Climate Change and Agriculture in India: Impacts, Implications, and Barriers to Adaptation
摘要
Climate change is no longer a problem of the distant future. People have started realizing the abrupt changes in climatic factors, such as temperature and rainfall, and their consequences. The early arrival of heatwaves, delayed monsoon rainfall, precipitation extremes, and sweltering days have been common phenomena in India for recent years, severely affecting life and livelihoods across the country. Agriculture, which still employs more than 40 percent of India’s workforce, is one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate change. However, it also significantly contributes to the abrupt changes in climatic factors, as one-fifth of the total emission of greenhouse gases comes from the agriculture sector. Therefore, the importance of climate-smart-agriculture is emphasized, which has triple targets of increased productivity, enhanced resilience, and reduced emissions. Against this backdrop, this chapter first examines the impacts of climate change on Indian agriculture. Then, it assesses the barriers to achieving climate-smart-agriculture targets.