The four-day XIII Agricultural Science Congress, which deliberated on climate-smart agriculture, came out with a Bengaluru declaration on Friday urging the Centre to develop a robust water security policy that can insulate agriculture from the vagaries of monsoon. The Congress, which was attended by over 1,000 agricultural scientists from different states, observed that increased aridity and erratic rainfall would demand that prudent water management and water security measures were put in place. The Congress, jointly organised by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, recommended incentives for prudent use of natural resources like water and chemical inputs to reduce carbon footprints. Expressing concern that large parts of the country were vulnerable to the impact of climate change, it suggested urgent steps to quantify the current and future impact of climate change on different crops, livestock, poultry and fisheries. It also called for evolving cost-effective climate-resilient technologies. It also emphasised on the need to assess the vulnerability of small and marginal farmers to climate change. The Bengaluru declaration also stressed upon the need to invest in improvement of agrometeorology and weather forecasting infrastructure and developing a robust agro advisory and forewarning system across the country. The Congress expressed concern that the short to medium-term impact of climate change was likely to decrease annual food production by 4.5 to 9%, which translates to 1.5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

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