Farm resilience is key to managing climate crisis

The government must ensure a faster transition from a climate response orientation to a climate resilience one for the farm sector.

With climate crisis effects being increasingly felt in agriculture, the Centre has done well to set up two expert panels: One to work on technology solutions to improve extreme weather forecast precision, aiding calibration of tilling and sowing decisions, and the other to find ways to hasten assessment of yield losses for timely disbursal of payouts under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). The farm insurance scheme has suffered delays — last August, the Centre blamed yield data transmission lags and disputes between insurance firms and the states for the ₹ 2,760 crore pending against admissible claims till 2021-22. Disbursal delays have a compounded effect, with farmers often dependent on harvest income/compensation for the next sowing.

Sustained gains in shifting away from water-intensive crops need to be demonstrated to farmers(Pic for representation)

That apart, the government must ensure a faster transition from a climate response orientation to a climate resilience one for the farm sector. This will require concerted efforts across the plough-to-plate spectrum. First, sustained gains in shifting away from water-intensive crops need to be demonstrated to farmers. While some states incentivise such diversification, these seem inadequate against the existing price support and assured procurement arrangement that rewards the cultivation of water-guzzlers. Second, greater attention must be paid to changing consumer preferences, to wean them away from grains whose acreage will suffer as the climate crisis worsens. This transition will be much harder to nudge, but as the unfolding millet consumption story promises, the needle can be moved meaningfully. The government and market players will need to redouble their efforts here.