Diversification and Land Use Management Practices for Food and Nutritional Security Under the Climate Change Scenario in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of India

Author(s):  
P. K. Pankaj ◽  
Mahesh K. Gaur ◽  
G. Nirmala ◽  
V. Maruthi ◽  
Pushpanjali ◽  
...  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subashisa Dutta ◽  
◽  
Shyamal Ghosh

Being the highest specific discharge river in the world, the Brahmaputra has a large floodplain area of 700 km in length in its middle reaches falling in the high flood vulnerability category. Floods generated in upland Himalayan catchments are mainly controlled by land use and land cover, storm characteristics, and vegetation dynamics. Floods propagate through a floodplain region consisting of wetlands, paddy agriculture, and wide braided river reaches with natural constraint points (nodals) that make the reaches more vulnerable to flood hazards. In this study, a macroscale distributed hydrological model was used to obtain the flood characteristics of the reaches. A hydrological model with spatially distributed input parameters and meteorological data was simulated at (1 km × 1 km) spatial grids to estimate flood hydrographs at the main river and itsmajor tributaries. Aftermodel validation, “best guess” land use change scenarios were used to estimate potential changes in flood characteristics. Results show that at the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra, peak discharge increases by a maximum of 9% for land use change scenarios. The same model with bias-corrected climatological data from a regional climate model (RCM) simulation (PRECIS) was used to obtain future changes in flood generation and its propagation through the basin in the projected climatological scenario. Changes in flood characteristics with reference to the baseline period show that the average duration of flood waves will increase from 15.2 days in the baseline period (1961-1990) to 19.3 days in the future (2071-2100). Peak discharge will increase by an average of 21% in the future in the projected climate change scenario. After statistics on changes of flood characteristics in the projected climate change scenario (2071-2100) were obtained, a 2-dimensional hydrodynamic model was used to obtain flood inundation and velocity distribution on the floodplain. Distribution of velocity and inundation depth was spatially analyzed to obtain flood hazard zones in the projected climate change scenario. Results show that spatial variation in flood hazard zones will be significantly altered in the projected climate change scenario compared to land use/land cover changes.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1682
Author(s):  
Ismael Orozco ◽  
Adrián Martínez ◽  
Víctor Ortega

In semi-arid regions, where hydrological resources are very vulnerable and where there are water shortages in many regions of the world, it is of great importance to assess the vulnerability that a system is facing or will face to the potential impacts of climatic changes and changes on the use of land. For that reason, this research focuses on evaluating the global vulnerability of a hydrological basin, taking into consideration these changes. Being different from the existing methodologies that assess the vulnerability, our methodology interconnects through a new interface a distributed hydrological model, global climate models, climate change scenarios, land use change scenarios and the largest number of system variables calculated with information from official sources. Another important point of our methodology is that it quantifies the global vulnerability of the system, taking into consideration hydrological, environmental, economic and social vulnerabilities. The results obtained show that the proposed methodology may provide a new approach to analyze vulnerability in semi-arid regions. Moreover, it made it possible to diagnose and establish that the greatest current and future vulnerabilities of the system are the result of activities in agricultural areas and urban centers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 918-921
Author(s):  
Surendra Singh ◽  
ML Jakhar PB ◽  
Shewta Gupta ◽  
Shailendra Singh ◽  
Ajeet Singh ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Tara Satyavathi ◽  
Supriya Ambawat ◽  
Vikas Khandelwal ◽  
Rakesh K. Srivastava

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is the sixth most important cereal crop after rice, wheat, maize, barley and sorghum. It is widely grown on 30 million ha in the arid and semi-arid tropical regions of Asia and Africa, accounting for almost half of the global millet production. Climate change affects crop production by directly influencing biophysical factors such as plant and animal growth along with the various areas associated with food processing and distribution. Assessment of the effects of global climate changes on agriculture can be helpful to anticipate and adapt farming to maximize the agricultural production more effectively. Pearl millet being a climate-resilient crop is important to minimize the adverse effects of climate change and has the potential to increase income and food security of farming communities in arid regions. Pearl millet has a deep root system and can survive in a wide range of ecological conditions under water scarcity. It has high photosynthetic efficiency with an excellent productivity and growth in low nutrient soil conditions and is less reliant on chemical fertilizers. These attributes have made it a crop of choice for cultivation in arid and semi-arid regions of the world; however, fewer efforts have been made to study the climate-resilient features of pearl millet in comparison to the other major cereals. Several hybrids and varieties of pearl millet were developed during the past 50 years in India by both the public and private sectors. Pearl millet is also nutritionally superior and rich in micronutrients such as iron and zinc and can mitigate malnutrition and hidden hunger. Inclusion of minimum standards for micronutrients—grain iron and zinc content in the cultivar release policy—is the first of its kind step taken in pearl millet anywhere in the world, which can lead toward enhanced food and nutritional security. The availability of high-quality whole-genome sequencing and re-sequencing information of several lines may aid genomic dissection of stress tolerance and provide a good opportunity to further exploit the nutritional and climate-resilient attributes of pearl millet. Hence, more efforts should be put into its genetic enhancement and improvement in inheritance to exploit it in a better way. Thus, pearl millet is the next-generation crop holding the potential of nutritional richness and the climate resilience and efforts must be targeted to develop nutritionally dense hybrids/varieties tolerant to drought using different omics approaches.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (Special) ◽  
pp. 82-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
LV Subba Rao ◽  
RA Fiyaz ◽  
AK Jukanti ◽  
G Padmavathi ◽  
J Badri ◽  
...  

India is the second largest producer of rice in the world and it is the most important staple food grain. All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project (AICRIP) was initiated with objective of conducting multi-location trials to identify suitable genotypes of high yield potential along with appropriate crop management practices. Since its inception AICRIP contributed significantly in meeting the growing demand both within and outside India. Significant progress has been achieved through AICRIP in terms of varietal release thereby increasing the crop productivity and also meeting the food and nutritional security. This paper makes a sincere effort in bringing out the significant achievements/milestones achieved under the AICRIP program and also gives a few directions for widening the areas under AICRIP.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 385
Author(s):  
Beatrice Nöldeke ◽  
Etti Winter ◽  
Yves Laumonier ◽  
Trifosa Simamora

In recent years, agroforestry has gained increasing attention as an option to simultaneously alleviate poverty, provide ecological benefits, and mitigate climate change. The present study simulates small-scale farmers’ agroforestry adoption decisions to investigate the consequences for livelihoods and the environment over time. To explore the interdependencies between agroforestry adoption, livelihoods, and the environment, an agent-based model adjusted to a case study area in rural Indonesia was implemented. Thereby, the model compares different scenarios, including a climate change scenario. The agroforestry system under investigation consists of an illipe (Shorea stenoptera) rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) mix, which are both locally valued tree species. The simulations reveal that farmers who adopt agroforestry diversify their livelihood portfolio while increasing income. Additionally, the model predicts environmental benefits: enhanced biodiversity and higher carbon sequestration in the landscape. The benefits of agroforestry for livelihoods and nature gain particular importance in the climate change scenario. The results therefore provide policy-makers and practitioners with insights into the dynamic economic and environmental advantages of promoting agroforestry.


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