E-Paper
Reimagining climate resilience for India’s farmers
This article is authored by Suman S, director, Dr Reddy’s Foundation and Kaviraj Singh, CEO, Earthood.
On a summer afternoon in a semi-arid village, a farmer looks up at the sky, not with hope, but with calculation. The monsoon is no longer a season. It is a variable.
For millions of Indian farmers, the climate crisis is not a distant global concern. It is a daily negotiation with uncertainty. A delayed rainfall, an unseasonal heatwave, a sudden flood—each event is no longer an exception but part of a new pattern which should be addressed humane. In an era after Green Revolution, we progressed but our actions left significant footprints, seeking not only our attention but serious concern. On this Earth Day, the conversation must move beyond awareness to action. The question is no longer whether the climate crisis is impacting agriculture. It is how India can systematically protect those who feed the nation.
India has already begun to quantify this reality with scientific precision. Under the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture programme, vulnerability assessments across 651 agricultural districts reveal a stark picture. Nearly half, 310 districts, are climate vulnerable, with 109 categorised as very high risk. This is not just data. It is a map of exposure. These districts represent regions where agricultural productivity, farmer incomes, and rural stability are increasingly tied to climate variability. The preparation of District Agriculture Contingency Plans is a significant step, but the real challenge lies in translating these plans into predictable, scalable outcomes on the ground. The efforts need a real-time monitoring, identifying the signs, predicting the situations with sheer accuracy, delivering prompt advisory in local language in the pockets of vulnerable.
There is no denying that India has built a strong foundation. From climate-resilient crop varieties to water efficiency schemes, from micro-irrigation under Per Drop More Crop to integrated farming under Rainfed Area Development, the policy architecture is both comprehensive and evolving. Over 2,900 crop varieties have been released between 2014 and 2024, with a majority designed to withstand climatic stress. Climate-resilient villages, seed banks, and community nurseries are being established, while insurance mechanisms such as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana have disbursed over ₹1.92 lakh crore in claims, providing a critical financial cushion to farmers. These are not incremental steps. They reflect a systemic response. Yet, the emerging climate reality demands a shift from response to pro-active response in terms of disaster risk reduction measures.
At the heart of the climate crisis lies carbon. Agriculture is one of the contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, but it is also part of the solution. India’s soils have huge potential to become carbon sinks. Practices such as agroforestry, conservation tillage, crop diversification, linked to soil organic carbon enhancement can transform agricultural landscapes into climate assets. If farmers are enabled to adopt low-carbon and carbon-sequestering practices, they can participate in emerging carbon markets, creating an additional stream of income while contributing to the climate change resilience. However, this transition requires credible carbon accounting systems, robust measurement frameworks, robust monitoring and evaluation system and accessible carbon finance mechanisms that include small and marginal farmers.
Despite strong policy intent, structural gaps continue to limit impact. Climate resilience efforts often operate in silos across schemes and institutions, while farmers experience climate risk as a unified challenge. Technologies demonstrated in pilot districts do not always scale effectively due to gaps in awareness, affordability, and local adaptability. At the same time, while macro-level assessments exist, farmers still lack access to real-time, hyper-local decision support that can guide everyday agricultural choices. India now needs to move towards a more integrated, science and technology-driven approach. The next phase must bring together satellite data, Artificial Intelligence, and local weather systems into a unified climate intelligence layer that delivers real-time, farm-level insights. Predictive advisories on rainfall, soil moisture, pest outbreaks, and crop suitability can significantly reduce risk exposure. At the same time, carbon must be embedded into agricultural policy as a core economic lever. Incentivising carbon-positive practices and enabling participation in carbon markets can transform climate action into a source of income security for farmers. Equally important is the need to move from isolated interventions to integrated ecosystems, where water management, seed systems, digital advisory, financial protection, and market linkages operate together at scale.
India’s agricultural future will not be defined by yield alone. It will be defined by stability. A farmer who can predict, adapt, and recover is far more resilient than one who remains exposed to recurring shocks. Climate resilience, therefore, is not just an environmental priority. It is an economic and social imperative. At a time when India is positioning itself as a global leader in sustainable development, its approach to agriculture will be closely watched. The ability to protect small and marginal farmers while aligning with climate goals will define the credibility of that leadership. The farmer looking at the sky should not have to rely on instinct alone. He or she should be supported by science, enabled by technology, protected by policy, and rewarded by markets. India has already built the foundations. The next step is to connect them into a system that is intelligent, inclusive, and future-ready. Because in the era of the climate crisis, protecting farmers is not just about safeguarding livelihoods. It is about securing the nation’s future.
(The views expressed are personal)
This article is authored by Suman S, director, Dr Reddy’s Foundation and Kaviraj Singh, CEO, Earthood.
