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| Farming greenhouse gases | | Climate change accord must cover farm sector too |
| Business Standard / New Delhi Oct 22, 2009, 00:52 IST |
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The agricultural sector is both an emitter of greenhouse gases and a victim of global warming. Technological change, water utilisation and cropping pattern in agriculture have implications both for emission reduction and adaptation. While hydrocarbons and raw material-based industries contribute to global warming, their productivity is not necessarily affected by the phenomenon, as is the case in agriculture. Agricultural production impacts climate change and, in turn, is impacted by it. Hence, technology and investment decisions in agriculture can help mitigate the impact of climate change. That will need investment in appropriate technologies and in cleaner and greener farming systems. It is, therefore, surprising that agriculture is not on the agenda in the on-going global negotiations on climate change. The focus is primarily on reduction of harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adaptation of the industrial and infrastructural sectors to relatively cleaner and environment-friendly technologies.
A study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) shows that climate change will depress crop yields, push food prices up and endanger food security. It concludes that prices of wheat, rice, maize and soybean will rise by between 121 per cent and 194 per cent by 2050 due to factors related to climate change. The price rise, coupled with decreased productivity of these crops (a 30 per cent drop in wheat yield and 15 per cent in that of rice), will threaten the food security of some 1.6 billion people in South Asia, the region likely to be hit the most, and render 25 million more children malnourished, world-wide. It has estimated that an additional annual investment of $1.5 billion in agriculture and rural development will be needed to counter the impact of climate change in South Asia and $7 billion on a global scale. Almost half of this investment will have to go into development of irrigation facilities. Higher funding would be needed also for rural infrastructure, notably roads, to link the poor farmers to the market. Research based on modern sciences like biotechnology needs to be encouraged to breed crop varieties that can withstand the stresses caused by global warming, such as higher temperature and freakish weather.
Agriculture is reckoned to account for about 14 per cent of the total annual harmful gas emissions. The developing countries, which are likely to be affected more by climate change, contribute nearly 50 per cent of these emissions. A business-as-usual approach towards agriculture will push these emissions further up because the need for more food, fuel and timber will force developing countries to convert forests to crop land, thus releasing more carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. But, if better technologies and management practices are evolved and put into use, this sector will offer huge potential to reduce the GHG load in a cost-effective manner. Changes in crop genetics and improvement in irrigation and fertiliser application methods can help reduce release of two of the most environment-menacing gases, methane and nitrous oxide. Thus, a global accord on climate change will be partial if agriculture is not included in it.
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