriculture to the adverse impacts of climate change, and there is a need to make it more resilient. It is important to note that climate change is poised to have sharp impacts on agro-ecological regions, farming systems, and social classes and groups. Since, food security is one of the main objectives under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, it can be used as an avenue while modeling resilient agriculture policies.
Incorporating effective agricultural policies during the development of India’s formal position at the climate change summit in Paris this year will be a good opportunity for the agriculture sector. The long-term visions for both the agrarian and the economic aspects of climate change must be incorporated in order to construct an effective policy response.
(The writer is a PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)