how are indian climate and agriculture season related
Answers
Explanation:
Climate change is any significant long-term change in the expected patterns of average weather of a region (or the whole Earth) over a significant period of time. It is about abnormal variations to the climate, and the effects of these variations on other parts of the earth. These changes may take tens, hundreds or perhaps millions of years. But increased anthropogenic activities such as industrialization, urbanization, deforestation, agriculture, change in land use pattern etc. lead to emission of greenhouse gases due to which the rate of climate change is much faster.
Climate change scenarios include higher temperatures, changes in precipitation, and higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations. There are three ways in which the “Greenhouse Effect” may be important for agriculture. First, increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations can have a direct effect on the growth rate of crops. Secondly, CO2-induced changes of climate may alter levels of temperature, rainfall and sunshine that can influence plant and animal productivity. Finally, rises in sea level may lead to loss of farmland by inundation and increasing salinity of groundwater in coastal areas.
India’s agriculture
From ancient times India’s agriculture has been dependent on monsoons. Any change in monsoon trends drastically affects agriculture. Even the increasing temperature is affecting Indian agriculture. In the Indo-Gangetic Plain, these pre-monsoon changes will primarily affect the wheat crop (>0.5oC increase in time slice 2010-2039; IPCC 2007). In the states of Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh alone, rice production losses during severe droughts (about one year in five) average about 40 percent of total production, with an estimated value of $800 million.
Increase in CO2 to 550 ppm increases yields of rice, wheat, legumes and oilseeds by 10 to 20 percent. A 1oC increase in temperature may reduce yields of wheat, soybeans, mustards, groundnuts, and potatoes by 3 to 7 percent. There would be higher losses at higher temperatures. Productivity of most crops decreases only marginally by 2020 but by 10 to 40 percent by 2100 due to increases in temperature, rainfall variability, and decreases in irrigation water.
The major impacts of climate change will be on rain fed or un-irrigated crops, which are cultivated on nearly 60 percent of cropland. A temperature rise by 0.5oC in winter temperature is projected to reduce rain fed wheat yield by 0.45 tonnes per hectare. Possibly there might be some improvement in yields of chickpeas, rabi maize, sorghum and millets and coconut on the west coast and less loss in potatoes, mustard and vegetables in north-western India due to reduced frost damage. Increased droughts and floods are likely to increase production variability.
Recent studies done at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute indicate the possibility of a loss of between 4 and 5 million tons in wheat production in the future with every rise of 1oC temperature throughout the growing period. Rice production is slated to decrease by almost a tonne/hectare if the temperature rises by 2 degree celsius. In Rajasthan, a 2 degree rise in temperature was estimated to reduce production of pearl millet by 10 to 15 percent. If maximum and minimum temperatures rise by 3 and 3.5 degrees respectively, then soya bean yields in M.P will decline by 5 percent compared to 1998. Agriculture will be affected in the coastal regions of Gujarat and Maharashtra, as fertile areas are vulnerable to inundation and salinization.
Food security
Food security is both directly and indirectly linked with climate change. Any alteration in the climatic parameters such as temperature and humidity which govern crop growth will have a direct impact on quantity of food produced. Indirect linkage pertains to catastrophic events such as floods and droughts which are projected to multiply as a consequence of climate change leading to huge crop loss and leaving large patches of arable land unfit for cultivation which hence threatens food security. The net impact of food security will depend on the exposure to global environmental change and the capacity to cope with and recover from global environmental changes. On a global level, increasingly unpredictable weather patterns will lead to a fall in agricultural production and higher food prices, leading to food insecurity.