The Hindu Business Line : Climate change and agriculture

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General, Mr Jacques Diouf’s recent warning that tropical countries or those in the lower latitudes could potentially lose large volumes of crops because of the adverse effects of climate change may be a timely warning for many Asian nations that are essentially agrarian. India could lose up to 125 million tonnes of cereals, the expert forecast. The implication is that it must initiate immediate measures to guard ag ainst the fallout of carbon dioxide (CO{-2}) and greenhouse gas emissions, rising temperatures, melting glaciers and the occurrence of floods and droughts.

The time-frame in which such cataclysmic changes would occur is still unclear. Even within the scientific community there is no unanimity about the effects of global warming or climate change. Indeed, some perceive this as a concerted effort to whip up mass hysteria. Recent occurrences of unusual floods — in the UK, for instance — have been cited as an outcome of global warming; but there is little solid evidence to relate what could be freak climatic aberrations in some regions to the larger issue of global warming. The threats from rapid climate change, are very real, however. The gases spewed out by the industrialised western world in the last fifty years have now begun to take their toll on world climate. This needs to be recognised by all governments and international agencies.

Can the damage of several years be undone? Yes, it would, no doubt, be a gradual process but it is possible if remedial action is initiated right now. The polluters of the past (industrialised nations) must first put cash on the table to fight climate change. Since the turn of the millennium, the ‘balance of economic growth power’ has slowly but surely begun to shift to Asia, led by China, with India poised to enter the big league. Industrialisation imposes inescapable costs, in the form of environmental pollution. No wonder, the emerging economies face the growth-versus-environment dilemma. India is no exception. Importantly, remedial actions against climate change have to become a truly international effort. Indian policymakers must remember that climate change or global warming has a creeping effect that can further hurt the already fragile agricultural system.

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