Tomatoes are now trending at ₹100 per kg, and ginger and garlic have touched ₹150-200/kg. The steep rise in prices tells a bigger story of climate shocks. Stagnation in crop yields, declining soil organic matter, multi-nutrient deficiencies, shrinking arable land, water availability and cold supply chain are challenges. Climate change is among the biggest challenges.
Farm output is vulnerable to changes in climate as higher temperatures tend to reduce crop yields and increase pest infestations. Rain-fed agriculture is primarily impacted by variability in the number of rainy days.
To address climate change, the Cabinet recently gave the nod to set up a National Research Foundation (NRF). The fine print of the NRF Bill is likely to be introduced in Parliament’s Monsoon Session, starting on July 20. To be enriched with ₹50,000 crore funds, the NRF could be a game-changer in underlining the need for sensitive research to make climate-smart agriculture (CSA).
To minimise greenhouse gas emission effects mainly caused by the imbalanced usage of chemical fertilisers and to promote alternative fertilisers, the Centre has capped the fertiliser subsidy at ₹3.69-lakh crore over three years till 2024-25. The savings from a reduction in fertiliser subsidies can also be ploughed into agricultural research in the face of climate change, a threat to food, livelihood and nutritional security for the ever-growing population.
As per a study by the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), climate change is expected to affect yields of crops such as rice, wheat, and maize by 7-8 per cent, fruits and vegetables by less than 15-20 per cent by 2025. Punjab wheat production had declined 16 per cent in five years. The production fell from 178 lakh tonnes in 2017-18 to 149 lakh tonnes in 2021-22. Studies on rice and wheat suggest that wheat is sensitive to rising maximum temperatures and heat waves, while rice is vulnerable to increased minimum temperatures in the region.
In India, there is little scope for bringing in more area under cultivation; therefore, growth in foodgrain production has to come largely through productivity enhancement. Farmers must have access to the latest research and development.
Minuscule R&D Budget
The minuscule investments in R&D in India impede the ability of science and technology research to tackle multiple challenges faced by agriculture. The central Budget allocation for agricultural R&D was a meagre ₹8,368 crore in FY 2021-22, ₹8,513 crore in 2022-23 and the largest share of this amount is to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). A provision of ₹5,877.06 crore had been made for ICAR including salary, pension, administrative and logistical expenses accounting for around 80 per cent, with little left for research. For central agricultural universities, the Budget allocation was ₹599.45 crore only.
Interestingly, India has the largest agricultural R&D manpower that includes 27,500 scientists and more than one lakh support staff, not to mention several agencies in the sector and the expenditure involved in running them. ICAR directly oversees 118 research institutes, including three central agricultural and four deemed universities, 64 research institutes, 17 national research centres, six national bureaus and 25 project directorates. Besides, there are 63 State agricultural universities. Yet, the Indian system has failed to respond to the problems faced by its agriculture sector.
Agricultural R&D needs to be tailored to the needs of particular crops and agro-ecologies in specific areas. To counter land degradation and consequently reduced soil fertility, receding groundwater, factor productivity decline and biodiversity loss, a paradigm shift is needed towards the promotion of sustainable agriculture and nutrient-use efficiency.
Drones, sensors, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things hold the potential to improve efficiencies in agri-food production, post-production management and agro-processing.
The writer is Vice Chairman, Punjab Economic Policy and Planning Board. Views expressed are personal