As Indian agriculture gets more and more impacted by changing weather patterns, which has become more acute in the last few years because of climate change, the ministry of agriculture through the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and state agricultural universities are working on district-specific contingency plan for the agriculture and allied sectors, which includes fisheries, animal husbandry and dairy farming.
Since its start in March 2010 under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, the draft manual for 89, out of the total 600 odd districts, in the country have been prepared and submitted for validation by experts.
The comprehensive district-specific document would give details on the crops and cultivation practices to be adopted in case of deficient or delay in monsoon, unseasonal rains, frosts or unusually high temperature excessive rains etc.
?Each district would have a scientific document at the disposal of district collector for adaptation in case of eventualities,? B Venkateswarlu, director, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), a Hyderabad based body affiliated to ICAR, told FE.
CRIDA, which is coordinating the work, has divided the country into five zones. The document being prepared for the each district would also contain basic agricultural statistics, physical characteristics of the district (soil mapping) and details of the crops and methods of cultivation to be adopted in case of exigencies.
Besides, it would provide information on fisheries and live-stocks which are critical to fight drought-like condition in rainfed regions of the country.
The documents are being prepared in collaboration with state agriculture universities and the process is expected to be in the next one year. Following which, each district of the country would have a ready guide to deal with weather-related eventualities.
?By far, this is the most comprehensive initiative in dealing with eventualities in case of deficient rainfall and drought conditions across districts,? Venkateswarlu said.
Caught on the wrong foot last year because of deficient rainfall during the kharif season, this time the Centre is not taking any chances and has asked the states to be prepared for worst-case scenario. The document is also part of the same plan.
?The preparation of district specific contingency plan would contribute meaningfully in dealing with drought like conditions as well as flood? an agriculture ministry official said.