14
G. Kumar et al.
impacts agricultural productivity mainly in two ways: first, directly through changes
in temperature, precipitation and CO 2 concentration and second, indirectly through
changes in soil, distribution and frequency of infestation by pests, insects, diseases or
weeds (Chatterjee 2003). The growth, development, water use efficiency and yield of
crop are mainly dependent on weather during their growing seasons. Any deviation
from the normal weather will ultimately affect the efficiency of applied inputs as well
as impair the food production (Mall et al. 2007). With the changes in the climate,
adjustments and adaptations are required to current practices in order to maintain
the productivity, while in some cases the optimum type of farming changes (Gornall
et al. 2010). The severity of climate change impacts on the agricultural productivity
depends on the degree of adaptation at the farm level, farmers’ investment decisions
and policy choices (Kahil et al. 2015). Agriculture in India is hindered due to small
landholdings, inadequate resources and lack of agro-technological information. The
broad objective of sustainable agriculture is to balance the inherent land resources
with crop requirements, paying special attention to optimization of resource use
towards achievement of sustained productivity over a long period (Lal and Pierce
1991). The emerging uncertainties due to climate change are certainly going to
aggravate the problems of future food security by exerting pressure on agriculture
(Anand and Khetarpal 2015). Agricultural production is highly sensitive to monsoon
variability (Chakrabarty 2016). In India, more than 60% of the crop area is mainly
rain-fed and rain-fed agriculture is highly vulnerable to change in the precipitation
pattern. With the change in the climate, major crops like rice, wheat, maize is going
to be affected in India (Chatterjee 2003) and consequently, the food security is going
to be adversely affected (Wheeler and Braun 2013; Chakrabarty 2016). Soil quality,
water availability or drought stress and climate change are three biophysical factors
which need to be addressed for food security in the face of climate change (Lal
2009). It has also been estimated that the Kharif crops are going to be affected
more by rainfall variability, while Rabi crops by minimum temperature (Tesfaye
et al. 2017). Agroforestry offers the potential to develop synergies between efforts to
mitigate climate change and to help vulnerable populations to adapt to the negative
consequences of climate change (Verchot et al. 2007).
4 Impacts on Forests and Forestry Sector
Climate is one of the determining factors of the distribution, structure and ecology of
forests ecosystems (Kirschbaum et al. 1996). Climate change has significant impacts
over the forest ecosystems, global biodiversity and ecosystem integrity (Ravindranath
et al. 2005). In India, changes in the climatic conditions have affected the forests productivity and also a shift in the forest type boundaries along altitudinal and rainfall
gradients (Kaushik and Khalid 2011). The shift has been indicated towards wetter
forest types in the northeastern region while towards drier forest types in the northwestern region in the absence of human interventions (Ravindranath et al. 2005).
The regions that have identified as more vulnerable to climate change include the
G. Kumar et al.
impacts agricultural productivity mainly in two ways: first, directly through changes
in temperature, precipitation and CO 2 concentration and second, indirectly through
changes in soil, distribution and frequency of infestation by pests, insects, diseases or
weeds (Chatterjee 2003). The growth, development, water use efficiency and yield of
crop are mainly dependent on weather during their growing seasons. Any deviation
from the normal weather will ultimately affect the efficiency of applied inputs as well
as impair the food production (Mall et al. 2007). With the changes in the climate,
adjustments and adaptations are required to current practices in order to maintain
the productivity, while in some cases the optimum type of farming changes (Gornall
et al. 2010). The severity of climate change impacts on the agricultural productivity
depends on the degree of adaptation at the farm level, farmers’ investment decisions
and policy choices (Kahil et al. 2015). Agriculture in India is hindered due to small
landholdings, inadequate resources and lack of agro-technological information. The
broad objective of sustainable agriculture is to balance the inherent land resources
with crop requirements, paying special attention to optimization of resource use
towards achievement of sustained productivity over a long period (Lal and Pierce
1991). The emerging uncertainties due to climate change are certainly going to
aggravate the problems of future food security by exerting pressure on agriculture
(Anand and Khetarpal 2015). Agricultural production is highly sensitive to monsoon
variability (Chakrabarty 2016). In India, more than 60% of the crop area is mainly
rain-fed and rain-fed agriculture is highly vulnerable to change in the precipitation
pattern. With the change in the climate, major crops like rice, wheat, maize is going
to be affected in India (Chatterjee 2003) and consequently, the food security is going
to be adversely affected (Wheeler and Braun 2013; Chakrabarty 2016). Soil quality,
water availability or drought stress and climate change are three biophysical factors
which need to be addressed for food security in the face of climate change (Lal
2009). It has also been estimated that the Kharif crops are going to be affected
more by rainfall variability, while Rabi crops by minimum temperature (Tesfaye
et al. 2017). Agroforestry offers the potential to develop synergies between efforts to
mitigate climate change and to help vulnerable populations to adapt to the negative
consequences of climate change (Verchot et al. 2007).
4 Impacts on Forests and Forestry Sector
Climate is one of the determining factors of the distribution, structure and ecology of
forests ecosystems (Kirschbaum et al. 1996). Climate change has significant impacts
over the forest ecosystems, global biodiversity and ecosystem integrity (Ravindranath
et al. 2005). In India, changes in the climatic conditions have affected the forests productivity and also a shift in the forest type boundaries along altitudinal and rainfall
gradients (Kaushik and Khalid 2011). The shift has been indicated towards wetter
forest types in the northeastern region while towards drier forest types in the northwestern region in the absence of human interventions (Ravindranath et al. 2005).
The regions that have identified as more vulnerable to climate change include the