Odisha's rice fallow mgmt: A quiet force against climate challenge

With climate change, Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is imperative for ensuring food security for current and future generation that equates to the problem of sustainably increasing agricultural productivity. CSA has many facets.

- ARABINDA KUMAR PADHEE

One CSA that possibly has large effects but misses the recognition it deserves is Comprehensive Rice Fallow Management (CRFM), a flagship program in Odisha with a package of practices in all 30 districts of state since 2022.

CRFM is a true climate-smart agriculture involving utilizing land traditionally left fallow after rice harvest in the Kharif season to grow other crops, particularly pulses and oilseeds. While CRFM addresses climatic challenges it thus also benefits in the form of better soil health and improving cropping intensity in areas where it has been traditionally low. CRFM initiated by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment (DAFE), targets sizable fallow lands as high as 1.1 million acres, representing significant opportunity to spur productivity, food security and rural livelihoods.

In eastern India, a range of environmental and socioeconomic factors limit the adoption of a second crop after rice comprising limited irrigation, inadequate moisture levels, low soil fertility, input supply problems, and insufficient risk mitigation, most of these compounded by climate change.