Reorienting Indian Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities

This book covers various aspects of Indian agriculture. It consists of 32 chapters that are presented in 12 parts with the following headings: agricultural scenario; revolutions in agriculture; reorienting agricultural research for innovation; improving productivity and production; harnessing agricultural biotechnology; managing plant genetic resources; the role and growth of the seed sector; integrated natural resource management; impact of climate change; innovation in extension; the role of women and youth; and policy reforms for accelerated growth

Socio-metabolic Research (SMR); Industrial Ecology; Ecological Economics; India; Material Flow Analysis (MFA)

In India, over the years, the new cropping systems have become predominant in view of their higher productivity as well as income for farmers. Examples are rice-wheat cropping system in the north, groundnut in Gujarat, sugarcane in the north, chickpea in southern states, arhar in the north-western states, soybean in Madhya Pradesh and adjoining states, and winter maize in Bihar. Unfortunately, most of these systems require diversification for greater sustainability and conservation of natural resources. Time is ripe now to bring in needed reforms in the existing cropping systems that are more scientifically based and more suited to varying agro-climatic conditions. The possibilities of future crop diversification that can increase farmers’ production as well as income and also ensure conservation agriculture through sustainable intensification are described in this commentary. There is a need for long term planning and development of various strategies for crop diversification in the best national interest

An urgent need for COP27: confronting converging crises

Funder: University of MelbourneThe last 12 months have provided further evidence of the potential for cascading ecological and socio-political crises that were warned of 12 months ago. Then a consensus statement from the Regional Action on Climate Change Symposium warned: “the Earth’s climatic, ecological, and human systems are converging towards a crisis that threatens to engulf global civilization within the lifetimes of children now living.” Since then, the consequences of a broad set of extreme climate events (notably droughts, floods, and fires) have been compounded by interaction with impacts from multiple pandemics (including COVID-19 and cholera) and the Russia–Ukraine war. As a result, new connections are becoming visible between climate change and human health, large vulnerable populations are experiencing food crises, climate refugees are on the move, and the risks of water, food, and climate disruption have been visibly converging and compounding. Many vulnerable populations now face serious challenges to adapt. In light of these trends, this year, RACC identifies a range of measures to be taken at global and regional levels to bolster the resilience of these populations in the face of such emerging crises. In particular, at all scales, there is a need for globally available local data, reliable analytic techniques, community capacity to plan adaptation strategies, and the resources (scientific, technical, cultural, and economic) to implement them. To date, the rate of growth of the support for climate change resilience lags behind the rapid growth of cascading and converging risks. As an urgent message to COP27, it is proposed that the time is now right to devote much greater emphasis, global funding, and support to the increasing adaptation needs of vulnerable populations