Climate-resilient food production

The projection by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) that India's food production could drop by 6.8% under the impact of climate change and the risk for hunger could increase by 23% by 2030, has cast a shadow over the country's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. Based on a study on impact of climate change on agriculture, the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) also has sounded the caution that yields of rainfed rice, irrigated rice, wheat and kharif crops are likely to be reduced in the absence of any adaptation measures under the projected climate change scenarios. These projections indicate that the impending food crisis on account of climate change impact will be more severe than perceived and calls for comprehensive review of the policies, schemes and programmes that are aimed at achieving food security to ascertain if they are adequate to overcome the challenge. Development and introduction of climate-resilient varieties, soil health management, rainfed area development, water-use efficiency under the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture have resulted in increase in food grain production to 314 million tonne and horticultural production to 341 million tonne in 2021-22. The IFPRI and NICRA reports, however, show that there is no room for complacency. With 60% of the net sown area, which account for 40% of agriculture production in the country, being rainfed, drastic change in rainfall pattern attributed by climate change impact speaks volumes about the risks. Destruction of standing crop in two waves of devastating floods in Assam and deposition of thick layers of sand degrading paddy fields, large excess rainfall followed by long spells of deficient rainfall resulting from large departures from normal rainfall, demonstrate the growing challenge for farmers dependent on rainfed farming for livelihood. Climate change impact mitigation requires the farmers not just to improve water-use efficiency but also to shift to solar-powered irrigation system to reduce dependence on diesel-based irrigation wells. Since the inception of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme in 2019, altogether 1.23 lakh standalone solar pumps have been installed as on June 30, which is estimated to result in reduction of 85 million litres of annual diesel consumption. This led to increase in the cumulative number of standalone solar pumps to 3.85 lakh, but the country still has 11.2 million diesel agricultural pumps, which shows where it stands as far as goals of using renewable energy for sustainable increase in food production are concerned. The Central Government informed the Parliament that installation of solar pumps under PM-KUSUM has led to reduction of around 0.44 million tonne per annum in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions, which points towards the importance of installation of solar pumps as a climate-resilient strategy to achieve food security. Central Ground Water Board data on groundwater resources indicate decrease in water level in 30% of wells and increase in water level in 70% of wells over a decade, which imply that apart from installation of solar pumps ground water management and rainwater harvesting in water-stressed areas are crucial components of a climate-resilient food production strategy. India's agricultural production is heavily dependent on import of urea as domestic production is insufficient to meet the demand. Rising global prices of urea has led to increase in the fertilizer subsidy burden on the government. India's import of 98.28 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of urea in 2020-21 cost 2580 million US dollars, while the import bill for 91.36 LMT in 2021-21 increased to 6041 million US dollars. The domestic production of urea in 2021-22 was 250 LMT against total requirement of 356 LMT. A report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture brings out a mismatch between requirement of fertilizer subsidy for food production and Budget allocation. The Budget allocation for the current financial year in respect of urea subsidy is Rs 67,202 crore against requirement of Rs 104,016 crore and is 21% lower than the Revised Estimates of 2021-22. Funds allocated to the Ministry are not sufficient to meet the projected requirement of fertilizer subsidy funds for the year 2022-23, which also led to lower allocation of Rs 42,000 crore against the requirement of Rs 72,702 crore for the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme. Any shortfall in Budget allocation leading to shortage of subsidized urea and other subsidized fertilizer will pose a stumbling block in achievement of targets of food production. Apart from increasing domestic production, boosting production of biofertilizers and promotion of organic farming in a big way can help the country overcome the challenge posed by rising subsidy burden on account of the spike of price of imported urea. The indigenously-developed Nano urea, which is much cheaper than conventional subsidized urea, can be a game changer and go a long way in addressing the twin challenges of rising subsidy burden and sustainable food production to reduce hunger risk.