Addressing Climate Change through Agroecology Insights from the JIVA Programme

The article by Dr Deepak Chamola, Pritam Majumdar and Dr R Ravi Babu makes the readers aware of the JIVA—an innovative programme that has the potential to enhance sustainability and make agriculture climate resilient. The trio is of the opinion—the participatory method in the planning process and farmer-to-farmer learning approaches will ensure the outreach and sustainability of the initiatives.

- Dr Deepak Chamola, Pritam Majumdar and Dr R Ravi Babu

The agricultural sector is a paradox—while it contributes to climate change, it also bears the brunt of its impacts. The increasing concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is responsible for erratic rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and heatwaves (Gupta and Pathak, 2016). Higher temperature leads to increased crop respiration rate and evapotranspiration, greater pest and weed infestation, reduced crop duration and diminished microbial activities in the soil (Malhi, Kaur, and Kaushik, 2021). Several studies have shown that climate change has a direct impact on the crop yields. Kumar, Singh, and Sharma (2020) found that variations in rainfall and rising temperature significantly affected the yield of rice and wheat in the Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. The Economic Survey (2023-24) highlighted the need to address climate change through adaptation measures. It cautioned “In the absence of the adoption of adaptation measures, rainfed rice yields in India are projected to drop by 20% in 2050 and 47% in 2080 scenarios, while irrigated rice yields are projected to reduce by 3.5% in 2050 and 5% in 2080 scenarios. Climate change is projected to reduce wheat yield by 19.3% in 2050 and 40% in 2080 scenarios” (GOla, 2024). According to Malhi, Kaur, and Kaushik (2021), the negative impact of climate change on crop yield could result in a 0.3% gross domestic loss (GDP) loss globally by 2100.