Climate-Resilient Agriculture (CRA)
Context
- 51% of India’s sown area is rainfed
- Contributes ~40% of food production
- Without adaptation, rice yields may drop 3–22% by end of century
Definition
- Integrated approach to managing cropland, livestock, forests and fisheries
- Addresses food security and climate change simultaneously
Core Objective
- Enable agriculture to “bounce back” from climate shocks
- Maintain productivity while reducing chemical dependence
Key Pillar
- Biotechnology (genome-edited seeds)
- Complementary technologies (biofertilisers, AI-based weather alerts)
UPSC Fact Sheet
Institutional Framework
- NICRA (National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture)
- Launched by ICAR in 2011
- Focus on research, technology demonstration and Climate Resilient Villages
- BioE3 Policy (2024)
- Identifies CRA as a thematic sector
- Targets $300 billion bio-economy by 2030
Strategic Interventions & Technologies
- Crop science
- Stress-tolerant varieties (HDCSW-18, DBW-187 wheat)
- 2,600+ varieties released by ICAR in last decade
- Water-smart technologies
- SRI, aerobic rice, rainwater harvesting, precision drip irrigation
- Carbon-smart practices
- Zero tillage, cover cropping, agroforestry
- Biotech solutions
- Microbial consortia and soil microbiome restoration
Critical Challenges
- Adoption gap
- 85% farmers are small/marginal
- High cost and low awareness
- Digital divide
- Limited reach of precision farming and AI advisories
- Resource fatigue
- Declining soil organic carbon
- Overexploited groundwater (notably Haryana)
