NICRA serves as an umbrella, bringing together researchers across ICAR's various institutes and private institutions.
Published Sep 07, 2024 | 2:27 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 10, 2024 | 9:26 PM
Dr M Prabhakar, Project Head, NICRA
On 11 August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a list of 109 climate-resilient, high-yield seeds for Indian farmers. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) developed the seeds in association with many institutes nationwide.
The National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), is a project launched by the Union government in 2011. Set up with an outlay of ₹350 crore, the initiative under ICAR is at the forefront of researching innovative techniques to tackle climate change.
According to the Global Food Security Index, 2022, India ranked 68 among 113 countries. The index evaluated countries out of 100 based on affordability, availability, quality and safety, and sustainability and adaptation. It also revealed that India has below-average research and development expenditure and commitment to innovative technologies in agriculture.
Entomologist Dr M Prabhakar heads NICRA. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from Acharya NG Ranga University in Tirupati, he pursued further education at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi, where he studied insects for his PhD.
He has been working with the ICAR since 1996, starting with the Grapes Research Centre in Pune. Working in Hyderabad since 2000, he became the head of NICRA as Principal Scientist in 2011.
With 28 years of experience at ICAR, he has been tackling climate change through climate-resilient agriculture for the last 13 years.
Q: What is NICRA?
A: NICRA is an Indian government project to tackle climate change in agriculture. Before the project’s launch, climate change research in India was scattered. NICRA serves as an umbrella organisation, bringing together researchers across ICAR’s various institutes and private institutions. The Union government floated the project allocating ₹200 crore in the budget. Now we receive between ₹45 crore and ₹50 crore each year.
At NICRA, we look at three specific parameters of climate change. We assess temperature increases, spike in carbon dioxide, and rainfall pattern changes. These three are effectively quantifiable measures, and they can be predicted over extended periods.
NICRA has four components based on these parameters: research, technology demonstrations, capacity building, and competitive sponsored research. In the research component, we focus on running numerous simulations.
We simulate the next many years’ local climate changes of an area, assessing its ability to absorb climate shock. We divide these simulations into three time periods. The first, Near Century, looks at the changes in the 2030s. The Mid-Century focuses on climate changes in the 2050s and the End Century focuses on the changes in the 2100s. We look at changes in crop yield and practice or technology-led interventions.
In a sense, we are trying to prepare India deal with climate change for the next 100 years.
Q: Could you elaborate on the technology demonstration component?
A: About eight years ago, we undertook an ambitious exercise. We identified about 650 agricultural districts in India’s erstwhile 700-odd districts. Then we looked at 33 parameters to assess the risk profile of each district to rank them from the highest to lowest risk.
We used parameters like road connectivity, access to credit, irrigation infrastructure, local climate, and the farmers’ socioeconomic status. We also assessed their risk profile by examining their climate forecast over the next few decades.
It was found that 310 districts in India were at a high risk of getting negatively affected by climate change. Based on feasibility, we piloted a technology demonstration project in 151 villages across the districts.
We experiment with numerous technologies, keeping track of their performance with changing conditions. We then identify the best practices or technologies and propose them to the states. They can then choose to scale it up. However, we don’t see much implementation because of fiscal and human capital requirements. Additionally, it is often lost in the balance between immediate benefits and the greater good.
Q: What do you think of India’s Global Food Security Index ranking?
A: Honestly, the geopolitical dynamics aside, India is comfortably food secure. We have numerous buffers to ensure that we maintain this secure state. However, India does have challenges in nutritional security. The Public Distribution System (PDS) changed India’s food landscape. Thanks to convenience, cereals got a major push through the PDS. Therefore, India started eating more rice and wheat, increasing the proportion of carbohydrates in our diets.
Yet, I agree that R&D in agriculture can use substantially more funding. However, their assessment of our implementation does not paint the complete picture.
Agriculture is a state subject in India and ICAR is a centrally-funded institute. We do research and develop technologies, but implementation is beyond us. ICAR or NICRA can only propose technologies to state governments, but the onus of upscaling practices or technologies is on the states. The most we can do is partial monitoring via our Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).
Q: Can genetically modified seeds contribute to progress in climate-resilient agriculture?
A: Genetically modified varieties are debated worldwide. In many places, cultural beliefs tend to clash with the concept of genetic modification. However, science has a neutral stance regarding the same. However, the Indian government is against genetically modified varieties.
For example, the Union government vehemently opposed the introduction of BT cotton, a genetically modified variety, in the Indian market. Yet, it has become the primary variety grown today, thanks to its high yield. BT cotton specialises in reducing the effects of bollworms on plants. Subsequently, the use of pesticides was reduced in India between 2004 and 2013.
However, now that they’ve suppressed bollworms, sucking insects are affecting cotton plants, leading to an increase in pesticide use. It is a cycle. Every technology has a life cycle which needs replacement or improvement over time. Maybe, genetically modified plants will benefit non-food crops in India.
Q: How is NICRA addressing the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides?
A: The excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides affects water sufficiency. Water sufficiency is the amount of water necessary to irrigate a specific area. This is where India falls behind. The issue of chemical fertilisers and pesticides is also a policy issue with many intricate dynamics. These chemicals often seep into the ground, degrading the quality of the water.
We can only help with practices like using a leaf chart, to minimise excessive use of such chemicals.
Q: What is NICRA’s approach to the deteriorating soil health?
A: If you look at the so-called ‘old practices’ they were beneficial to soil health. Most farm households had cows and bulls to get milk and till lands. They provided manure, a natural fertiliser.
Nowadays, mechanised tillers are replacing the bulls. After the ocean, the soil is the second largest carbon sink, where heat is trapped. When farmers till deep to kill pests, they also release this heat. This leads to higher emissions and is detrimental to soil health.
Soil organic carbon is an important indicator of soil health. A common belief held by agricultural science is that “the grain is ours, the rest is the soil’s.”
In paddy-growing states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, there is enough livestock to eat the husks. The residue is then returned to the soil, improving the soil’s organic carbon. But in states like Punjab, there isn’t enough livestock. There they cannot get rid of the husks soon enough. We have come up with technologies which help the residue decompose quicker, benefitting soil health.
Similarly, we promote practices like check dams and mulching to improve groundwater levels and improve soil health.
India’s farmers are mostly small and marginal, with under two acres of land. They are focused on securing their livelihoods, not on soil health.
Q: Where is climate-resilient agriculture heading in India?
A: India realised the need to address climate change relatively late. However, we are making progress in addressing these crucial issues. The Union government’s National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) is looking to upscale beneficial technologies.
India should try to reach the levels of R&D investment other agriculture-intensive developing nations like Brazil and China. Additionally, we need greater collaboration between states and the Centre to implement climate-resilient agricultural practices. Most importantly, we need a balance in policymaking to focus on short- and long-term goals.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
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