Climate Smart Agriculture Practices in India

According to the World Bank, Climate-smart agriculture encompasses the comprehensive management of landscapes, including land under cultivation, livestock, woodland areas, and aquatic resources, addressing the interconnected issues of food security and climate change. United Nations Population Fund or UNFPAs Population dashboard shows India’s population at 1406.6 million with an annual average rate of population increase at 0.9% from 2020-25. To meet this food demand, it is imperative for India to adapt sustainable agricultural practices. The IPCC (Inter-governmental panel on climate change) report has pointed out that climate change has affected food security due to global warming and extremes of temperatures around the World. In light of these facts, India faces the unique challenge of developing a path of enhancing the country’s food supply, ensuring water availability while minimizing agricultural GHGs (Greenhouse emissions) which are estimated to be 14% of its total GHG emissions. In the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index (CRI), India was ranked 7th, with a CRI score of 16.67. This paper aims at understanding the theoretical and conceptual framework of climate smart agriculture and presents an insight into how the objectives of food sufficiency, change in climatic conditions and greenhouse gas emissions are being met in India through policies, institutions and financial models.


Introduction
According to the World Bank Climate-smart agriculture encompasses the comprehensive management of landscapes, including cropland, livestock, forests, and fisheries, to tackle the interrelated challenges of climate change & food security [1].According to FAO, these initiatives are founded on three fundamental pillars, namely: elevating productivity and income levels, bolstering the tenacity of livelihoods, and removing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.[2].These three pillars have synergies as well as trade-offs.The World Bank states that around 80% of the global population facing the highest risk of crop failures and hunger due to climate change resides in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and South-East Asia.These regions are characterized by farming families that are disproportionately impoverished and vulnerable.[3] Climate-smart agriculture also has arisen as contemporary reaction to the urgent requirement for agricultural processes that can concurrently improve food security and support endeavours related to climate change mitigation and adaptation.[4] United Nations Population Fund or UNFPAs Population dashboard shows India's population at 1406.6 million with an annual average rate of population increase at 0.9% from 2020- 25[5] To meet this food demand it is imperative for India to adapt sustainable agricultural practices.The IPCC (Inter-governmental panel on climate change) report has pointed out that climate change has affected food security due to global warming and extremes of temperatures around the World [6].In light of these facts, India faces the unique challenge of developing a path of enhancing the country's food supply, ensuring water availability while minimizing agricultural GHGs (Greenhouse emissions) which are estimated to be 14% of its total GHG emissions [7].
Climate smart agriculture is fully aligned with food security and compatible with economic profitability.Agriculture is much broader than production and it needs to be thought how we are addressing climate across value chains e.g. in trade and processing.This paper is organized into four sections, with the first section serving as an introductory segment to the basic concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture; the second section provides a brief literature review and theoretical foundations of the concept of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA).The third section presents the research methodology and objectives and proposes a conceptual framework of CSA.It also maps CSA practices implemented in India within the proposed conceptual framework.The fourth and last section concludes the study emphasizing the need for mainstreaming CSA in development planning for sustaining CSA practices in the future.

Literature Review
Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) concept tackles the challenge of attaining food security, amidst climate change (FAO 2009(FAO , 2010;;Lipper et al, 2014).Harvell, et al. have pointed to a co-movement of population and climate variability impacts on agriculture.[8] The concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) has become a promising approach to ensure food security for the expanding global population in the face of global warming challenges.[9] The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations characterizes Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) as an approach to farming that bolsters resilience, boosts productivity, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and actively works toward achieving national objectives of food security and sustainable development.[10] Many nations have undertaken significant investments in agriculture, utilizing diverse climate adaptation projects with the goal of enhancing the productivity of smallholder farmers.These projects encompass initiatives such as the development of irrigation infrastructures and the dissemination of information regarding improved agricultural practices and packages.[11].Regardless of this, focussing only on technology creation as automatically leading to a boost in agriculture has led to unfavourable results in most cases.This may be attributed to a failure to understand the circumstances under which farmers work and the intricacies of the organizational setup [12].Verhagen et al (2014) recognized 3 aspects of CSA idea viz.a) as process, b) as highly context-specific and c) multi-dimensionality. [13].FAO has highlighted the role of institutional factors and financing mechanisms for better participation and increasing the use of climatesmart technologies and applications.It has also recognized the significance of combining agricultural finance with climate finance from both the public and private sectors as a critical factor in the successful implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA).A nation's manner to climate change concerns has a close relation with a country's growth.While for developed countries, alleviation is the priority, for developing countries, enhanced productiveness assumes more significance [14].Many studies indicated that major hindrances to shifting towards the implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices were lack of appropriate policies, political support, the small shareholder farmer's lack of knowledge, and institutional and financial constraints [15] However, the transition from conventional practices to Climate-smart agriculture boosts economic returns [16].A few benefits of CSA include improved soil fertility, increase in crop production, increased per capita nutrition consumption, and improved smallholder farmer's incomes, which are a contributing factor in reducing poverty.Therefore, it was suggested that CSA practices should be adopted globally.[17] Ehsan, Nusrat et al suggested that farmers should be trained and institutional services in the form of consultation should be provided which specifically focuses on climate-centric farming resulting in climate-smart agricultural practices for better food security [18].To enhance the effectiveness of various Climate-Smart Agriculture Programs (CSAPs), the research suggests the need for efficient coordination among diverse stakeholders at the local level.This collaboration should engage farmers, agricultural institutions, service providers in agriculture, and governmental agencies.[19].

