NEW DELHI: The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) has launched a flagship project to study the impact of climate change on agriculture and to promote climate resilient technologies in this field.

The project, called the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), will cover crops, livestock, horticulture and fisheries. It will focus on vulnerable areas of the country which are prone to extreme weather conditions like drought, floods, frost and heat waves.

Several parts of India, from Kerala in the South to Himachal Pradesh in the North are currently experiencing heavy floods and devastating landslides caused by extreme weather. The ICAR project will concentrate on such districts of states which, therefore, need urgent attention.

‘The NICRA project is designed to create awareness among farmers about the impact of climate change in agriculture,’ the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Ramnath Thakur, told the Upper House of India’s Parliament, the Rajya Sab
ha, yesterday.

‘Capacity building schemes are being implemented to educate farmers on various aspects of climate change for wider adoption of climate resilient technologies,’ he said.

The ICAR is a national-level body under the umbrella of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for coordinating agricultural education and research in India.

Source: Emirates News Agency