India's Push Towards Climate-Resilient Paddy Cultivation: A Move to Safeguard Food Security
In response to climate change threats, India aims to cover 25% of its kharif paddy area with climate-resilient seeds. With erratic rainfall compromising rice yield, this initiative, endorsed by ICAR, is crucial. Previously successful in wheat cultivation, the approach aims to bolster rice production against climatic uncertainties.
![India's Push Towards Climate-Resilient Paddy Cultivation: A Move to Safeguard Food Security](https://devdiscourse.blob.core.windows.net/aiimagegallery/15_07_2024_11_01_09_3363269.png)
- Country:
- India
In a significant move to address the escalating challenges of climate change, the Indian government has set an ambitious target to cover 25% of the total kharif paddy area with climate-resilient seeds.
This decision comes amidst increasing instances of erratic rainfall patterns, which pose a grave threat to the nation's rice production.
India, which is the second-largest rice producer globally, cultivates paddy on over 410 lakh hectares during the kharif season. At a recent ICAR event, Director General Himanshu Pathak highlighted the urgency of adopting climate-resilient seeds, revealing that they were sown on 16% of the paddy area in the 2023 kharif season. The goal for the current season is to expand this coverage to 25%.
Research underscores the critical timing of this initiative, with projections indicating a potential reduction of rice yields by up to 31.3% by 2030 under high emissions scenarios.
With India's rice production for 2023-24 estimated at 136.7 million tonnes, efforts to replicate the success of climate-resilient wheat seeds, which contributed to a record output, are now being extended to paddy cultivation.
(With inputs from agencies.)