India. Climate study vital for farming, says Pawar

 

India’s agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has predicted record production of food grains this year, but has expressed concern over changing climatic conditions that may reduce the country’s agriculture produce by 10 to 40 per cent in the coming century.

 

“The country witnessed the highest food grains production, 230.67 million tones, in 2007-08. It is expected that last year’s figures will be surpassed following a good Kharif and Rabi season,” he said at a national symposium, AGRICON-2008, in Pune on Saturday, November 14.

 

This year’s Kharif season, said the Union agriculture minister, witnessed positive cultivation activities across the country and the same is expected through the Rabi season as well.

 

Other than some parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the rest of the country has witnessed an increase in cultivation, said Pawar.

 

However, the biggest challenge to Indian agriculture is changing climatic conditions: “The temperatures are expected to increase by 1.8 to 4 degrees Celsius in 100 years. The rise and sudden change in weather will adversely affect agricultural conditions,” he said.

 

Pawar said Indian farming will have to devise a way to ensure continued growth by considering climate change as a challenge along with maintaining the four per cent growth rate in agriculture sector.

 

“Technological advances should reach farmers, which is not happening. Agriculture universities can play an important role in this area,” he added.

 

Pawar also sought to assure the farming community that global inflation and recession trends would not have an adverse impact on food grain prices. The Union government, he said, is prepared to take protective measures if the prices were to fall below the minimum support price.

 

But he also dwelt upon other ways to enhance agriculture incomes: “Only 1/3rd of the harvested bio-mass is used as the main produce today. The remaining 2/3rd is generally classified as residue. If the total bio-mass is suitably processed, it would add significantly to the income and employment of farmers”.

 

Also, the percentage of agriculture processing in the country today stood at 30-40 per cent as against 98 per cent in the developed countries. “Processing of agriculture produce can emerge as a profitable business solution,” he added.