The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ICRISAT ready to face climate change

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 02, 2010
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

ICRISAT ready to face climate change

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The International Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has developed climate change ready cultivars of dryland crops.

ICRISAT is well placed to respond to the climate challenge as it recognised the importance of the issue and firmly believes that the institute's new strategy, following the inclusive market-oriented development approach, will benefit the livelihoods of communities that are most vulnerable to climate change.

Director-General of ICRISAT William Dar made these remarks in response to the deliberations on climate change at the ongoing conference organised by the United Nations at Cancun, Mexico. The institute's research was focussed on crops that were important to livelihoods of people of dry land tropics like pearl millet, sorghum, chickpea and groundnut that had natural evolutionary advantages to withstand global warming.

Drop in productivity

According to Dr. Dar, modelling studies carried out at the ICRISAT showed that there would be a drop in agricultural productivity with climate change.

However, with a combination of climate change-ready varieties and improved agronomic practices, dry land farmers would be able to overcome the adverse impacts of a warmer world.

Some of pearl millet varieties and hybrids developed from the institute's germplasm were able to flower and set seed at temperatures more than 42 degrees centigrade in areas such as Western Rajasthan and Gujarat. Short duration groundnut varieties developed by ICRISAT had good levels of drought tolerance and were already replacing more susceptible older varieties, he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh