eChapters

Introduction

Climate change is one of the important areas of concern for world to ensure food and nutrition security to the growing population. The impacts of climate change are global but development countries like India are highly vulnerable as large population depends upon agriculture and allied service. As per the latest report, the global average temperature rises is 0.99⁰C (NASA, 2016) since pre-industrial time (1850). The year 2016 ranks as the warmest year, 16 of the 17 warmest years in the 136 years record all have occurred since 2001. The predicted temperature rise for India is in the range 0.5-1.2⁰C by 2020, 0.88-3.16⁰C by 2050 and 1.56-5.44⁰C by the year 2080. Studies in India showed significant negative impacts of climate change, predicted to reduce yields by 4.5 to 9.0%, depending on the magnitude and distribution of warming. Agriculture sector is contributing about 17.4% of India’s GDP, a 4.5-9.0% negative impact on production implies a cost of climate change to be roughly up to 1.5% GDP per year. Therefore, Govt. of India has accorded high priority on research and development to cope with the climate change in general and agriculture and allied sector. The Prime Ministers National Action Plan on Climate Change has Identified Agriculture and allied sector as one of the 8 national Missions. Agriculture and the future of global food security figure very importantly in climate change negotiations. As stated in Article II of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the goal is to ensure stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. With this background to meet the challenges of sustaining domestic food production in the face of changing climate and to generate information on adaptation and mitigation in agriculture to contribute to global for a like UNFCCC, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) launched a flagship network project National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) during XI plan in February 2011, and during XII Plan it is referred as National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA).

Introduction 
Chapter 15 provides a comprehensive analysis of climate change and its profound effects on agriculture and global food systems. This chapter delves into the science of climate change, focusing on its impacts on agricultural practices, climate-smart strategies, and the role of specialized climate change centers and institutes. The chapter begins with an exploration of the impacts of climate change on agriculture, detailing how shifts in temperature, precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events affect crop yields, livestock production, and overall agricultural productivity. It highlights the vulnerabilities of different agricultural systems and regions to climate change. Climate-smart agricultural practices are central to adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change. This section covers adaptation strategies, such as adjusting planting dates, diversifying crops, and improving water management. It also addresses mitigation strategies, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable farming practices and enhancing carbon sequestration in soils. Adaptation and mitigation strategies are discussed in detail, with an emphasis on how these approaches can be integrated to address climate change comprehensively. The interplay between adaptation (adjusting to changing conditions) and mitigation (reducing the root causes of climate change) is examined, emphasizing the need for balanced and coordinated efforts. The chapter underscores the importance of climate change centers and institutes in addressing food security. These institutions play a crucial role in research, policy development, and the implementation of climate-smart practices. They provide valuable data, tools, and guidance for managing the impacts of climate change on agriculture. The impact of climate change centers and institutes on global warming is analyzed, focusing on how these organizations contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing adaptive capacity. Their role in advancing climate science and supporting climate action is highlighted. Modern concepts in climate change centers and institutes are reviewed, showcasing innovative approaches and technologies that are shaping the field of climate science and its application to agriculture. The chapter concludes with strategies for combating food security and global warming challenges. It emphasizes the need for continued research, international collaboration, and the adoption of effective climate-smart practices to ensure sustainable agricultural systems and enhance global food security.

12.1 What is Climate Change?
 
The earth receives short-wave radiation from the sun, one-third of which is absorbed by the atmosphere, ocean, ice-land and living organisms. The energy absorbed from solar radiation is balanced, in the long-term, by the outgoing radiation from the earth and atmosphere. While short-wave radiation from the sun can easily pass through the atmosphere, the long-wave radiation emitted by the warm surface of the earth is partially absorbed by trace gases in the atmosphere called greenhouse gases’ (GHGs).

14.1. INTRODUCTION

The climate of a place is the average weather that is experiences over a period of time. It is the natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout the history of the earth. Climate change is strongly associated with higher temperature, altered precipitation, and higher levels of atmospheric CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. It is a very slow process; it takes a long time to settle in. Climate change in IPCC (2007) usage refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activities. Over the last 150-200 years the changes to our climate are happening more quickly now than they have ever done before in the geological past. Human activities have altered natural climatic processes at a geographically rapid pace by booting atmospheric concentrations of several greenhouse gasses. Following are the changes taken place over years of industrial age (IPCC, 2007):

INTRODUCTION

The debate on climate change is going on. From the report of the Inter Governmental Panel on climate change (IPCC), a premier organization set up in 1998 by the World Meteorological Organisation and United Nations Environment Programme, it is known that the average surface temperature has increased over the 20th century by about 0. 6ºC. The number may seem insignificant but it is an unprecedented rise. In the past 150 years, the 11 hottest years were witnessed. It says that 1990s was the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year since 1861. Worse, the Artic is warming twice as rapidly as the rest of the world and there is a distinct possibility of the Greenland Ice Sheet collapsing altogether and pushing up sea levels by several metres. It is predicted that 2035 is the year when Himalayan glaciers may totally disappear causing catastrophic disruptions. Unfortunately, India is among the countries that will suffer the most serious consequences as a result of global warming. Following is the probable effect of global warming.

Many aspects of the global climate are changing rapidly. Evidence for changes in the climate system abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans. The climate system is the highly complex system consisting of five major components; the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the land surface and the biosphere, and the interactions among them. The climate system evolves in time under the influence of its own internal dynamics and because of external forcings such as volcanic eruptions, solar variations and human-induced forcings such as the changing composition of the atmosphere and land-use.

The term ‘climate variability’ is often used to denote deviations of climatic statistics over a given period of time (e.g., a month, season or year) from the long-term statistics relating to the corresponding calendar period. In this sense, climate variability is measured by those deviations, which are usually termed anomalies.

‘Climate change’ refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or due to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. The United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines ‘climate change’ as ‘a change of climate behaviour which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods’. The UNFCCC thus makes a distinction between ‘climate change’ attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition, and ‘climate variability’ attributable to natural causes. Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions measured by changes in temperature, precipitation, wind, snow cover, and other indicators. It can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including, for example, changes in extreme conditions.

A key difference between climate variability and change is in persistence of ‘anomalous’ conditions. In other words, events that are used to be rare occur more frequently, or vice versa. Occasionally, an event or sequence of events occurs that has never been recorded before, such as the exceptional tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 or hurricane season in the Atlantic in 2005. Yet even that could be a part of natural climate variability. If such a season does not recur within the next 30 years, by looking back it could be called as an exceptional year, but not a ‘climate change’. Only a persistent series of unusual events taken in the context of regional climate parameters can suggest that a potential change in climate has occurred.

8.1 Climate Change

Climate change is a broad term of global negative phenomena as created predominantly by burning of fossil fuels, which add heat-trapping gases to earth’s atmosphere. The over accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere lead to increased temperature and this is called as global warming. As a result, sea-level rise; ice mass loss in Greenland, Antarctica, Arctic and mountain glaciers worldwide; shifts in flowering/ plant blooming; and extreme weather events occur.

From the beginning of 18th century, the human activities started increasing gradually. Industrialization, increased use of petroleum products, deforestation, mining and increased use of chemicals have contributed to the pollution of natural resource base. The proportion of gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane etc started increasing in the atmosphere and more heat is getting trapped in the atmosphere leading to rise in atmospheric temperatures (Fig. 15.1).

The changes in atmosphere temperatures have led to changes in weather patterns. This changes in weather pattern triggered extreme situations like heat wave, cold wave, severe cyclonic activity, strong winds and hail storms, f loods and droughts of greater intensity creating new records.

Climate
This refers to the long-term statistical data of temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count, and many other meteorological parameters in a particular area. However, weather refers to the current state of these same elements over a maximum of two weeks. The statistical long-term representation of the shortterm weather is called climate. A region’s “climate” is its average long-term weather. Temperature and readiness determine the climate. The variations between the average circumstances at two different times can be used to define changes in the climate. The atmosphere, seas, ice sheets (cryosphere), living things (biosphere), and soils, sediments, and rocks (geosphere) all contribute to and are a part of the global climate system.
When the sun falls on moisture droplets in the earth’s atmosphere, a spectrum of light appears in the sky, creating an optical and meteorological phenomenon known as a rainbow.
A wilderness is an area of the planet’s natural ecosystem that has not seen major alterations from human activities.
The atmosphere, a body of gases or air around the earth, shields it from harm and makes life possible. The planet’s atmosphere is primarily made up of nitrogen, with only 21% being oxygen; the remaining little portion is made up of carbon dioxide and other gases. The earth is divided into five separate layers, ranked from lowest to highest:

The greenhouse technology is all about the controlling of ambient climatic factors to create a favourable ‘micro-climate’ for the crop growth. The magnitude of such control may differ from minimal to maximum. It may control single (like rain) to multiple aspects (like rain, temperature, humidity, sun-light, wind, carbon-di-oxide, etc in combination). It can simply be done by manipulating natural factors using the suitable/appropriate design of the greenhouse or can be done in complex form by using/installing different devices and packages (may be software) with necessary automation in a specifically designed greenhouse.

It is a vast subject and very difficult to have a thumb-rule for such climate control mechanism due to seasonal climatic variations and most importantly due to the inter-relation effect between each and every climatic factors. Thus, it should be given sufficient space to maneuver the mechanism designed for a specific greenhouse targeting a specific crop.

Ways to control these climatic factors in a greenhouse

There are two basic ways to control the climate inside greenhouse.

Primarily, through a suitable design of the greenhouse itself, the inside microclimate can be controlled, obviously up to a certain level. Through manipulation of the design, particularly the naturally ventilated system, the rain water, temperature, humidity, CO_2, wind, etc can be controlled up to a certain level in favour of the crop.

Secondarily, by introducing equipments, tools, devices, etc we can control the micro-climate of a greenhouse. In most cases, it can take care of a number of climatic factors, like temperature and humidity, sun-light and temperature, etc simultaneously to provide a crop-wise micro-climate inside.

Frequently we use both the basic controlling methods, in combination, to achieve the required climate control system in a particular greenhouse.

We have already discussed about the different climatic factors that affect the crop micro-climate. Now we will discuss the basic control mechanism of each and every climatic factors and the related technology that can be utilized for greenhouse.

The climate crisis has emerged as one of the most pressing issues of our time, threatening the very foundations of our planet and its inhabitants. The scientific consensus is clear: human activities, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases, are significantly contributing to the rising global temperatures, devastating natural disasters, and unpredictable weather patterns. As the world grapples with the challenges posed by climate change, a critical question arises: is it a compromise or a compulsion to act? The climate crisis is a complex and multifaceted issue, requiring a comprehensive and collective response. On one hand, there are those who advocate for a compromise, suggesting that economic growth and development can be balanced with environmental concerns (Fig. 2.1). This approach emphasizes the need for gradual and incremental changes, allowing countries and industries to adapt to new regulations and technologies. Proponents of this view argue that a compromise is necessary to avoid economic disruption, ensure energy security, and promote international cooperation. Fig. 2.1. Eco-evolutionary feedback by carbon cycling traits, in response to climate change On the other hand, there are those who insist that the climate crisis demands a compulsion to act, requiring immediate, drastic, and collective action. This perspective emphasizes the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, transition to renewable energy sources, and protect vulnerable communities from the impacts of climate change. Advocates of this view argue that the window for action is rapidly closing, and that anything less than a concerted and emergency response will condemn future generations to a catastrophic and unlivable world. The science unequivocally supports the latter perspective. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, global carbon emissions must reach net-zero by 2050. This requires a 45% reduction in emissions by 2030, and a complete phase-out of fossil fuels by 2050. The consequences of inaction are stark: more frequent and intense natural disasters, sea-level rise, water scarcity, food insecurity, and mass migration (Fig. 2.1).

12.1 Introduction
Having explored the dynamic realm of Numerical Weather Prediction, which focuses on forecasting the atmosphere’s state over days to weeks, we now shift our focus to a broader, longer-term perspective: Climate Data and Analysis. While weather describes the atmospheric conditions at a specific place and time, climate refers to the long-term average pattern of weather in a region, typically spanning decades or longer. Understanding and analyzing climate data is paramount for comprehending our planet’s past climate, identifying ongoing changes, and projecting future scenarios in a warming world. The study of climate is fundamentally data-driven. Unlike the instantaneous snapshots used in weather forecasting, climate analysis requires vast historical records, often extending back centuries or even millennia, to discern natural variability from human-induced changes. This data comes from a diverse array of sources, including instrumental records (thermometers, rain gauges, barometers), satellite observations, and proxy records (tree rings, ice cores, sediment layers) that provide indirect evidence of past climate conditions. The sheer volume and heterogeneous nature of this data present unique challenges and opportunities for analysis.
This chapter will delve into the essential aspects of climate data and the methodologies used to analyze it. We will begin by exploring the various types of climate data available, understanding their strengths, limitations, and how they are collected and curated. Crucially, we will examine how this data is used to characterize climate variability – the natural fluctuations within the climate system – and to detect climate trends, particularly those associated with global warming. We will introduce key climate indices that summarize large-scale atmospheric and oceanic patterns, providing simplified metrics for
understanding complex interactions.

Introduction

The animal husbandry and agriculture are the major resource of income for the farmers and directly affects the economic conditions of farmers. Livestock sector plays a vital role for livelihood food security in India. Buffalo plays an important role in dairy industry and contribute 49 per cent of total milk production in India (BAHS, 2017). Murrah is one of the best buffalo breeds in the world and also widely used for up-gradation of non-descript buffaloes in India. Murrah buffalo have poor thermoregulation mechanism compared to other domestic ruminants in tropical countries and are more prone to heat stress due to very less sweat glands, jet black colour and thin hairs on body surface (Das et al., 1999; Khongdee et al., 2013) which reduce the ability of cutaneous evaporation and largely responsible for its low productivity and consequently reducing the reproductive efficiency (Gudev et al., 2007). India continues to be the largest milk producer in the world since 1997. Milk production has increased from 165.4 million tonnes (2016-17) to 176.4 million tonnes (2017-18) (DAHD, GOI). The demand for milk is increasing at a very fast pace due to exponential population growth and the gap in the production and supply is increasing. Out of 300 million bovines, only 88 million are in milk leaving large unproductive animals including 84 million males (19th Livestock census, 2012). If the gap of production and supply is to be bridged, the large number of constraints that affect reproductive efficiency and productivity of dairy animals must be addressed effectively. One important factor that can contribute to the productivity of animals is qualitative production and quantitative adequacy of semen doses for A.I.

Abstract

Global warming is predicted to have significant effects in global potato production. Like many crops, potaoes are likely to be affected by changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, temperature and precipitatiom, as well as interations between these factors. As well as affecting potatoes directly, climate change will also affect the distributions and populations of many potato diseases and pests. Potato is one of the world’s most important food crops. Potato prodcution must be adapted to climate change to aviod reductions in crop yields. Potato plants and potato crop are predicted to benefit from increased carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. The major benefit of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide for potatoes (and other plants) is an increase in thier photosynthetic rates which can increase their growth rates. Potato crop yields are also predicted to benefit because potates partition more starch to the ediable tubers under elevated carbon dioxides levels. Higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide also results in potatoes having to open thier stomata less to take up equal amount of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, which means loss through transpiration from stomata. As a result the water use efficiency (the amount of carbon assimilated per unit water lost) of potato plants is predicted to increase.

The pursuit of a dependable and abundant harvest stands as the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture. However, this pursuit is increasingly challenged by the growing complexities and uncertainties of our changing climate. Chapter 9, “Harnessing Climate Intelligence for Assured Harvest,” delves into the critical role of climate analysis in navigating these challenges and securing predictable yields. This chapter outlines a strategic approach to achieving “assured harvest” by effectively leveraging “climate intelligence.” This intelligence encompasses a deep understanding of historical climate patterns, real-time weather monitoring, and future climate projections. By strategically analyzing this wealth of information, we can move beyond reactive measures towards proactive and informed decisionmaking across the agricultural lifecycle. Our strategy to harness climate intelligence for assured harvest will focus on several key pillars:
• Deciphering Climate Variability and Change: We will explore the nuances of both short-term weather fluctuations and long-term climate trends, identifying their specific impacts on crop growth, development, and potential losses. This involves understanding critical parameters like temperature, rainfall, humidity, solar radiation, and the frequency of extreme weather events relevant to specific crops and geographical regions.
• Assessing Climate-Related Risks: A crucial element of this strategy involves identifying and quantifying the risks posed by climate variability and change. This includes analyzing the probability and potential severity of events like droughts, floods, heatwaves, cold spells, and shifts in pest and disease patterns.
• Developing Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices: Armed with a robust understanding of climate risks, this chapter will explore a range of climatesmart agricultural practices designed to mitigate these risks and enhance resilience. This encompasses strategies related to crop selection, optimized planting and harvesting schedules, water management, soil health improvement, and integrated pest and disease management.
• Leveraging Technological Advancements: The power of climate intelligence is amplified by advancements in technology. We will examine the role of remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), precision agriculture tools, and sophisticated weather forecasting systems

Climate normals for crops and livestock refer to the long-term average weather conditions, such as temperature, precipitation, and humidity that are suitable for specific crops and livestock in a particular region. These normals help farmers and agricultural planners understand the typical climate conditions that support optimal growth, productivity, and health of crops and livestock. By knowing the climate normals, farmers can make informed decisions about:
• Crop selection and breeding
• Planting and harvesting schedules
• Livestock management and breeding
• Irrigation and water management
• Pest and disease management
15.0. Crop Weather Calendars
A Crop Weather Calendar (CWC) is a valuable agrometeorological tool used to align the crop growth stages with prevailing weather conditions to optimize agricultural practices. It helps farmers, extension workers, and planners make informed decisions by integrating weather information with the crop‘s physiological needs (Fig. 15.1).

Climate normals for crops and livestock refer to the long-term average weather conditions, such as temperature, precipitation, and humidity that are suitable for specific crops and livestock in a particular region. These normals help farmers and agricultural planners understand the typical climate conditions that support optimal growth, productivity, and health of crops and livestock. By knowing the climate normals, farmers can make informed decisions about:
• Crop selection and breeding
• Planting and harvesting schedules
• Livestock management and breeding
• Irrigation and water management
• Pest and disease management
15.1. Crop Weather Calendars
A Crop Weather Calendar (CWC) is a valuable agrometeorological tool used to align the crop growth stages with prevailing weather conditions to optimize agricultural practices. It helps farmers, extension workers, and planners make informed decisions by integrating weather information with the crop‘s physiological needs (Fig. 15.1).

Climate change exposes onion production to irregular rainfall, heat, drought, flooding and increasing pest and disease pressure. These stresses can reduce yield, damage bulb quality, increase storage losses and threaten smallholder livelihoods. This chapter uses research literature and case studies to examine resilience at farm, community and supply-system levels. It emphasizes location-specific varieties, crop rotation, micro-irrigation, efficient input use, digital forecasting, protected production, improved storage and reliable cold chains. Farmer organizations, extension services, subsidies and supportive institutions are also important. Sustainable onion farming requires agronomic, technological, socioeconomic and policy measures to function together, enabling growers to adapt to climatic uncertainty while conserving resources and maintaining profitability.

Abstract
Global food production needs to double by 50% by the middle of the 21st century to ensure food and nutritional security for 9 billion people. Climate change, particularly atmospheric CO2 and temperature, has a complex impact on sustainable food security. Climate change is a significant constraint on legume production globally, which is a crucial food, feed, and fodder source. Legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen through bacteria in root nodules, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and boosting soil C-sequestration. Climate change positively impacts grain legumes by allowing them to allocate above-ground
photosynthates into below-ground parts (nodules), improving rhizospheres’ activities, plant biomass and nutrient use efficacy. However, temperature can also negatively affect grain legumes, leading to flower abortion and abnormal pod filling. However, climate models predict more extreme events in the future, affecting legume growth and development. Heat stress, elevated CO2 concentration, drought, and rainfall variability impact legume crop production, requiring adaptation options. Results show that legumes with C3 fixation pathways show higher photosynthesis, reduced photorespiration, biomass production, and water use efficiency under atmospheric CO2. However, temperature increases lead to faster development, shorter life cycles, and lower yields. Legumes can cope with atmospheric CO2 up to
1000 ppm by storing sucrose and starch. Protein synthesis and water stress also help legumes adapt to changing climates. To achieve targeted yields in changing climatic conditions, agronomic and genetic interventions must be integrated. Targeted breeding programs should select high-yielding, biotic stress-resistant, and abiotic stress-tolerant genotypes adapted to atmospheric CO2 and temperature conditions. Integrating grain legumes with desirable traits can provide resilience against climate change.
Keywords: Climate change, Grain legumes, Nutritional security, Resilience, Rhizosphere, Water Use Effciency

Climate-resilient agriculture involves the use of practices, technologies, and approaches that can help to reduce the risks associated with climate change, while also promoting sustainable agriculture and improving the livelihoods of farmers and rural communities. This can include a range of strategies, such as the use of climate-tolerant crop and animal varieties, agroforestry practices, conservation agriculture, and integrated water management. Climate-resilient agriculture can also involve the use of innovative technologies, such as precision agriculture, drones, and satellite imaging, to support decision-making and improve the efficiency of agricultural systems. This chapter outlines the principles and priorities for climate-resilient agriculture, with a focus on the key strategies and approaches that can help to promote sustainable agriculture and reduce the vulnerability of agricultural systems to climate change. The chapter draws on examples and case studies from around the world, highlighting the importance of adopting a holistic and integrated approach to climate-resilient agriculture that takes into account the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable agriculture. By outlining the principles and priorities for climate-resilient agriculture (Fig. 5.1), this chapter aims to provide a framework for policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders to promote sustainable agriculture and reduce the vulnerability of agricultural systems to climate change

Climate change is one of the most important global environmental challenges facing humanity and as per the instrumental records, the earth’s climate system has demonstrably changed on both global and regional scales since the preindustrial era. Further evidence shows that most of the warming (of 0.1°C per decade) observed over the last 50 years, is attributable to human activities. The levels of greenhouse gases namely carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) have increased markedly as a result of human activities. The CO₂ concentration in atmosphere is now more than 400 ppm and the decadal increase is from 0.86 ppm per year to 1.99 ppm per year (Table 16.1) which is the highest ever. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) projects that the global mean temperature may increase between 1.4 and 5.8 ^oC by 2100. This warming of the earth-atmosphere system is expected to have severe impacts on the global hydrological system, ecosystems, sea level, crop production and related processes. Agriculture sector is the most vulnerable entity in light of the global warming and its impacts. Global mean temperatures of today are already about three quarters of a degree warmer than that of preindustrial times, and even if carbon emissions were completely stopped today the warming trend would continue for many decades. Moreover, the United Nations (2015) report has projected the world population to increase from current 7.3 billion to 8.5 billion (16%) by 2030, 9.7 billion (33%) in 2050 and 11.2 billion (53%) in 2100. With more population to feed the agriculture of tomorrow will be at cross roads if it is not sustainable as well as productive. Since the beginning of the early civilizations, agriculture and its adaptation to climate change or anything else is an ongoing process. On a long term basis, the agricultural crops will have to adapt to at least a warming of about 2^oC. These low cost adaptations in agricultural crops (such as changes in sowing periods / dates, cultivars, fertilizer and irrigation use and crop management practices) can reduce the impact on crop yields by often more than half, relative to the cases of no-adaptation.

Climate change is a long-lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather pattern triggered by greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. It is caused by natural factors like continental drift, volcanoes, earth’s tilt, and ocean current or manmade factors like urbanization, industrialization, burning of fossil fuel, deforestation and faulty agricultural practices.

Climate change refers to a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods (FCCC).

Overall, climate change could result in a variety of impacts on agriculture. Some of these effects are biophysical, some are ecological, and some are economic, including:

• A shift in climate and agricultural zones towards the poles
• Changes in production patterns due to higher temperatures
• A boost in agricultural productivity due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
• Changing precipitation patterns
• Increased vulnerability of the landless and the poor

In order to achieve maximum and sustainable crop production from available farm resources, it is essential to have proper knowledge of the agro-climatic resources of the location/region. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the climatic conditions would help in determining the suitable agricultural management practices for taking advantage of the favorable weather conditions and avoiding or minimizing risks due to adverse weather conditions. better planning of cropping pattern, developing irrigation and drainage plans for an area (Chaudhary et al. 2015). Hence, trends of temperature and rainfall are studied in this section with possible impact studies on rice production for Chhattisgarh state. Challenges of rainfed rice production can be understood through trend studies of key weather variables. Analysis of rainfall in the context of rainfed rice production in Chhattisgarh state has been carried out. Analysis has been done at Department of Agrometeorology under All India Co-ordinated Research Project (Raipur) to characterize the key weather parameters statistics.

The State of Himachal Pradesh encompasses a geographical area of 55.7 lakh ha and is situated between 31°22’40" and 33°12’40"N latitude and 75°45’55" and 77°10’20"E longitude. The state is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west, and Haryana on the south-west (Fig. 19.1). About 12 per cent of the state area is under agriculture which is mostly (80 per cent) rain fed. Wheat, maize, rice, and barley are the principal crops. In state, there are 12 districts, viz., Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kullu, Lahaul & Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur and Una. About 20 per cent of the area is under forest cover. It is rich in biodiversity of flora and fauna. Nearly 27 per cent of the area of the state is covered under permanent pastures. The state is endowed with a wide range of physiography/landform, climate, vegetation and geology which have influence on genesis of soils. The soils are mostly shallow, medium deep to deep, well/excessively drained, sandy, sandy-skeletal, loamy-skeletal, coarse-loamy and fine-loamy, calcareous as well as non-calcareous with low available water capacity. The State is the biggest montane ecosystem in India situated in northern part of the country. It is seventeenth largest state in terms of area and twentieth in population of which 65 per cent people are dependent on agriculture and 60 per cent of GDP comes from agriculture sector. Increasing temperature and reducing rainfall affecting the crop growth and crop production is a major issue everywhere in the world nowadays and this state has also not remained untouched by these prime issues of climate change. For sustainable development of agriculture in state, there was/is a need to identify and quantify climatic change where agriculture has a significant influence on both the economy and livelihood.

Climate change and its variability imposed a great threat to agriculture production and ultimately on food security. Understanding of anomalies in climatic variables is essential to make agriculture sector resilient. Jharkhand state, geographically located at 22⁰ 28’ N – 25⁰ 30’ N latitude and 83⁰ 22’ – 87⁰ 40’ E longitude with an altitude up to 1142 m above msl and having humid to sub-humid tropical monsoon type of climate, has a number of agro-climatic/physiographic constraints. The state has 3 agroclimatic sub-zones viz; Central and North Eastern Plateau sub zone (zone IV), Western Plateau sub-zone (zone V) and South Eastern Plateau sub-zone (zone VI) falling under agroecological regions XI, XII and XIII. Zone IV is having 15 districts; Zone V has 6 and Zone VI have 3 districts. Agriculture in Jharkhand is very tedious due to topographical, physiographic and climatic constraints. Vagaries of climate put greatest limitation before the agricultural production system in the State. The State enjoying nature’s gift receives fairly a high amount of annual rainfall, on an average 1400 mm annually, of which more than 80% is instantly lost through high speed surface and sub-surface run-off causing loss of fertile soil and gully formation. The State’s agriculture is virtually mono-cropped, major production being confined in kharif season (June-September) during which period 80-82% of annual rainfall is received. Raising a second crop (rabi season crop Oct-Nov. to March-April) in most part of Jharkhand is almost impossible because of a very meager irrigation potential (8-10% only). In absence of proper and adequate water management practices crop failure during rainy season in case of prolonged dry spells, virtually no crop during rabi season and drinking/domestic water crisis in the months of March to mid June have become a common feature in Jharkhand. Anomalies/irregularities in monsoon and its distribution (prolonged dry spells, agricultural drought etc.) have been affecting the Jharkhand agriculture since long. Now, in recent years, the effect of global climate change due to global warming has started appearing very prominently in Jharkhand. Increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events like heat wave (unexpected rise in temperature in summer months, right from mid February onwards), hail storm, drastic decrease in pre-monsoon convectional rainfall and cold wave/frost in winter etc. are putting additional climatic constraints before the Jharkhand agriculture.

The State of Karnataka is located between 11.50° to 18.50° N latitudes and 74.25° to 78.50° E longitudes and covers an area of 19.1 m ha which accounts for 5.8 percent of the total geographical area (TGA) of the country. Out of the total 19.1 m Ha in Karnataka the net cultivated area (201011) was 10.5 M Ha, net irrigated area 3.49 m Ha and net rainfed cultivated area 7.01 m ha. Karnataka has the largest area under rainfed agriculture (Fig. 8.1). Nearly 55% of total food grain production and 74% of oilseeds production come from rainfed agriculture in Karnataka. Therefore rainfed agriculture plays an important role in total food grain production in the state. Further the rainfed agriculture has substantial untapped potential, which can be brought to use by increasing the crop yields in the dry land areas through the adoption of proper dryland production technologies. The climate of the state is determined mainly by the geographical location with respect to the Sea, monsoon winds and physiography. Karnataka State has subhumid to humid climate on the west coast and western ghats and semiarid to arid (very warm) climate in central and northern districts of plateau region. The year is divided into four seasons viz., winter (December to February), summer (March to May); SouthWest monsoon (June to September) and NorthEast monsoon (October to November). The occurrence of rainfall and its spatial distribution is highly variable and not dependable. Rainfall contribution is very high, from Southwest monsoon season. It is seen that the annual rainfall is highest (5051mm) over the western ghats and lowest (408mm) in the eastern parts of Chitradurga district. Taluk wise annual rainfall variation is increasing over most of the taluks in south interior Karnataka. More than 2/3rd of the state receives less than 750 mm of rainfall. The atmospheric temperature in the state ranges from 23°C to 43°C in summer and 9 °C to 27 °C in winter. Hailstorms are common in plateau region of the state during premonsoon period.

Climate change impacts on agriculture are being witnessed all over the world, but countries like India are more vulnerable in view of the high population that depends on agriculture and excessive pressure on natural resources. The warming trend in India over the past 100 years (1901 to 2007) was observed to be 0.51°C with accelerated warming of 0.21oC per every 10 years since 1970 (Kumar, 2009). The projected impacts are likely to further aggravate the yield fluctuations of many crops with impact on food security and prices. Climate change impacts are likely to vary in different parts of the country. Parts of western Rajasthan, Southern Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Northern Karnataka, Northern Andhra Pradesh and Southern Bihar are likely to be more vulnerable in terms of extreme events (Mall et al., 2006).

Introduction
Agriculture lies at the heart of human civilization, providing sustenance and driving economic growth. However, in the 21st century, this essential sector faces unprecedented challenges. Among these, climate change looms as the most pressing, threatening to disrupt global food security. With rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, and increasing incidences of droughts and floods, agricultural productivity is under severe strain. Global crop yields are forecasted to decline by up to 25% in some regions if climate change remains unchecked (IPCC, 2021; Lobell et al., 2011). At the core of climate-resilient agriculture lies the ability to breed crops capable of withstanding environmental stresses. This chapter aims to explore how climate-resilient breeding is the future of agriculture. We will review the potential of genomics-assisted breeding (GAB), advances in CRISPR/Cas genome editing, the exploitation of crop biodiversity, and the integration of automated technologies for the development of resilient crops (FAO, 2019; Tester & Langridge, 2010).
Climate Change and its Impact on Agriculture
1. Temperature Stress: One of the most direct impacts of climate change on agriculture is the rise in global temperatures. Many crops, such as rice, wheat, and maize, are highly sensitive to heat stress, particularly during their flowering and grain-filling stages. Studies have shown that a 1°C increase in temperature can result in a 10-20% reduction in yields for several crops (Wheeler et al., 2020). For instance, wheat production could decrease by 6% for every degree of temperature rise (Asseng et al., 2015). Additionally, high temperatures increase evapotranspiration, leading to water deficits and worsening drought conditions in many regions (Boyer, 1982).

Milk, meat, eggs and their products have been the important part of the human diet in almost all countries of the world. These are highly nutritious and provide vital nutrients absent in typical starchy staples which dominate poor people’s diets. On global scale, animal meat, egg and milk provide 80% of animal protein intake.

The livestock sector requires a significant amount of natural resources and is responsible for about 14.5% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (7.1 Gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents for the year 2005). Methane, mainly produced by enteric fermentation and manure storage, is a gas which has an effect on global warming 28 times higher than carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide, arising from manure storage and the use of organic/inorganic fertilizers, is a molecule with a global warming potential 265 times higher than carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide equivalent is a standard unit used to account for the global warming potential. Mitigation strategies aimed at reducing emissions of this sector are needed to limit the environmental burden from food production while ensuring a sufficient supply of food for a growing world population.

