Mitigation and adaptation strategies with respect to impacts

of climate change/variability and natural disasters in RA-

II region

by

H. P. Das
Division of Agricultural Meteorology
India Meteorological Department
 Agrometeorological adaptative strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate
change and variability

• Adaptation measures designed to anticipate the potential effects of climate

change can help to offset many of the negative effects. Adaptation measures that
ameliorate the impacts of present day climate variability include sea defences,
institutional adaptations, plant breeding and adoption of new technologies in
agriculture.
• Adjustment of planting dates to minimize the effect of temperature increase-
induced spikelet sterility can be used to reduce yield instability, by avoiding
having the flowering period to coincide with the hottest period.
• Adaptation measures to reduce the negative effects of increased climatic
variability as normally experienced in arid and semi-arid tropics may include
changing the cropping calendar to take advantage of the wet period and to avoid
extreme weather events (e.g., typhoons and storms) during the growing season.
 Agrometeorological adaptative strategies to mitigate the impacts of
climate change and variability
(Contd…)
• Crop varieties that are resistant to lodging (e.g., short rice cultivars) may
withstand strong winds during the sensitive stage of crop growth.

• A combination of farm level adaptations and economic adjustments such as

increased investment in agriculture infrastructure and reallocation of land
and water would be desired in the agricultural sector.

• Other adaptive options included developing cultivars resistant to climate

change; adopting new farm techniques that will respond to the management of
crops under stressful conditions, plant pests and disease; design and
development of efficient farm implements.

Boreal Asia where global
warming should play a
positive role for agriculture.
The growing season is likely to
expand by 1-1.5 months by
2100.
Regional Adaptative strategies
 The key step for an agriculture adaptation strategy could be
the choice of suitable crops and cultivars.
 Shifts on sowing date of spring crops will allow more effective
use of the soil moisture content formed by snow melting.
 The dates of spring crop sowing could be moved forward in a
crop rotation calendar in southern regions, and farmers could
plant a second crop that could even be vegetable with a short
growth period.
 Optimum use of fertilizers and ecologically clean
agrotechnologies would be beneficial for agriculture.

Arid and semi-arid Asia where
the major impact of climate
change is likely to be an acute
shortage of water resources
associated with significant
increases in surface air
temperature.
Regional Adaptative strategies
(Contd..)
• Conservation of water used for irrigated agriculture therefore
should be given priority attention.
• With increased evapotranspiration, any adaptation strategy in
agriculture should be oriented toward a shift from
conventional crops to types of agriculture that are not
vulnerable to evapotranspiration.
• Developing alternatives such as aquaculture that will partly
replace agriculture. Expansion of commercial and artesian
fisheries also could help reduce dependence on food
productivity.
• Protection of soils from degradation should be given serious
consideration.
• Trying out salt water resistant varieties of crops in the areas
where drainage is poor; diversifying agriculture and food
habits of the people primarily limited to some specific cereals,
improving to management of irrigation systems;
implementing crop livestock integration; changing crop
varieties in cropping patterns to suit changing climatic
conditions; implementating agroforestry systems etc. are the
other adaptive options to be considered.

Temperate Asia where
projected surface warming
and shifts in rainfall are
significant and will induce
increases in photorespiration,
maintenance respiration, and
saturation deficits- causing
stomatal closure and decline
in productivity.
Regional Adaptative strategies
(Contd..)
• An adaptive response in the agricultural sector should be an
effort to breed heat resistant crop varieties by utilizing genetic
resources that may be better adapted to warmer and drier
conditions.
• Improvements in farming systems, fertilizer management, and
soil conservation from major adaptation strategies.
• Crop architecture and physiology may be genetically altered
to adapt to warmer environmental conditions.
• The genetic resources of seeds maintained in germplasm bank
may be screened to find sources of resistance to changing
diseases and insects, as well as tolerances to heat and water
stress and better compatibility with new agriculture
technologies.

Tropical Asia where agricultural
productivity is sensitive not only
to temperature increases but also
changes in the nature and
characteristics of monsoon
Regional Adaptative strategies
(Contd..)
• Cropping systems may have to change to include growing suitable
cultivars (to counteract compression of crop development),
increasing crop intensities (i.e., the number of successive crops
produced per unit area per year), or planting different types of
crops.
• Farmers will have to adapt to changing hydrological regimes by
changing crops. For example, farmers in Pakistan may grow more
sugarcane if additional water becomes available, and they may
grow less rice if water supplies dwindle.
• Development of new varieties with higher yield potential and
stability is complementary to bridging the yield gap.
• Improvements in runoff management and irrigation technology
(e.g., river runoff control by reservoirs, water transfers, and land
conservation practices) will be crucial.
• Increasing efforts should be directed toward rainwater harvesting
and other water conserving practices to slow the decline in water
levels in aquifers. Recycling of wastewater should be encouraged in
drought prone countries in tropical Asia.
 Soil carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change

• With increased focus on climate change and the development of the Kyoto
Protocol and other international treaties which may emerge, soil conservation
through carbon (C) sequestration reduces the net CO2 emission by
systematically removing CO2 from the atmosphere, thereby mitigating climate
change. This adds an important new dimension to the issues of soil conservation,
namely, the economic benefits gained from creating and trading C credits on the
international C market.

• This is a classic ‘win-win’ situation, being a cost-effective and natural process of

mitigating climate change with no adverse ecological impacts compared to
oceanic and geological sequestration strategies.
 Soil Carbon sequestration in India

• Bio-sequestration of C, both by soil and biota, is a truly win-win situation.

While improving agronomic/biomass productivity, these options also improve
water quality and mitigate climate change by decreasing the rate of enrichment
of atmospheric CO2.

• Realization of this vast potential, which is in interest of India, requires

adoption of recommended management practices including the use of mulch
farming and conservation tillage, integrated nutrient management and
manuring, agroforestry systems, restoration of eroded and salinized soils, and
conversion of agriculturally marginal lands into restorative land uses.
IN INDIA
 Strategies of carbon sequestration in soils of China

Soil degradation exacerbates depletion of SOC because of reduction in biomass

production and low amounts of residues returned to the soil. The low level of SOC
concentration in soils of China can be enhanced by

• Restoration of degraded soils,

• Conversion of agriculturally marginal soils to pastures or forest lands,

• Adoption of RMPs on cropland.

 Table 7
The soil organic carbon dynamics in three land use systems for Lingyou and Qingan sites in the Loess Plateau region

Location Depth (m) Soil organic carbon (%) Soil bulk density (Mg/m3) Soil organic carbon pool (Mg/ha)

Forest Grassland Cropland Forest Grassland Cropland Forest Grassland Cropland

Lingyou 0-0.1 2.55 2.37 0.45 0.65 0.85 1.04 33.2 40.3 9.4 (0.2 m)
0.2-0.3 0.80 0.94 0.22 0.86 1.05 1.24 6.9 19.7 2.7 (1.1 m)

0.4-0.5 0.53 0.46 0.21 1.01 1.15 1.26 10.7 10.6 5.3 (0.2 m)

Total 50.8 70.6 17.4

Qingan 0-0.1 1.79 0.77 0.58 0.65 0.85 1.04 23.3 13.1 12.1 (0.2 m)

0.2-0.3 0.99 0.30 0.51 0.86 1.05 1.24 8.5 3.2 6.3 (0.1 m)

0.4-0.5 0.63 0.27 0.57 1.01 1.15 1.26 12.7 6.2 14.4 (0.2 m)

Total (0.5 m) 44.5 22.5 32.8

Soil bulk density are taken from those of the Loess soils reported by Xiubin et al. (2002).