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‘Preserve genetic variability of rice’

VISAKHAPATNAM: Agriculture scientist M. S. Swaminathan on Sunday called for special efforts to conserve the genetic variability of rice so that the food security of the country was not affected in any way because of the adverse effects of global climate change.

Speaking at a plenary session on climate change at the 95th session of the Indian Science Congress here, he said that rice should be the crop of choice as among all food crops it had the highest capacity for adaptation to different ecological conditions.

He also emphasised the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to prepare the country to meet the ill-effects of climate change. He called for the setting up of an inter-institutional panel to work on the adaptation aspects at the national level on the lines of the United Nations’ Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The panel must be set up with the participation of all scientific institutions, including the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and the Indian Council of Medical Research so that the problems associated with climate change were addressed in an integrated manner.

Dr. Swaminathan also urged researchers working in the area of climate change adaptation to have a participatory approach, while working in tandem with the local people.

There was a need for everyone — policy makers, scientists, farmers and other sections of society, to be on board to meet the effects of climate change effectively.

The effects of global climate change are already visible in the form of more frequent floods, melting of glaciers and other such phenomena. It was time scientists and others geared up their efforts, he added.

Tsunami expert, Tad S. Murty, highlighted the need for an effective forecast system for short-duration storm surges that were frequently experienced in coastal areas particularly in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh, causing problems to the fishermen and others living close to the coast.

The traditional systems of forecast of storm surge, which were based on weather observation taken once in six hours could not be effective for the short-duration surges which develop and dissipate within about half an hour, but result in sea water entering the land to an extent of about 500 m and staying there for about three to four days.

Speaking to reporters later, he declined to comment on the Sethusamudram canal project, except to say that he had suggested a realignment of the entrance to the canal on the Bay of Bengal side, during a meeting with the Chairman of the Tuticorin Port Trust in September 2005.

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