Climate Change and Agriculture
Authors: Ravi Kumar¹ and Nidhi Jain^2
1 Research Scholar, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, SKN College of Agriculture, Jobner
² Assistant Professor, Tantia University, Sriganganagar


Agriculture production is directly dependent on climate change and weather. Possible changes in temperature, precipitation and CO2 concentration are expected to significantly impact crop growth. Climate change refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or its variability, persisting for an extended period. India is home to extraordinary variety of climatic regions, ranging from tropical in the south to temperate and alpine in the Himalayan north, where elevated regions receive sustained winter snowfall. The nation’s climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert. The growth and yield of crop is adversely affected by environmental stresses such as high temperature, soil moisture deficit, low light intensity etc. Simulation studies shows that rise in temperature by 1°C lead to decline in wheat production by 250 kg/ha in Rajasthan and 400 kg/ha in Haryana. Increased concentrations of CO2 may boost crop productivity, only where moisture is not a constraint. Higher levels of CO2 can stimulate photosynthesis in certain plants.

Mitigation Strategies

• Use of renewable energy and nuclear energy and expanding forests are the mitigating priorities.
• Selection of appropriate variety with respect to date of sowing and expected temperature rise during the crop growth period is necessary to get an optimum yield under high temperature stress conditions in crops.
• A number of new genotypes of crops are playing an important role in the human nutrition and solving food problem but as a result of heat stress, the performance of these genotypes is often hampered, so it is necessary to develop heat tolerant genotype.
• Heat and drought stress in field crops can be managed by applying bio regulators like salicylic acid, thioglycolic acid, gibberlic acid, thiosalicylic acid and calcium chloride, which are able to induce long-term thermo-tolerance in plants and can be helpful in mitigating the yield reduction threats as well as are helpful in producing good quality grains


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