A three-day training on climate-smart agriculture was conducted for researchers, scientists, and officials of Bihar Agriculture University (BAU) Sabour, India to provide them with the knowledge and skills for developing interventions for farmers to mitigate climate-crisis challenges.
In Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II reported that the increase in global average temperature will have significant risks to agricultural and food systems in vulnerable regions like India. Under these climate change conditions, rice production in the country can decrease by 10% to 30% and maize production can decrease by 25% to 70%, according to IPCC.
To help increase BAU’s capacity to support farmers and alleviate the impact of the climate crisis on their livelihood, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Education at IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (SARC) in Varanasi organized the training under the Climate Resilient Agriculture Program from 02 to 05 March.
The BAU-IRRI collaborative curriculum included climate-smart agriculture, climate-resilient rice varieties, precision agriculture, alternative crop establishment methods and weed management strategies in rice-wheat systems, smart water management, and direct-seeded rice technology, among others.
Dr. Arun Kumar, vice chancellor of BAU Sabour, stressed the importance of the activity in developing interventions for various stakeholders in Bihar for greater impact. BAU conducts basic, strategic, applied, and adaptive research and ensures the effective transfer of technologies to improve quality of life of people in the state, especially famers. IRRI SARC aims to organize more training with the support of BAU Sabour.
The resource persons for the training included scientists from eminent CGIAR organizations such as Dr. Pramod K. Aggarwal (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security), Dr. Uma Shankar Singh (IRRI), Dr. Panneerselvam Peramaiyan (IRRI), and Dr. R.K. Malik (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center or CIMMYT). Other experts include Dr. A.K. Singh (National Academy of Agricultural Sciences), Dr. P.S. Birthal (ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research), and Dr. Lokesh Chandra Dubey (Gold Standard).
