India's ICAR Prepares to Address Climate Change in Agriculture

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) of the Ministry of Agriculture plans to focus on R&D and deployment of new technologies to cope with the impact of climate change in Indian agriculture. ICAR's two- day national conference on climate change and Indian agriculture held on 12-13 Oct 2007 recommended a series of policy measures and action plan to increase the country's preparedness for management of likely effects of the climate change.

ICAR recommendations include: strengthen research on impact assessment on production resources, crops, livestock, fisheries and microbes; institutionalize the monitoring of phonology as a bio-indicator of climate variability; intensify search for genes for stress tolerance and research efforts on marker aided selection (MAS) and transgenic development (GM crops) for biotic and abiotic stress management; develop heat and drought tolerant genotypes; attempt transforming C3 plants to C4 plants; enhance genetic potential and use of engineered microbes for biofuels; develop new land use systems and enhance value added weather management services. It also calls for exploring international partnership and establishing 'Green Research Fund' to strengthen research on adaptation, mitigation and impact assessment on climate change.

View ICAR recommendations on climate change and Indian agriculture at http://www.icar.org.in/Recommendations-CLIMATE-CHANGE-CONFERENCE.pdf

For more information on biotech in India contact Bhagirath Choudhary of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications South Asia Office at b.choudhary@isaaa.org.