310 districts in 28 states, UTs highly vulnerable under NICRA: ICAR report

310 districts belonging to 28 states and Union territories (UTs) in India have been categorised as the most vulnerable under the National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA). Of the 28 states and Union territories (UTs) listed, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of vulnerable districts with 22 districts having a "very high" vulnerability and 26 districts being "highly" vulnerable. The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar provided this information in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) launched NICRA as a network project in 2011 with the aim of enhancing the resilience of agriculture to climate change and vulnerability in India. ICAR has played an important role in developing 1971 climate-resilient crop varieties since 2014, including 429 tolerant to abiotic stress and 1542 to biotic stress.

"Very high" and "highly" vulnerable districts

The vulnerability of 109 districts belonging to 23 states/union territories have been classified as "very high", while 201 districts belonging to 28 states/Union territories are considered "highly" vulnerable.

In the "very high" category, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of districts at 22, followed by Rajasthan (17), Bihar (10), and Kerala (8). Other regions, including Uttarakhand, Orissa, Meghalaya, and Punjab had between five to seven "very high" vulnerable districts. West Bengal, Karnataka, Haryana, and Jammu & Kashmir had three districts each. Mizoram, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Assam, all had two districts each. Sikkim, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh all had one district that fell into the "very high" vulnerability category.

Among the "highly" vulnerable, Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of districts at 26. Madhya Pradesh followed UP with 14 "highly" vulnerable districts, and Orissa with 13. West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar, and Rajasthan all have 10 or more highly vulnerable districts. Jharkhand (6), Manipur (6), Chhattisgarh (6), Telangana (2), and Tamil Nadu (2) also have districts that are "highly" vulnerable to climate change.

Increasing agriculture resilience

According to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare several steps are already being taken to enhance food production in the country to ensure that climate-related issues do not adversely affect supply. Major adaptation practices are focusing on areas such as community tank/pond renovation, water-use efficiency improvement, laser land leveling, soil test-based integrated nutrient management, community paddy nurseries, contingency crop plans, sustainable intensification in rice fallows, and zero-till sowing. Small farm mechanisation through custom hiring centers is also a key practice to enhance food production.

Major mitigation practices including direct seeded rice, in-situ crop residue management, agroforestry interventions, and integrated farming systems are also in place to promote climate-resilient agriculture.