Farming methods that support soil health are essential for making agriculture more sustainable while improving food-growing conditions. In northwest India, efforts to eliminate the practice of burning crop residue have shown promise. This practice destroys soil nutrients, contributes to air pollution, and emits greenhouse gases that exacerbate global warming.
Smallholder farmers, who often lack the knowledge and resources to cope with climate change, are beginning to use adaptive strategies like altering planting dates and developing climate-resilient crops. Unpredictable and erratic rainfall can trigger drought conditions, leading to crop failures. Conservation agriculture, which involves principles like minimal soil disturbance, crop rotation, and permanent soil cover, has been identified as a pathway to sustainable agriculture. In particular, zero tillage, which leads to higher yields with less variability in crops like wheat, is being promoted. No-till practices have been highlighted as an alternative to conventional tillage, which is crucial for mitigating the impact of climate change through carbon sequestration.
Despite these efforts, there are serious barriers to effective climate change mitigation in India. Resource constraints, such as high production costs, high interest rates, volatile market prices, and rising costs of fossil fuel–based inputs, have trapped many farmers in a vicious cycle of debt. Farmers also face challenges related to water shortages, including a lack of hydrological information, a large gap between water demand and supply, water pollution, and the overexploitation of groundwater. Moreover, many farmers lack the technical knowledge to adopt emerging technologies that could help them mitigate the effects of climate change. Economic challenges like low income levels, lack of access to credit, and market volatility further exacerbate the situation, pushing many farmers into debt and financial instability. Inefficient institutions, complex land ownership, and tenure systems also hinder progress.
Recommendations
Table 1 shows four areas that should be part of any climate adaptation and mitigation framework. Farmer involvement in developing and implementing climate change adaptation strategies is crucial to enhancing agricultural productivity and ensuring the sector’s sustainability, and new policies are necessary to control the pollution emitted by agricultural activities.
Much more is needed to help farmers develop and implement effective adaptation and mitigation strategies, and this will require public funding. Humanity’s greatest challenge is feeding the world’s human population in a sustainable, nutritious, equitable, and ethical way during a period of increasing climate change. Urgent transformation is vital to allow farmers to earn a living while increasing climate resilience and reducing emissions.
[For more from the authors on this topic, see: “Climate Change Adaptation: Perceptions & Actions of Smallholder Farmers.”]
