‘Agri sector worst affected due to climate change’

BHUBANESWAR: Agriculture, on which almost 70 per cent of the population is dependent, is the worst affected sector due to climate change. With regular events like erratic rain, drought and cyclones, States like Odisha are the most vulnerable regions in the country to bear the brunt, said Director of Horticulture M Muthukumar.Inaugurating a farmer training programme on Climate Smart Agriculture, jointly organised by Ctran Consulting and Action on Climate Change (ACT), he said Odisha has been facing the effects of climate change for the last few decades and the problem has become more serious in the recent years.

“This year 15 districts of the State have faced drought while farmers of more than 10 districts suffered from the menace of Brown Plant Hooper (BPH). Coastal districts have always been at the receiving end for floods. The challenges will be more serious in the coming years unless urgent mitigating and adapting measures are not taken,” Muthukumar observed.Since almost 70 per cent of the population depends on agriculture, the Horticulture Director said, an holistic approach needs to be taken for climate resilient agriculture. For this, we have to prepare and train the farmers on climate such agricultural practices, he observed. 

The Government of Odisha has taken up a multi-departmental approach involving several stake holders to prepare a climate change action plan, which will be ready in the next couple of months, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Head of Ctran Consulting Ashok Singha said the climate change is the result of rapid but uncontrolled economic and industrial development.

“We have to take adaptive measures on an urgent basis to cope with the challenge,” he said highlighting the balance of modern and traditional adaptive practices to fight climate change. Among others, Team Leader-Odisha (Action on Climate Today) Soumik Biswas and Hemant Satpathy also spoke. The training session was attended by farmers and farmer organisations from several districts including Cuttack, Sambalpur, Angul, Bargarh and Bhadrak.