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The phase-2 of the Centre of Excellence on Climate Change Research for Plant Protection (CoE-CCRPP), established by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (Icrisat), has been launched.
Forewarning model
The CoE will focus on developing a forewarning model to alert policy makers and farmers, real-time structured surveillance for insect pests and diseases using GPS-tagging, and predicting future climate scenarios for 2030 and 2050.
“Climate change, plant diseases and insect pests cause an estimated annual loss of $8.6 billion, posing a huge challenge for smallholder farmers. This is where modern crop protection tools can make agriculture more sustainable and climate-resilient,” Akhilesh Gupta, Adviser and Head — Climate Change Programme, Department of Science and Technology, said after launching the phase-2 activity at the centre.
“Providing advanced information and tools is important to strengthen resilience of smallholder farmers,” Peter Carberry, Director-General (Acting), Icrisat, said.
Mangala Rai, former Director-General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, felt the need to critically assess potential impacts of climate change on insects and pathogens and their interactions with host plants.
“The CoE-CCRPP will identify potential distribution of target diseases and insect pests under future climate scenarios at zonal, regional and State levels,” Mamta Sharma, Project Coordinator, said in a statement here.
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