MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)
(a) Yes, Madam.
(b) ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) during 2014 studied the impact of El Nino on agriculture in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh states. Results generally indicate negative deviation for monsoon rainfall during El Nino years. Although the El Nino phenomena is generally associated with below normal rainfall, it is to be noted that all El Nino years are not necessarily drought years.
(c) Yes, Madam.
(d) The Government policy towards drought management rests upon early warning, preparedness, crisis management, mitigation and long-term drought management measures. At the National level, droughts are monitored by various agencies such as the India Meteorological Department (rainfall and aridity anomaly) and the Central Water Commission (reservoir storage position). Crop Weather Watch Group at the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), Ministry of Agriculture, brings in data from monitoring mechanisms for rainfall, water resources, crop coverage, crop growth etc. and assess the status of these parameters on a weekly basis.
The Government has also prepared Agricultural Contingency Plans for 580 districts covering 25 states to tackle situations in the event of climatic aberrations inc- luding unseasonal rains. The information is available on the `farmer portal` (http://www.farmer.gov.in) and also in http://www.crida.in. The DAC and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) are also organizing interface meetings with the participation of State Departments and State Agricultural Universities for operationalization of the contingency plans.
(e) Earth System Science Organization-India Meteorological Department (IMD) is monitoring the El Nino conditions regularly. Information regarding the latest state of El Nino and forecast for its likely future state is being updated con- tinuously. The forecast at various time and spatial scales for rainfall over the country are provided regularly to the users. Agromet advisories based on weather forecasts are also issued to all stakeholders periodically.
ICAR initiated a network project on `National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture` (NICRA) in 2011 aiming at enhancing climate resilience of Indian agriculture through Strategic Research, Technology Demonstration, Capacity Bui- lding and Sponsored/Competitive Grant Projects. The research on adaptation and mitigation covers crops, livestock, fisheries and natural resource management.
The Government has also made operational trie National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) from 2014-15. Climate resilient interventions have been embe- dded and mainstreamed into Missions/Programmes/ Schemes of DAC through a process of restructuring and convergence. The NMSA as a programmatic intervention aims at making agriculture more productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific integrated/composite farming system; soil and moisture conservation measures; comprehensive soil health management; effective water management practices and mainstreaming rainfed technologies.
