T weathers climate storm with advisory on rabi-paddy timing - Times of India
Telangana weathers climate storm with advisory on rabi-paddy timing | Hyderabad News - Times of India
HYDERABAD: The days of frequent climate-induced policy changes and government interventions are not far away if the recent directive to farmers by the state government to finish rabi paddy season by March is an indication.
The recent unusually heavy rainfall during March-April was the trigger for the agriculture department to look for ways to mitigate farm hardship at least next year by advancing paddy crop season which currently extends till middle of April.
The massive crops losses this year due to heavy rain and hailstorm, which is not normal for the season, has led to the formation of a cabinet subcommittee for crop season advancement by the state government. A few days ago, the department established a separate wing to monitor crop season sowing and other related activities.
The situation reflects the recent
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) report which predicted that policy changes to counter the effects of climate change would have a very short window.
Telangana already has a heat wave action plan to protect lives and health in extreme conditions. Now, advancing crop season would be the first step in the direction of climate change-induced action to limit crop damage due to rain.
Rabi season, which begins in October, should end in March, but it has been extended till mid-April, exposing it to environmental risks. "Even in March we are witnessing heavy rainfall and, in some areas, cloud burst-like situations in recent years, resulting in massive damages. If the crop is ready by the end of March, farmers can avoid extremes of unseasonal rainfall and heat, especially paddy crops where heat results in more broken rice" said an official monitoring the situation.
After the heavy rains between March 17 and 21, the government had to announce compensation for affected farmers.
According to officials, the subcommittee recommendations will include crop calendars, season preparation and scheduled maintenance. Although maize and vegetable crops are also affected by unseasonal rainfall, the problem is more prevalent for paddy crop in the state.
"Going by available data, climate change has been rapid in India, including Telangana, in the last 10 years. It is a welcome step by the Telangana government. But it requires long-term planning and farmers should be kept in the loop on all localised weather situations," said Anjal Prakash, one of the report's authors and research director of Bharati Institute of Public Policy,
Indian School of Business
(ISB), Hyderabad.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.