Impact of climate change on various agricultural activities in India

Abstract

Climate change is one of the biggest environmental challenges in all Countries in the world. Climate change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or/and as a result of human activity. It has become a major concern to society because of its potentially adverse impacts worldwide. There are already increasing concerns globally regarding changes in climate that are threatening to transform the livelihoods of the vulnerable population segments. Any adverse impacts on these natural resources will have repercussion on the nation’s livelihood security and economy and widen the gap between the rich and the poor. Scientists predicted that climate will have the main impact on agriculture, economy and livelihood of the populations of developing countries and India is one of them, where large parts of the population depends on climate sensitive sectors like agriculture and forestry for livelihood by adversely affecting freshwater availability and quality, biodiversity and desertification, climate change tends to disproportionately affect the poorest in the society, exacerbating inequities. Impact of climate change on agriculture could result in problems like food security and may threaten the livelihood activities upon which much of the population depend. Climate change can affect crop yield (both positively and negatively), as well as the types of crops that can be grown in certain areas, by impacting agricultural inputs such as water for irrigation, amount of solar radiation that affect plant growth as well as the prevalence of pests.