Climate change is threatening not only livelihoods, water supplies and human health, but also food security. In such a situation, the question arises whether India is ready to feed such a large population in the coming times amidst the dangers of climate change?
The attention of the whole world is on the Russo-Ukraine war at this time. Earlier the world was battling the Corona crisis. Both the Russian attack and the corona pandemic are events affecting the current world order. But the world is facing another big problem and that is climate change. Recently, in the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it has been told that how many people of the world are vulnerable to climate change. According to the report, climate change has become a serious threat to the food security of many countries.
It has been estimated in the report that by the end of this century, the temperature of the earth may increase by one to four degrees Celsius. If this happens, then rice production in India will be reduced by thirty percent. Yields of other coarse cereals like maize will be severely affected and may see a reduction of up to 70 per cent. If this happens then there will be a serious crisis for India. In such a situation, it will be difficult to arrange food grains for crores of people.
However, from the analysis of various reports and data, it has emerged that the world is recording a decrease in production due to rising temperature and climate change. Crop rotation is becoming irregular and unbalanced. Due to this, food security is becoming an important challenge for the whole world. According to an estimate, if the temperature rises by one and a half degrees by 2040, then it will have a serious impact on the yield of crops. Not only this, due to increasing carbon emissions, problems like conflicts, hunger, floods and migration will also increase rapidly in this century in the world. Therefore, in the future, all countries of the world will have to consider all options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It is worth noting that when world leaders meet in Rio, Paris or Glasgow, they worry about climate change and then everyone forgets it. Just as the former US President Donald Trump did not consider climate change to be a real problem, in the same way a large part of the world’s population and the leadership of the world’s countries are also not seeing it as a serious crisis. Those who consider it to be a problem are also just admitting to it and doing nothing to stop it.
It is known that agricultural practices are completely based on the weather conditions. According to a report, it has been estimated that if the temperature rises like this, then agricultural production in South Asian countries may decline by as much as 30 percent. Therefore, in the strong storm of development, we should not forget that agriculture is the mainstay of livelihood for most of the population of the whole world. Clearly, if we keep playing with nature in this way, the pressure on agriculture will increase day by day and food crisis will arise in most parts. If this happens, then the goal of ending hunger from the world by 2030 will also be left far behind.
There has been a continuous decline in the amount of rainfall in India over the last four decades. The average rainfall at the beginning of the twentieth century was one hundred and forty-one centimeters, which has come down to one hundred and nineteen centimeters in the nineties. The problem of drinking water in northern India is getting worse. The black shadow of famine and drought looms here every three years. Not only this, the Gangotri glacier is shrinking at the rate of thirty meters every year.
If this continues, then even the Ganga will not be stopped from drying up in the next few decades. It is known that the Kosi river of Uttarakhand is already drying up and is expressing the pain of ‘global temperature’. There is a sharp decline in the ground water level in various areas of the country, due to which the irrigation system for agriculture has been questioned. In the absence of water, agriculture has become a loss-making deal. In such a situation, it is natural for the farmers to lose their interest in agriculture, which is a matter of concern.
Significantly, due to climate change and increase in global temperature, not only are crop yields decreasing, but the quality of production is also deteriorating. There will be a shortage of nutrients and proteins in cereals and other food crops, due to which arranging balanced and nutritious food will become a day-dream only. This is a matter of more concern for India, because seventy percent of the population of our country is directly and indirectly connected with agriculture. Agriculture is their main source of livelihood. At the same time, the population of India is growing at the rate of 1.04 percent per annum. India’s population is estimated to reach 1.5 billion by the end of this decade, but there are many problems in food production to feed such a large population.
Climate change is threatening not only livelihoods, water supplies and human health, but also food security. In such a situation, the question arises whether India is ready to feed such a large population in the coming times amidst the dangers of climate change? Among the challenges that India is facing today, the challenge of food security is the biggest. Not only India but other developing countries are also facing these challenges. As the challenges are increasing, we need to act with great urgency. At the same time, it is necessary to implement an effective strategy to deal with the dire threats of climate change at the earliest.
The climate crisis and food security are closely related. Therefore, to solve one challenge, proper management of the other is desirable. It is necessary to review the various methods of agriculture and use the most productive and least harmful techniques to the environment. For this, food and agriculture systems need to be adapted to climate change.
Also, there will be proper use of natural resources and improvement in the processes and infrastructure of harvesting, storage, packaging, transportation and marketing of crops along with reduction in post-harvest losses. In addition, an improvement in the economic condition of the farmers and an optimistic change in international policies is desirable. For this, there is a need for mechanisms related to agriculture and environmental research at the world level. Only then will we be able to provide food to the population of more than nine billion in the coming times, as well as save them from the hazards caused by environmental degradation.