Central Idea

• Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is a part of India’s and the G20 countries’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) vision. It is a complex, mega-scale challenge. The objective of CSA is to optimise a country’s agriculture productivity, resilience, and emissions in response to climate change (long-term, irreversible changes in temperature, precipitation, humidity, pressure, and wind). The G20 can play a key role in addressing the challenge of climate-smart agriculture

What is Climate-smart agriculture (CSA)?

• Sustainable agricultural practice: Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) refers to the sustainable agricultural practices that help to increase food production and farmer incomes, improve resilience to climate change, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• CSA aims to achieve three goals simultaneously: (1) sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes, (2) adapting and building resilience to climate change, and (3) reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible.
• It involves a combination of strategies, technologies, and policies that are tailored to the specific needs and conditions of each country’s agriculture sector.

Challenges for Climate-smart agriculture (CSA)

• Complex and multi-dimensional: CSA is a complex and multi-dimensional challenge that requires integrated solutions, which may be difficult to implement and require significant investments.
• Lack of awareness and knowledge: Many farmers are not aware of the benefits of CSA and may not have the knowledge or skills to implement it effectively.
• Access to finance: Financing for CSA practices may be limited, especially for smallholder farmers who may lack collateral or access to credit.
• Policy and institutional constraints: Policies and institutions may not be aligned to support the adoption and scaling up of CSA practices.
• Technical and technological challenges: CSA requires the use of appropriate technologies and practices, which may not be available or accessible in some regions.
• Climate change impacts: The impacts of climate change, such as droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events, may negatively affect the productivity and resilience of agricultural systems, making it difficult to implement CSA practices.
• Data and information gaps: There may be gaps in data and information on the impacts of CSA practices, making it difficult to assess their effectiveness and scale them up.

G20’s role in addressing these challenges

• The G20 must play a key role in addressing the challenge of CSA by adopting the ontological framework, method, and recommendations to set the agenda for research, policy, and practice.
• The G20 must constitute a committee to formulate a systemic agenda for systematic research, policies, and practices for the digitalisation of CSA in a country using the ontology.
• The Think20 Engagement Groups provide research and policy advice to the G20 and are ideal forums to develop the ontological framework as the G20 presidency rotates between the member countries each year.
• The ontology of CSA must be adopted globally as a framework for all G20 countries by adapting the crop and region taxonomies to each country.
• The G20 committee must help countries collaborate in their efforts, coordinate their policies, and communicate their learnings.
• The G20 must set the trajectory for the digitalisation of CSA within the G20 and globally and must provide a ‘map’ for the global effort.

Facts for prelims

Recommendations to the G20

1. Outcome Management:

• Productivity: Encourage the adoption of sustainable soil management practices, provide subsidies and financial incentives for efficient irrigation techniques, and invest in R&D of improved seed varieties.
• Resilience: Promote crop diversification, develop a comprehensive risk management strategy, and support agroforestry practices.
• Emissions Management: Develop and implement policies that promote reduced tillage practices, provide financial incentives and support for the adoption of renewable energy technologies, and develop and implement regulations and standards for sustainable livestock management practices.

2. Regional Management: Utilise digitalisation tools and technologies to effectively differentiate CSA management across regions in India, gather real-time data and information on regional variations, deliver customised and region-specific extension services to farmers, optimise resource use, and facilitate stakeholder engagement and collaboration.
3. Crop Management:

• Differentiation of CSA management across crops: Identify the unique agro-ecological and socioeconomic conditions of each crop and design region-specific policies and programmes that promote CSA practices and technologies.
• Integration of CSA management across crops: Promote the use of integrated crop management practices that focus on optimising resource use, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing productivity across multiple crops.
• Precision crop management: Adopt precision agriculture techniques that utilise real-time data and information to optimise resource use and increase productivity.

4. Digital Semiotics Management:

• Collect and analyse weather data: India has a vast network of weather stations across the country that collect data on temperature, precipitation, humidity, pressure, and wind fields. This data can be used to analyse weather patterns and identify trends that affect crop growth and yield. Machine learning algorithms can be used to process the data and provide real-time insights to farmers on weather forecasts, pest and disease outbreaks, and optimal planting and harvesting times.
• Develop crop-specific models: India has a diverse range of crops grown across different regions, each with unique requirements for temperature, precipitation, and other climatic factors. Crop-specific models can be developed using data and information on climate
• Promote precision agriculture: Precision agriculture involves the use of digital technologies such as sensors, drones, and satellite imaging to monitor crop health and growth, and provide real-time recommendations to farmers. By incorporating weather data and information into precision agriculture technologies, farmers can make data-driven decisions that are tailored to the local climatic conditions.
• Build farmer capacity: To effectively use data and information on climate variability, farmers need to have the skills and knowledge to interpret and apply this information to their farming practices. Training programmes and extension services can be developed to build farmer capacity in using digital tools and interpreting weather data. These programmes can be designed to be accessible and affordable to all farmers, including smallholder farmers.

Conclusion

• The digitalisation of CSA requires a roadmap. Addressing the challenge of CSA is a prerequisite to meeting the challenge of food security, and digitalisation is essential to this task. The G20 must set the trajectory for the digitalisation of CSA within the G20 and globally and must provide a map for the global effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals vision.

Mains Question

Q. What do you understand by mean Climate-smart agriculture (CSA)? Discuss the challenges for CSA and suggest a way ahead for G20 how it can address these challenges?

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