Climate resilient and sustainable development of horticulture - Options and opportunities - A review Singh H.P.*, Rao N.K. Srinivasa Confederation of Horticulture Associations of India *Corresponding author: hpsingh2008@gmail.com
Online published on 25 May, 2023. Abstract Climatic changes and increasing climatic variability are likely to aggravate the problem of future food security by exerting pressure on agriculture. However, there are lot of uncertainties about the assessment of impact, adaptation and mitigation of climate change in agriculture. For the past some decades, the gaseous composition of earth's atmosphere is undergoing a significant change, largely through increased emissions from energy, industry and agriculture sectors; widespread deforestation as well as fast changes in land use and land management practices. These anthropogenic activities are resulting in an increased emission of radiatively active gases, viz. carbon dioxide ((CO2)), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), popularly known as the ‘greenhouse gases’ (GHGs). The global mean annual temperature at the end of the 20th century, as a result of GHG accumulation in the atmosphere, has increased by 0.4–0.7ºC above that recorded at the end of the 19th century. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change has projected the temperature increase to be between 1.1°C and 6.4°C by the end of the 21st Century (IPCC, 2007). The global warming is expected to lead to other regional and global changes in the climate-related parameters such as rainfall, soil moisture, and sea level. India responded to the challenge by reorganizing research and undertaking agricultural activities, creation of institutions, price support mechanism to the produce. The concept of Rainbow revolution (Green revolution, White revolution, Yellow revolution and Golden revolution together the Rainbow revolution) is an integrated development of crop cultivation, horticulture, forestry, fishery, poultry, animal husbandry and food processing industry.) have been possible due to technical interventions, new cultivars and production technology. Significant Technological changes in horticulture have been developed for coping with the climate changes. Climate change impacts have to be addressed in concerted and systematic manner in order to prepare the horticulture sector to face the imminent challenges of climate change. Mathematical models have been developed using available basic data on the crop response to different climatic factors, which have the potential to predict likely impact as well as suggest ways to overcome the problems to some extent, suggesting that impact will differ from region to region, depending upon current ecological and climatic conditions. With available knowledge and experience, it is possible to make agriculture a sustainable livelihood means - but this will require intensive efforts at ground level - local level where agriculture exists and it has to be made climate smart. Climate smart agriculture uses agriculture as a major tool for mitigation of GHG - CO2 by laying emphasis on its unique capacity to absorb CO2 and release Oxygen through photosynthesis process. It envisages to achieve this through increased cropping, by reducing rain fed areas through integrated water and river basin management and expansion of agriculture on wasteland, wetland, degraded fallow areas and introducing urban agriculture. Top Keywords Climate change, Horticulture, Sustainable development, Climate resilient, Greenhouse gases. Top |