Farmers must focus on climate resilient crops: G20 note

While enhancing food production vis-a-vis adapting to climate change and preserving natural resources has become critical to ensure stability in food security, building resilience to climate change involves an integrated approach that aims to help farmers adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change while also increasing food production.

Awareness and action on efficient use of water, soil and energy plays an important role in fostering resilience of food production systems to changing climate. In this context, it is crucial that the emerging technologies for precision irrigation, preservation of soil organic matter, use of renewable energy in agricultural operations, etc. are affordable and accessible to famers, especially, the smallholders, says a background paper for the G20 members.

The development of climate resilient crop varieties for increased tolerance to pests, diseases, droughts, floods, salinity and other climate-related stresses, are vital to help farmers better adapt to climate change. There are several farming systems that are designed to be non-degrading and resource conserving in nature and are more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

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Integrated farming systems that incorporate crops, livestock, poultry and fisheries, make more efficient use of resources and are less reliant on the external inputs.

Regenerative Agriculture, a way of farming that focuses on conservation agriculture, agro-forestry, silvi-pasture, etc. and makes the farming system more sustainable and resilient to climate change impact. In this context, key areas of policy focus include, increasing investment in agricultural research, encouraging public-private partnership for developing innovative technologies, providing financial, technical and logistic support to farmer, creating an enabling environment for adoption of sustainable farming practices and climate resilient production systems.

Adaptation and resilience to increasing extreme events can be accompanied through weather and climate related information services, early warning systems, risk sharing and transfer mechanisms such as insurance markers and index based-weather insurance.

Climate resilient technologies and innovations for sustainable agri-food systems including nature-positive agriculture can help in climate change adaptation and mitigation. The Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) has been proved effective approach contributing to reducing GHG emissions and increasing crop yields.

Unlike past technological revolutions in agriculture, which began on farms, the digital agriculture revolution is being sparked at multiple points along the agri-food value chain. Connectivity, mobile adoption, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies are opening doors to new opportunities.

Digital Technology based precision agriculture can help farmers to increase farm productivity through improving efficiency of agricultural operations and enhance farm productivity through and following sustainable agricultural practices.

The application of digital technologies will be able to provide support to farmers to (i) access to real-time and accurate advisory on weather, irrigation water, soil health, pests, diseases, market prices, and other relevant data can assist farmers to make informed decisions about farm operations; (ii) managing and tracking farm activities, such as irrigation, fertigation, and harvesting can help farmers to improve efficiency and reduce waste; and (iii) connecting farmers with potential buyers, suppliers, and agro-industries in the agricultural value chain can help them to access new markets and fetch better prices for their produce.

Common barriers to adopt digital technologies by the farmers includes up-front investment and recurring maintenance expenses, high operator skill requirements and technological risks.

The government has an important role in addressing bottlenecks related to adoption of technologies by providing (i) information on costs and benefits of various technologies, (ii) investing in human capital, ensuring appropriate incentives for innovation, (iii) serving as facilitators of data-sharing to spur inclusive, secure and representative data ecosystems, and promoting competitive markets.

G20 Members could aim at exchanging information and knowledge about successful digital agriculture projects/ initiatives and learn from each other's experiences to address the barriers. Digital agriculture solutions need to be carefully designed to ensure inclusive participation of small and marginal farm holders, women, and youth.

Likewise, the technological and digital-enabled agri-food system can become vibrant through the interventions of the public and private sector participation. Agri-tech start-ups can provide innovative ideas and affordable solutions to tackle challenges across the agricultural value chain, using open digital networks.

A multi-dimensional, multi-stakeholder and collaborative approach is the best way forward.