When Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change , Filipinos’ warned her countrymen of a short-lived affair with the staple cereal rice, if necessary steps against climate change weren’t taken, we just brushed it aside as another piece of news. Little did we know that the ‘great demon’, as they say, is a potential danger to every country. And how it can take away our favourite cereals, and vegetables from us, forcing us to change our food habits, was beyond our imagination.
Assam’s food culture, worst hit
Like in most Asian countries, rice is a standard fixture on every Filipino’s dining table, but she alerted that they might find themselves with no other option but to turn to other staple foods if authorities fail to address global warming concerns.
“The sad fact, however, is that our rice production is greatly affected by the warming climate. If we want to continue enjoying eating rice with our dishes, we have to do something to address the risks brought by climate change and the threat of further rise in global temperature,” she had said in the meeting. And now, a few years later, we find ourselves in the same situation. “Joha, Assam’s popular indigenous variety of rice, has witnessed a drop in grain quality. Indigenous Assamese people and Bengali’s are rice-eaters, and climate change has had an impact on local varieties of rice too,” says Dr B. R Das, Agriculturalist from West Bengal. Tapan Baishya of Lotus Progressive Centre, an NGO that has been working with farmers in Assam’s Nalbari district, blames erratic rains and frequent floods for a change in the eating habits of the tribal population. “Certain varieties of rice like khali dhan are traditionally eaten during the monsoon season. Because of the frequent floods, the harvest is seriously affected. Therefore, farmers are moving to different local rice varieties, like ahu dhan and bao dhan which are more ‘flood resistant’,” Baishya said in a recent article. A local variety like bao dhan, for instance, is tall enough to ensure that the paddy grains remain above water even if the field is flooded. Moreover, its roots are strong enough to withstand the water current,” he was quoted explaining.
The scenario in Bengal is no different, rice and mustard will take a big hit according to the experts. “Negative impact of climate change on crop production is alarming as the demand for food is expected to rise in coming years at a rate of 2% a year. Wet season rice followed by mustard is one of the prominent cropping sequences in Eastern India. It was observed that the average yield reduction of the wet-season rice would be in the tune of about 20.0 % for 2025 and 27.8 % for 2050. The mustard yield of West Bengal may be reduced by 20.0 to 33.9 % for the year 2025 and up to 40 % for 2050. ,” says Dr Saon Banerjee, Dept of Agril. Meteorology and Physics.
Not only rice, but even yields of rabi crops have been hit badly in Assam, Dr Das adds, that in Assam, due to a strange winter weather, yields of rabi crops like sugarcane, lentils and potato — which rainfall sensitive, especially winter rains — were poor this year, delaying new planting. And now, farmers facing financial difficulties from a poor rabi harvest are hit by extended floods and siltation of their land.
According to Kushal Barua, a senior professor in Tezpur University, “Apart from rice and rabi crops, certain vegetables and edible ferns that are part of Assamese cuisine, consumed by the indigenous population are fast disappearing due to increase in temperature and erratic rainfall.” He elucidates with examples of local kosu, or colocasia.
- Adhinarayanan, a writer, talks about climate change and it’s effect in south of India. “The effect of Climate change will be in the form of uneven distribution of rainfall leading to crop failure. The distribution varies as late onset of southwest monsoon & early withdrawal of North east monsoon, Frequent long dry spell during cropping season, No change in quantum of rainfall but change in no. of rainy days (decreased rainy days) and Increase in summer rainfall. These variations in the precipitation had led to the extinct of few cropping pattern in local areas. Eg;Groundnut in Thirumangalam and Kallupatti blocks of Madurai district.”
Climate change and its direct effect on agriculture
A tree laden with flowers is a sight to behold for most of us, and more so for farmers, who put their blood and sweat into it. But, it isn’t the case for the one’s living in the foothills of Himalaya this year. For, they are aware of it’s untimely arrival, and the reasons behind it. An erratic winter in South Asia, a mild, dry with irregular heavy snowfall in the mountains have got the farmers worried.
Snowfall in the month of February in the middle reaches of Hindu Kush Himalayas isn’t unusual, but coming at the fag end of a dry winter, has taken farmers who cultivate apples by surprise while maize growers are praying to save some of their hardwork ( read: crop) from getting destroyed because of lack of water. And down in the plains, where it was a drizzle, farmers cultivating mustard, vegetables etc, in non irrigated fields have given up hope of saving their crops. And all this havoc can be safely attributed the ‘great demon’ of our century, ‘climate change’.
“Changes in ambient temperatures, rainfall distribution in time and space, wind speed and direction and localized weather features directly have an effect on crop productivity and overall agricultural production,” says Aashish, a Research Scholar from IIM. He further illustrates his point through an anecdote. ” Sunflower is grown in dry areas of Andhra Pradesh, particularly the districts of Anantapur and Kadapa. The crop is sown in the months of mid-April to early May under limited irrigation. These districts typically have a hot climate. But when the crop comes to flowering in June, the monsoon winds that blow from the Arabian Sea towards east over the landmass ensure that the flowering is taken care of and the crop comes to harvest by end of June. Now a climatic aberration in terms of delayed onset of monsoon will delay the moisture laden winds to blow into these farm lands. The temperatures continue to remain high, which in turn affects flowering and seed setting.”
Some efforts to combat the ‘demon’
Dr B. R Das, talks about the little efforts that are being made to arrest the scale of destruction. “Many families have taken to new methods, whereby they plant direct seeded rice, instead of growing small rice saplings and moving them to the rice paddy.” He also proudly announces,”how some farmers use laser light to make sure their fields are level, which in turn saves them 25-30% water. This hi-tech method helps water stay in the field. State of Haryana, which is now home to 26 climate smart villages are the way forward,” he concludes.
By Dr. Arvind Kumar President India Water Foundation
