'South Asian farmers did not cower to Covid-climate change challenge'

The farming community in vulnerable South Asia has largely been able to withstand the onslaught from the twin challenges of Covid-19 and climate change. The pandemic threatened to disrupt agriculture and food production by sweeping through the weak defences of the region’s farmers.

But this was not to be, notes Nabansu Chattopadhyay, President, International Society for Agricultural Meteorology and Executive Secretary, Global Federation of Agrometeorological Societies.

Chattopadhyay is also a former deputy director-general, head and top scientist with the Agricultural Meteorology Division of India Meteorological Department (IMD).

No detrimental impact

Covid-19 could not make any large-scale detrimental effect on agriculture, he wrote to BusinessLine in an Email. A probable reason may be that South Asian nations had organised several awareness programmes and enforced strict Covid-19 protocols to check the spread of the virus.

India did well, thanks mainly to the well-distributed rainfall across the spatial and temporal scales during the monsoon last year. The strict lockdown and adherence to Covid-19 protocols also helped it to a bumper kharif crop despite the pandemic conditions, Chattopadhyay said.

Enforcement of protocols

Central and State governments as well as extension agencies at the ground level used media and personal contacts to create awareness programmes to enforce protocols, including physical distancing. They also lifted the lockdown at intervals looking at the economic conditions of the farmer.

Agriculture, food security and the spread of Covid-19 have had strong interlinkages. In that chain, the last link represented by Covid-19 had fortuitously buckled, lifting a major cloud over the prospects of agricultural production or food security for the teeming millions in India and South Asia.

Potential pathogen spread

As we advance, it might be possible that pathogens spread from crops to animals and from humans to the atmosphere and ultimately pose a complex problem. Thus, more stress may be given to researching virus, bacteria, fungi, and weather to identify the recipe for sustainable and resilient farming.

On farm mechanisation, Chattopadhyay said it becomes a big issue, mainly when labour migration happens from rural to urban areas for better livelihood. So, there is a need for intensive mechanisation in agriculture, particularly in transplanting/sowing and harvesting crops.

Climate change, slow and steady

Climate change is a slow and steady process and has little bearing on the growth of crops in South Asia. But climatic variability in terms of extreme events is a cause of concern.

High-power computing, availability of various data, including satellite data, assimilation processes, and different global and regional weather and climate models make it possible to forecast climatic variability well in advance.

As a result, different contingency plans are communicated to the farmers to change crop production strategy and other adaptation measures to save crops and secure lives and livelihood.

15% rise in rainfall predicted

As per various climate change projections, there will be a 15 per cent increase in rainfall over South Asia but materialising over a relatively shorter period. Prospects for dry farming may get affected.

"According to me, there is a need for seamless strategic planning and conservation covering water harvesting through a community approach. A suitable cropping pattern needs to evolve giving due consideration to multiple farming including livestock, poultry and fishery," Chattopadhyay said.

Poor farmers may be informed and included in the overall efforts to take advantage of the information drive and strategies for sustainable crop production and better livelihood, he added.

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