Dryland agriculture is a more vulnerable system in view of its high dependency on monsoon rains which are of aberrant nature. The risk of crop failure and poor yields always restrain farmers from investing on new technologies and input use.

Concept of resilience

Resilience is used to describe the magnitude of a disturbance that a system can withstand without crossing threshold into a new structure or dynamic. Resilience is defined as “the ability of a system and its component parts to anticipate, absorb, accommodate, or escape from unacceptable standards of living due to the effects of a hazardous event, in a timely and efficient manner”. In other words, resilience describes the capacity of communities in a given context or landscape to maintain and improve their livelihoods—despite stresses and shocks—through the sustainable management of natural resources while maintaining key ecological functions

7.1 Introduction

Water is one of the most essential natural resources of the planet. Water is also the most critical resource for sustainable development in most of the developing countries. The quantities that are needed for drinking and sanitation purpose of humans are relatively small, and much larger quantities of water are required for many other purposes. It is essential not only for agriculture, industry and economic growth of a country, but also it is the most important component of the environment and ecosystem, with significant impact on overall wealth and nature conservation. Agricultural and industrial activities critically depend on a sufficient amount of fresh water that is withdrawn from rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers. Currently, the rapid growth of world population along with the extension of irrigation dependent agriculture, development of industrial sector and climate change are stressing the quantity and quality of the natural water systems. Due to the increasing problems, human have begun to realize that they can no longer follow “use and discard” methodology either with water resources or any other natural resources. As a result, the need for water management has become evident. Climate change has already started to affect the hydrological cycle and the availability of freshwater for agriculture. So, proper water management practices play crucial roles in the food production and the management of ecosystems. Over the last century global irrigated area has increased more than sixfold from approximately 40 million hectares in 1900 to more than 260 million hectares in 2000. Today more than 40% of the world’s food comes from the irrigated cropland which is 18% of the total cultivated crop land. Irrigated area is increased by almost 1% every year and the demand for irrigation water will increase by 13.6% by 2025 (Jensen, 1993). On the other hand about 8-15% of fresh water supply will be diverted from agricultural sector to meet the increased demand of domestic and industrial use. On the other hand the efficiency of irrigation is very low, only 65% of the applied water is used by the crop (Fig. 1). So, to overcome shortage of irrigation water for agriculture, it is essential to increase the water use efficiency in the crop field and to use marginal water for irrigation.

The global economy has adversely been affected to a considerable extent due to weather related disasters which are not uncommon in the recent past due to global warming and climate change. It is true in the case of the Indian economy too. The year 2010 was the warmest year ever recorded, followed by 2009 in India. The year 2015 was the warmest year globally. Model simulations indicate that a marked increase in rainfall and temperature over India would be seen during the current century. The maximum expected increase in rainfall is likely to be 10–30% over the Central India. Temperatures are likely to increase between 2 and 3^oC by the end of 2100 A.D. Greater number of high surges and increased occurrence of cyclones in post monsoon period along with increased maximum wind speed are also expected along the East Coast of the Country. As a result, the occurrence of floods and droughts, cold and heat waves adversely affected the foodgrains production to a large extent across the Country in one or other region as seen in 2014, 2012, 2009, 2004, 2002 and 1987. It is true in the case of plantation crops also, which are predominantly grown in the Humid Tropics like Kerala (8°15` N and 12°50`N latitudes and between 74°50`E and 77°30`E longitudes). As seen in previous chapters, summer drought and heavy rains including waterlogging during monsoon period is a threat to plantation crops production in the Humid Tropics to a considerable extent. Waterlogging and floods due to excess rains could be minimised by providing surface and subsurface drainage facilities in plantation gardens which will improve the soil health and nutritional status, in turn yields can be increased in plantation crops.

Climate risk management in the semi-arid tropics (SAT) is one of the major challenges to achieving food security and development in India and large parts of sub-Saharan Africa and also in the case of Australia. Climate-induced production risk associated with the current season-to-season variability of rainfall is a major barrier in making rainfed agriculture sustainable and viable farm business. Since season outcomes are uncertain, even with the best climate information, farmers have limited flexibility in applying management with confidence. In fact in risky environments, farmers most often respond by adapting a risk averse strategy and are reluctant to invest in even risk reducing measures (Leathers and Quiggin 1991). In the SAT agro-ecologies, there are a limited range of enterprise or crop options to consider which may be further restricted by cultural traditions, food preferences or market opportunities.While there are fundamental differences between large scale commercial farms in Australia compared to the predominantly smallholder resource poor farms found in India, when it comes to climate risk management in the SAT, there are many commonalities. The purpose of this paper is therefore to (i) establish a framework for managing climate variability and transforming farming systems to be more resilient and sustainable for future climates; and (ii) provide some case study examples from climate risk management in low rainfall cropping system in Australia and consider how they may be applied in smallholder systems of the SAT.

Introduction

Natural resources support livelihood of a large section of India’s population, despite its steady declining share in the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) and, in all probability these will continue to play the dominant role even in future. Interaction of several factors in the global climate change scenario has markedly limited the capability of natural resources and thereby threatened livelihood of small holders throughout the world. Factors like agriculture production crisis, fresh water unavailability, energy crisis, deforestation; degradation, wide pandemic, active climate change effects and continuous rise of input cost of farming create threats to the livelihood of millions and it has become imperative to collectively understand the complexities and challenges in natural resource conservation and management.

Abstract

Climate change is well acknowledged fact globally and in India has been witnessed with more frequent cloud bursts, highly variable frequency and distribution of rainfall, high seasonal thermal variations, receding glaciers and unstable agricultural production. Likely impact of climate change is expected to reduce agricultural productivity, production stability and incomes in some areas that already have high levels of food insecurity. However, Agriculture has the potential to retard the pace of climate change by capturing a significant part of the excess atmospheric carbon in the soil and plants in the form of organic matter and also competent to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide and methane if practiced in smart ways so developing climate-smart agriculture is thus crucial in achieving future food security and climate change goals. Transformations are needed in both commercial and subsistence agricultural systems, but with significant differences in priorities and capacity. Several climate smart agriculture practices such as cropping system improvement (e. g. crop rotation, diversification, improved varieties and integration of legumes), integrated nutrient management (e.g. green manure, compost and site specific nutrient management), resource conservation (e.g. minimum/zero tillage, keeping the land consistently covered with crop residues), precision water management (e.g. planting crops in bed, laser land leveling, mulching with crop residues) and agro-forestry have been proposed for adaptation to climate change and variability. However, their adoption decisions by the farmers are largely dependent on economic benefits associated with the interventions. It should be clearly understood that climate smart agriculture does not make use of different practices but certainly it uses them differently.

