Sambhav-2025

Approach In the introduction, define crop diversification and its relevance to climate change in the introduction. Elaborate on how it helps mitigate climate risks and ensure resilience with enriched data and examples. Highlight recent government measures and initiatives with relevant facts. Conclude by emphasizing its significance and future potential.

Introduction

Crop diversification refers to cultivating a variety of crops instead of relying on monoculture. It plays a critical role in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change, such as erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, and extreme weather events. By improving soil health, conserving water, and ensuring economic stability for farmers, it contributes significantly to agricultural resilience and food security in India.

Body

How Crop Diversification Mitigates Climate Risks:

• Reduces Vulnerability to Climate Extremes:
  • Diverse cropping systems distribute risks associated with droughts, floods, and pest outbreaks.
  • Example: In Punjab, the adoption of maize and pulses alongside paddy has reduced dependence on water-intensive rice, mitigating the impact of water scarcity.
• Enhances Soil Fertility and Reduces Degradation:
  • Crops like legumes fix nitrogen in the soil, reducing dependency on chemical fertilizers, which are linked to greenhouse gas emissions.
  • On an average 16.4 tonnes of fertile soil is lost every year per hectare in India, which crop rotation and diversification can significantly reduce.
• Improves Water Efficiency:
  • Shifting from water-intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane to millets and pulses reduces groundwater depletion.
  • Example: States like Karnataka and Rajasthan are promoting millets, which require 70% less water than rice.
• Increases Biodiversity and Resilience to Pests:
  • Cultivating a variety of crops reduces pest damage and minimizes the risk of disease outbreaks.
  • Biodiverse farms in Andhra Pradesh have shown a 55% reduction in pesticide use.
• Economic Stability for Farmers:
  • Diversification into high-value crops like fruits, vegetables, and spices ensures income security.
  • Example: In Kerala, integrating coconut farming with pepper and areca nut has increased farmers' incomes.

Challenges in Implementation:

• Market Infrastructure: Lack of robust storage and marketing systems for alternative crops discourages diversification.
• Policy Bias: Continued emphasis on wheat and rice under MSP and procurement systems limits adoption of other crops.
• Farmer Awareness: Limited awareness of the benefits and techniques of diversification remains a barrier.

Government Measures to Promote Crop Diversification:

• National Food Security Mission (NFSM):
  • Focuses on increasing the production of pulses, coarse cereals, and millets.
  • The production of pulses reached 27.30 million tonnes in 2021-22, bringing the country close to self-sufficiency in pulses.
• International Year of Millets (2023):
  • India led the global campaign, promoting millets like jowar, bajra, and ragi as climate-resilient crops, with efforts to increase their area under cultivation.
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY):
  • Provides insurance to farmers practicing diversification, covering crop losses due to climate-induced events. Over 23.22 crore farmer applicants received claims in the past 8 years of its implementation.
• National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA):
  • Supports integrated farming systems, intercropping, and agroforestry to build resilience.
• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY):
  • Encourages organic farming and crop rotation for soil conservation.
• MSP for Diversified Crops:
  • The government’s focus on promoting oilseeds and pulses has led to increased MSP over the past decade.
• Watershed Development Projects:
  • Promote rainwater harvesting and irrigation in rainfed areas, enabling farmers to adopt diverse cropping patterns.

Conclusion

Crop diversification is key to addressing climate challenges and boosting resilience in Indian agriculture. It enhances resource efficiency, economic stability, and biodiversity, making farming more sustainable. With government support, better market access, and farmer education, it can become central to climate-resilient agriculture. Recently, the Prime Minister also released 109 varieties of 61 crops, including 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops.