Farmers' body warns of climate change impact on agriculture, urges Andhra Pradesh government to take action
The FAIFA urged the govt there should be targeted subsidies for renewable energy, organic inputs, and micro-irrigation to make climate-smart practices more accessible to small and marginal farmers. It lauded the success of ICAR's flagship programme-National Innovations for Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), which has reached nearly 6.93 lakh farmers through technology demonstrations and has trained 6.47 lakh stakeholders via 23,613 capacity-building programmes on climate resilient agriculture.
FAIFA unveiled the report titled "Nourishing the Future: A Report on Climate-Resilient Agriculture" to mark the world environment day on Thursday. The report said that about 448 climate resilient villages have been established, and 650 district-level agricultural contingency plans have been developed as part of its interventions.
The report's focus is in line with the latest developments initiated by the Centre to boost agriculture.
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Some of the key efforts include the launch of the digital agriculture mission, the continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and the National Mission on Natural Farming.
Addressing a seminar organized by FAIFA, delegates including policymakers, agricultural scientists, and MPs expressed concern over projections by the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA), which estimate a potential 6% to 25% reduction in wheat yields and a 3% to 15% decline in rice yields by 2050.
The FAIFA report also highlights a study by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) that warns of 10% to 30% fall in rain-fed crop yields across semi-arid regions.
The report underscores that climate change, no longer a distant threat but a present and accelerating crisis for Indian agriculture, is beefing up its siege through erratic rainfall, unseasonal droughts, temperature spikes, and rising incidence of pests and diseases disrupting crop cycles.
These weather events have severely impacted productivity, inflated input costs, and choked farmer incomes — compounding their distress.
Small and marginal farmers, who form over 80% of India's agrarian community, are the worst affected due to limited adaptive capacity.
Murali Babu, general secretary, FAIFA, said that the tangible impacts of climate variability on farming are becoming increasingly evident in states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.
Soil degradation, rising input costs, and falling water tables are putting significant pressure on farm productivity and incomes, particularly for small and marginal farmers. However, initiatives like ICAR's NICRA programme are encouraging, which has introduced practical climate-resilient solutions, such as solar-powered irrigation, drought-tolerant seed varieties, and capacity-building at the grassroots.
These are already making a difference in many regions.
Ather Matheen, vice-president, FAIFA said that sustainable agriculture must be viewed as a core economic strategy for Indian farmers and not just be seen as an environmental or regulatory concern. He said that climate-resilient models offer long-term financial benefits by lowering input costs, opening new markets, and reducing weather-related disruptions.
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