Introduction

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) refers to the incorporation of adaptation and mitigation practices in agriculture that enhances the system-resistance and recovery-mechanism against climatic hazards. Climatic hazards / disturbances include drought, flood, heat / cold wave, erratic precipitation, sudden dry spell etc. In nutshell, CSA is the ability of the system to bounce back. It can also be explained as an approach to build-up resilience of agricultural systems, to increase adaptive capacities of farming communities to climate change and variability, and to ensure food security (Prasad et al., 2015).

Climate change can be defined as a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting of an extended period, typically three decades or longer (Pathak et al., 2014; NAAS, 2013, Bhattacharyya et al., 2016). The surface air temperature, sea level rise, occurrence of extreme events (heat wave, cyclone, flash flood) is the direct evidences of climate change. The annual average surface temperature has increased by 0.87^°C in 100 years (IPCC, 2018). Recent report revealed that more than 90% of Northern Hemisphere land areas outside the tropics showed at least 1^°C above average, whereas temperatures were less extreme in Southern Hemisphere. Importantly, temperatures were above normal over most of the ocean areas. Global sea level rose to about 15 mm, in between November (2014) and February (2016), as a result of ElNino, which was well above the post-1993 trend of 3.0-3.5 mm year^-1. However, Indian summer monsoon rainfall since 1901 to 2012 showed no long-term trends, with some regional changes. Importantly, night temperatures have increased sharply during recent years, which couple with erratic precipitation could significantly affect agricultural production. The fifth IPCC (IPCC, 2014) reports clearly brought out global and regional impacts of climate change on Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU). South Asia has been characterized as one of the most vulnerable regions. Impacts of climate change witnessed all over the world; however, countries like India is more vulnerable because of its huge population primary dependent on agriculture for livelihood, predominance of small and marginal farmers, and fragmented land holding.

Abstract
Climate change significantly impacts the aquaculture industry, threatening productivity and food security. Rising temperatures, ocean acidification, extreme weather events, and shifting habitats disrupt species’ growth, survival, and reproductive cycles. This chapter explores climate-smart aquaculture (CSA) as a response, which focuses on sustainable practices to enhance resilience and mitigate climate change effects. CSA strategies include the selective breeding climate-resilient species and using advanced technologies like integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) to reduce environmental stress. These methods help maintain aquaculture productivity while reducing climate-related vulnerabilities. Adopting spatial technologies, including satellite remote sensing and site-suitability models, allows identifying optimal aquaculture sites less susceptible to climate impacts. Furthermore, disaster relief programs and insurance provide financial protection against the effects of climate-related losses, offering support during extreme events such as storms and algal blooms. Implementing these climate-smart practices is crucial to ensuring aquaculture’s sustainability and long-term viability, helping to secure global food systems in the face of a changing climate.
Keywords: Climate change, salinity intrusion, sea-level rise, ocean acidification and salt-resistant

Climate change may manifest itself as rapid changes in climate in the short term or subtler changes over decades. Generally, climate change is associated with an increasing global temperature. Various climate model projections suggest that by the year 2100, mean global temperature may be 1.1–6.4 °C warmer than in 2010. The difficulty facing livestock is weather extremes, e.g. intense heat waves, ?oods and droughts. In addition to production losses, extreme events also result in livestock death (Gaughan and Cawsell-Smith, 2015). Animals can adapt to hot climates, however the response mechanisms that are helpful for survival may be detrimental to performance. In this article we make an attempt to project the adverse impact of climate change on livestock production. There is a two-way relationship between livestock production and environmental health.

Impact of climate change on livestocks

The potential impacts on livestock include changes in production and quality of feed crop and forage, water availability, animal growth and milk production, diseases, reproduction, and biodiversity. These impacts are primarily due to an increase in temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration, precipitation variation, and a combination of these factors. Temperature affects most of the critical factors for livestock production, such as water availability, animal production, reproduction and health. Forage quantity and quality are affected by a combination of increases in temperature, CO₂ and precipitation variation. Livestock diseases are mainly affected by an increase in temperature and precipitation variation.

Agriculture is the largest human activity in the world which depends on climatic parameters. Despite technological advances, such as improved crop varieties, genetically modified organisms, and irrigation systems, weather is still a key factor in agricultural productivity, as well as soil properties and natural communities.

Introduction

Despite recent significant increases in global food production Sustainable development goal- “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” seems unachievable. Globally, 1 in 9 people are undernourished, the vast majority of whom live in developing countries. Under nutrition causes wasting or severe wasting of 52 million children worldwide. It contributes to nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five – 3.1 million children per.Today, the majority of the world’s hungry people—nearly 870 million—live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Climate change impacts on food security and livelihoods are already alarming and affecting millions of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (FAO, 2016).

In view of today’s 795 million hungry and the additional 2 billion people expected by 2050, there is an urgent need for a change of global food and agriculture systems in order to sustainably increase food production (UN, 2016). This will exert intense pressure on agro-ecosystems that are already overburdened, particularly in developing countries as most of those increases in production have to occur in this part of the world. The environmental impacts of satisfying this increased food demand will be further aggravated by climate change. With increased frequency and severity of droughts, extreme heat conditions and over dependence on rainfed agriculture, there is a growing agricultural productivity crisis, dwindling household food availability and the economic prosperity of countries whose national economies are dependent on agriculture. Considering that climate change impacts are felt differently within regions, context-specific adaptation measures are required to reduce risks and build adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers (Altieri, M.Aet al.2017).

Application of Climate-Smart Agriculture

Agricultural production systems are expected to change in response to climate change and ensure food security in different countries. Climate variability may further affect the agricultural production in future. To meet such challenges, there are many options to reduce the negative impacts of climate change on agricultural systems, make them resilient to climate change, and reduce emissions. Many technologies and practices can increase crop yields, farm income, and input-use efficiency, and may reduce GHG emissions (Khatri Chhetri et al. 2017). Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is suggested to address the adverse effects of climate change and ensure food security. It is intended to achieve the three objectives of ensuring productivity, adapting and building resilience and reducing emission of GHG.

Many aspects of the global climate are changing rapidly. Evidence for changes in the climate system abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans. The climate system is the highly complex system consisting of five major components; the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the land surface and the biosphere, and the interactions among them. The climate system evolves in time under the influence of its own internal dynamics and because of external forcings such as volcanic eruptions, solar variations and human-induced forcings such as the changing composition of the atmosphere and land-use.