Objectives
The study is descriptive in nature and has the following objectives: 1) To construct a conceptual framework for integrating climate-smart agricultural practices in India, incorporating established definitions and dimensions of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) drawn from previous studies.
2) To map current CSA practices in India with the stated conceptual framework and examine how far these practices are aligned with the proposed framework.

Methods
This study uses extensive literature studies mentioned above to derive a conceptual framework of climate smart agriculture practices.Further, it undertakes a rigorous study of Government policies, Institutions and available financing techniques in India using secondary data and discusses India's progress on these three supporting pillars.

Conceptual Framework
Irrespective of its definitions and dimensions, CSA necessitates the fulfilment of three key objectives which revolve around: i) Enhancing food security by raising productivity and incomes, ii) Adapting to the Challenges arising from climate change, and iii) Diminishing release of greenhouse gases when contrasted under a status quo or standard scenario, thus contributing to mitigation efforts.

Climate Smart Institutions in India
Governance involving good coordination and strong organizations is an important thrust area of Climate Smart Agriculture [24].Private-Public partnerships attain significance in this context.Conducive policy environment and macro-economic stability encourage CSA [25] In India, the following Institutions are active in developing and delivering CSA related programmes:

Results
The above programmes, institutions and finance models give good support to the overall goals of food security, climate change and curtailing the release of greenhouse gases.Yet, there is a necessity for embracing a comprehensive approach that accounts for interconnected factors and strategies to achieve desired outcomes benefiting all stakeholders within agricultural production systems.There is a need for mainstreaming climate change in development planning.In India, macro policy frameworks in the form of plans, policies and budgets need to be more inclusive of climate smart agriculture.

Conclusion and Future Direction
Building upon the preceding discussion, the following recommendations are proposed to fortify the conceptual framework for climate-smart agricultural practices in India:

Comprehensive Grasp of Climate Change Adaptation and Synergy
The primary mechanism for the current planning processes continue to rely on past events and are learningbased rather than being futuristic in terms of projected scenarios.This creates a time-gap and hinders our understanding of the complex interactions of the agricultural ecosystem of the future decades.Using realtime data analytics to predict future quality of soil, water and other resources is critical to address overlaps and align development programmes as required.

Budget Allocations
Finance gap may occur if a short-term funding approach is taken as, is the current scenario.System-based corrections need long time spans to work, and a 20-30 period financial planning horizon is the best way forward.

Alignment with SDGs
Goal No. 13 of SDGs calls for action to fight against climate change while Goal No.1 calls for ending poverty with 1.5 specifically calls for action to build strength of the poor and insulate them from extreme calamities.

Integrating Agriculture sector with technology
Adopting technology through digital platforms, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and the Internet of Things (IoT) is crucial for propelling sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural practices.Embracing technology via digital platforms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things stands as imperative in advancing sustainable and climatesmart agricultural practices.

Scaling up CSA practices
Institutional frameworks involving local organizations, "Farmers Producers Organizations", "Non-governmental Organizations", "Self-help Groups" , "Community-based Organizations" , agricultural departments, agripreneurs, and the private sector can effectively be utilized to broaden the implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices.
These goals are reinforced by the presence of climatesmart policies, Institutions geared towards climate resilience and financing mechanisms designed for climate adaptation.The overlapping areas of the three circles signify the synergies and trade-offs which are directly influenced by the policy, institutional and financing factors serving as enabling factors for CSA as represented below.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of CSA i) "National Initiative in Climate Resilient Agriculture" (NICRA), New Delhi With a robust climate change research infrastructure at many places in India, NICRA was established to undertake strategic research to improve resilience to climate change.At the "National Rice Research Institute" in Cuttack, Odisha, it has high throughput plant phenomics and emission reduction planting methods for rice.ii) "National Institute for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj", Hyderabad This stands as an autonomous and foremost institution for rural development.Through its Centre for Gender Studies and Development (CGSD), it is a knowledge leader in educating the trainers and scaling up gender-responsive governance.

3. 4
Climate Smart Financing in India Small-scale farmers are not aware of the terminology of financial lending, plans and schedules.Farmers located in remote or interior areas find it difficult to access and visit Banks for loan requirements.Risks associated with climate change further aggravate their access to finance.Women farmers are particularly disadvantaged because of these factors.In response to these challenges, numerous innovative financial solutions have been introduced by both the Indian government and private sector entities.These solutions encompass: i) Weather-based Insurance Products IFFCO-Tokio Insurance has introduced a weather-index based crop insurance scheme.ii) Warehouse Receipts This stimulates scientific stocking of crops in a warehouse after harvesting.This warehouse serves as collateral in providing finance to farmers for addressing climate change concerns and encouraging sustainable development.In the fiscal year 2016-17, a climate change fund was established using the profits generated by NABARD.iii) Carbon Finance Carbon financing projects like Boomitra and carbon farming initiatives like the Sunderban Mangroves have shown good progress in India.EAI Endorsed Transactions on Energy Web | Volume 10 | 2023 |

Table 1 :
Government Programmes promoting CSA in India Source: Kishore, A., Pal, B. D., Joshi, K., and Aggarwal, P. K. (2018)."Unfolding Government Policies Towards India's Experience with Climate Smart Agriculture: Opportunities for Triangular Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific 88 Development of Climate Smart Agriculture in India.""Agricultural Economics Research Review, 31 (Conference Number), pp.123-37"