Rain- vital for sustainable agriculture:

The Indian Panorama of climate change has been one crammed with interchanging crests and troughs of copious events till date, being highly dependent on agriculture; India has to face the brunt of climate change at a much elevated scale than other non-agro countries. The different elements of climate change i.e. the rise in temperatures, abridged rainfall, melting of glaciers, Increase in concentration of the green house gases, Depletion of the ozone hole; have all affected the Indian system collectively, but the rate and type of impact of each of these elements has been varying and in some cases highly contrasting. One such factor which has had a radical effect on the agricultural practices in India has been Precipitation or rainfall. Indian agriculture has been predominantly dependent on rains as the sole deciding factor for its sustenance. Nearly 80 million hectares out of the countrys total netsown area lack irrigational facilities and solely depend on rains for the crop growth says Mr. Arun Nagarajan, an environmentalist specializing in Agriculture. The whole agricultural scenario of India has changed now, as with the onset of the cataclysmic occurrence of climate change all the innate ecological processes have either been accelerated or decelerated which has brought on a sudden shift onto the usual procession of natural processes. Due to climatic variations, the precipitation patterns in our country are highly unpredictable and random i.e. the annual rate of rainfall in areas of higher altitude are on the rise where as the graph attains an all time low when subtropical land areas are concerned. Climate change and Global warming have affected the hydrological cycle viz. precipitation, transpiration and soil moisture and has further posed new challenges on the field of agriculture says Dr. I. Zareena Begum, Assistant Professor at Madras School Of Economics and a Specialist in Environmental Science. Expressing the same concern Dr.Sudip Mitra, Project Director, M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) added Due to these unstable climatic conditions the farmers lose track of the right season to sow there seeds in and ultimately end up with a non-profitable yield which forces them onto un-payable debts and ultimately on committing suicides. Furthermore, due to the uneven precipitation in different regions include soil erosion, growth of harmful fungi (in exceedingly wet conditions),food shortages during change of seasons as the crops are yet to mature, reduction in soil nutrients, flash floods etc. These consequences fabricate further problems that lead onto loss of life, damage of property, unemployment, poverty, so on and so forth.

It is more important to observe and access short term changes in climate patterns and the larger problem of climate change will take care of itself says Dr. A.A. Nambi, Project Director, Climate-change, MSSRF. Stating the possible solutions to this issue Dr.S.Kannaiyan, an environmentalist and a reformist says, Imparting of proper knowledge to farmers and other stake holders on the issue of climate change, simple adaptations like change in planting dates and usage of better crop varieties resistant to both exceptionally wet and harshly dry conditions and also better understanding of the soil, atmosphere and other environmental facets of their region. Farmers, if take up such simple but effective measures, they could easily tackle the harsh climatic conditions and could reap a fine harvest. Rain or no rain, as the old saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough definitely find ways to get going