The term ‘climate variability’ is often used to denote deviations of climatic statistics over a given period of time (e.g., a month, season or year) from the long-term statistics relating to the corresponding calendar period. In this sense, climate variability is measured by those deviations, which are usually termed anomalies.

‘Climate change’ refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or due to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. The United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines ‘climate change’ as ‘a change of climate behaviour which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods’. The UNFCCC thus makes a distinction between ‘climate change’ attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition, and ‘climate variability’ attributable to natural causes. Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions measured by changes in temperature, precipitation, wind, snow cover, and other indicators. It can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including, for example, changes in extreme conditions.

A key difference between climate variability and change is in persistence of ‘anomalous’ conditions. In other words, events that are used to be rare occur more frequently, or vice versa. Occasionally, an event or sequence of events occurs that has never been recorded before, such as the exceptional tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 or hurricane season in the Atlantic in 2005. Yet even that could be a part of natural climate variability. If such a season does not recur within the next 30 years, by looking back it could be called as an exceptional year, but not a ‘climate change’. Only a persistent series of unusual events taken in the context of regional climate parameters can suggest that a potential change in climate has occurred.

The global production of cocoa is around 36.49 lakh tonnes against the demand of 37.37 lakh tonnes. Ivory Coast leads in cocoa production in the world with a contribution of 38 per cent, followed by Ghana and Indonesia. Unlike in other crops, it appears that the production and demand of cocoa at the global level match each other to a large extent. However, the recent trends in the world production of cocoa beans indicated that there was a drop of nine per cent in 2006–07, declining from 3.8 million tonnes in 2005–06 to 3.4 million tonnes in 2006–07 (Table 9.1). It was attributed to unfavourable conditions in many cocoa producing areas. West Africa, the main cocoa producing region, was hit by a severe harmattan (dusty dry wind from November to March) and its inherent dry weather, which lasted from the end of 2006 to February 2007, had a strong negative impact on global cocoa production. In Asia and South America, El Nino- related weather conditions developed in September 2006 and continued until the beginning of 2007. It led to relatively low cocoa production in 2007–07. However, it was rebounced in 2007– 08 to some extent though it was low (36.49 lakh tonnes) when compared to that of 2005–06. The favourable weather which prevailed over most of the cocoa growing regions during 2002–03 and 2003–04 helped to achieve better production during the above years while dip in the global production in 2006–07 due to unfavourable weather. It reveals that the weather abnormalities like floods, droughts, cold and heat waves across the cocoa growing regions of the world adversely affect the Coca production and the cocoa industry is likely to suffer.

Food security is one of the most important issues during this century under the projected climate change scenario. The world is facing severe food crisis due to weather vagaries as a part of global warming and climate change. One sixth of world’s population is under starvation. It is estimated that 300 million people in the world do not get food three times a day. About 18,000 children die every day due to malnutrition. Many Asian-African countries are under severe food crisis. It is also estimated that out of the World’s most hungry people, 29 per cent is in India. 47 per cent of children below three years of age are suffering from malnutrition problem. 75 per cent of world’s population is dependant on agricultural activities for their livelihood. Therefore, there is an urgent need to produce more and more foodgrains at the global as well as national levels to meet the food requirement of growing population under the projected climate change scenario. There has been a major decline in world rice production since late 2007 due to various reasons including global warming and climate change in top rice producing countries. Deficit monsoon over India during 2009 resulted to poor foodgrains production including rice as the area under rice cultivation was less. There were also devastating floods in southern States of India viz., Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Andhra Pradesh, one of the major rice producing states of India, was affected first by drought and then by floods. Thus rice production decline in India was a real set back in 2009. Similar was the case in 2010 due to excess rain during monsoon and floods during NE monsoon across the rice growing regions. At the same time, Philippines got hit by two major typhoons in September-October, 2009 causing damage to rice crop on ground. Approximately one million tonnes of rice in storage also got damaged. These events resulted to low world rice production over the country in 2009. The immediate impacts of global warming and climate change on rice production systems and food security will be felt in the form of adverse effects of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, heat and cold waves, hailstorms and cyclones on rice production. Less immediate but significant impacts are anticipated due to changes in mean temperatures, increasing weather extremes and sea level rising.

The natural habitat of rubber (Heavea brasiliensis) is rain forests of the Amazon basin, situated within 5° North and South at altitudes below 200m. The climate of this region is equatorial monsoon type characterized by mean monthly temperature by 25 to 28°C, well distributed rainfall and no marked dry weather. Though it is originated in the Amazon basin, it is now predominantly grown in the tropics where an equatorial monsoon type climate prevails. Regions between 8°N and 10°S which includes Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, southern part of Sri Lanka and some other Islands, are better suited to rubber cultivation. The production of natural rubber in the country was 8.65 lakh MT in 2008–09, registering a 4.74 per cent growth compared to the previous year.

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most important beverage crops in the World and the second most commonly drank liquid on earth after water. It has numerous medicinal benefits mainly due to its antibacterial and antioxidant properties. The major tea growing regions of the world are South-East Asia (India and Sri Lanka), Eastern and South Africa consisting of Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique. All these countries are producers of black tea. China and Japan are the major producers of green tea.

Climate change is now a global phenomenon and its impact on livelihood health and wellbeing, and overall quality of life is not deniable. No country is free from the overall impacts of climate change, but poor people of developing countries have been disproportionately affected by the adverse effects. Vulnerability in the context of climate change is a function of sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacities. Odisha is the 9^th largest state by area and the 11th largest state by population in India. The state has an area of 155,707 km², which is 4.87 per cent of the total area of India, and a coastline of 480 km. In the eastern part of the state lies the coastal plain. It extends from the Subarnarekha river in the north to the Rushikulya river in the south. The State is broadly divided into four geographical regions, i.e. Northern Plateau, Central River Basins, Eastern Hills and Coastal Plains. The climate of the state is characterized by hot summer and cold winter in the interior parts. The state has historically been highly prone to climate change and multiple hazards – mainly cyclones, droughts and ?oods. Natural disasters devastate millions of lives and livelihoods in Odisha each year. More children and women suffer from the effects of natural disasters and this is predicted to worsen as storms ?oods and droughts become more severe and frequent because of climate change.

Introduction

As global temperatures rise and extreme weather events become more frequent, the agricultural sector faces escalating challenges. The need for climate-resilient agriculture has never been more urgent. This chapter embarks on a journey to unravel the intricacies of adapting farming practices to changing weather patterns. It explores the multifaceted nature of climate change impacts on agriculture, emphasizing the importance of sustainable and resilient solutions.

Understanding Climate Change And Agriculture

The chapter begins by elucidating the current state of climate change and its specific implications for agriculture. It highlights shifts in temperature, altered precipitation patterns, and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, underscoring the urgency for proactive adaptation measures.