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FOOD SECURITY IN THE FACE OF CLIMATIC CHANGE

We have a population of over 1.5 million to support, moreover our  population clock is ticking fast enough to give all the policy-makers a run for their seats. In the face of the food security hazard that has become a brewing mischief to any agricultural sustenance policy. We need to arm ourselves with all the precautionary measures that might prove successful in taming this food shortage problem.

Our climate is changing fast, the crop-growing/arable zones are changing accordingly…for example the Indo-Gangetic plains were the crèche to the major rice production belts, but since the temperature changes and monsoons have turned the weather chart haywire the impact shows through the changing production capacity. So, we have justified our grounds as to the relevance of the subject  to the project “agropedia”

But now, a word of caution….we are here to develop a community of Farmers, Scientists, and Policy making organizations, such that a coherent string of ideas may be developed and emphasized upon so that  our farmlands become the competitive plots of industries that are at par with the International standards. so, we are not the machines to make improvement by providing the infrastructure that are required for this purpose, rather we desire to bridge the gap between the issues that are gathering momentum on the world forum, and the audience for whom it is targeted. On one side we have the farmers who are the arms that would implement the technologies that are thus devised, on the other hand we have the agencies that continuously create the drive for improving the working conditions under the changing circumstances. But the efficacy of these initiatives mitigate when we see an information barrier blocking the commutation of ideas from the source to the vulnerable recipient group.

We come in here to sensitize these people through a trickle-down effect through the structure of agricultural hierarchy……..viz,

Policy-makers (GOI)-central government+ ICAR ( MOA)

to

 State government

to

Agricultural Scientists in the ICAR chart+ State Agricultural Universities

to

The KVKs at the district levels+ the Extension Scientists

to

The Farmers

We are neither here to provide fund nor the infrastructure (physical) nor monitor the workings in this field, but we wish to motivate people by carrying the issue from the nursery of the many agencies that are involved in its inception to the fields of the farmers.

The logic behind so much toil……….the food chain is an essential building block in the productive capacity of the population, so the macro-level  target of GDP growth will be achievable and sustainable iff the food security for the entire population is ensured.

Our role is to USE ICT IN SPREADING THE TECHNOLOGIES that are being devised. Suppose, due to Global Warming we are now being faced by a late monsoon, and erratic as well, every year. The crop that has been sowed is being deprived of the required amount of temperature and water as per the seasonal schedule, and this causes a retarded growth of the crop, or may be a semi-drought impact is recorded. To stop this, we artificially try to use machines like the Rain Machine, such that a naturalness is maintained and the crop at least finds a  suitable degree of GROWTH INDUCING WEATHER.

But, the problem lies in the fact that in India, there is a discrepancy between the available technology and the information amongst the farmers of its existence……for this we need to build a proper market for agricultural inputs, that will have a freely operating price and information structure. This is where we use the ICT in spreading technological up gradation.

We envisage a future with surplus in food production, and consequently our success in achieving it will take  us into a more independent and self-sustained economy. But the sustainability of this project will be withheld if climatic changes would disrupt our efforts to create agricultural surplus. So technology and ICT should work together to spread the notion of a better adaptability of Indian agriculture to changing climatic condition.

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Please note that this is the opinion of the author and is Not Certified by ICAR or any of its authorised agents.