Awareness campaigns are needed to deal with climate change
We are delighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an impassioned appeal for the reduction in the use of chemicals in agriculture. Though, in time, the PM will realise it is easier to announce new approaches than to get the agriculture system to embrace the appeal. This does not have to be. Public policy and allocation of funds can play a critical role and change the trajectory.
The biggest threat to India is climate change. Many civilisations disappeared and empires have collapsed due to shifting rainfall patterns or prolonged drought.
In the run-up to the climate change summit, these points were raised by the IPCC. Over 100 million hectares in India is in the process of serious degradation, desertification and salinisation. Situated in the tropics, India has witnessed a many-fold increase in extreme weather events since 1950 and will be severely impacted by production variability. Soils are being lost upto 100 times faster than they can form and high temperatures increase the incidence of pests and diseases.
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