Climate change is a reality and seeing nothing, hearing nothing and doing
nothing to lessen its impact on life on the earth are no longer an option,
said Prof Kadambot Siddique, Director of the University of Western
Australia.

Addressing students and teachers of the Kerala Agricultural University at
Vellanikkara the other day, he said that biotechnology was not a solution to
climate change. But it could be an important and effective tool to combat
climate change. He said that considerable efforts and investments by
governments and other agencies in research and development to increase food
production and optimise the use of water would be essential for fighting
climate change in the coming years.

He said that the impact of climate change on Indian agriculture is expected
to be severe in the coming years as Indian agriculture is heavily dependent
on monsoon and irrigation.

The rise in temperature and the consequent drying-up of land would bring
down the availability of water for irrigation, he said. Simultaneously,
rainfall will become unpredictable and un-seasonal, throwing the traditional
farming system and practices into chaos.

The likely climatic variations within a season and destruction of crops by
intense tropical cyclones that may occur frequently will be more serious.
Adding to these, new varieties of pests and diseases will develop, for which
effective remedies might not be available immediately.

Decline in food production will be the main impact of climate change in
India.

The drying-up of the atmosphere and the change in climate would make water
scarce both for drinking and irrigation, making farming uneconomical for
farmers in the affected areas. This would bring down the total area under
cultivation with its concomitant adverse impact on overall food production
in the country.

Siddique said that to make up the decline in food production, development of
new high yielding, disease resistant and climate-adaptive crop species would
be essential.

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