NABARD - National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development

India – Impacts of Climate Change

India ranks as the seventh most vulnerable nation in the world (Global Climate Risk Index 2021, and the rural poor are the most at risk from climate change due to their reliance on natural resources for their subsistence, including forestry, fishing, and agriculture.
Climate change could alter the distribution and quality of India's natural resources and affect people's livelihoods. Due to numerous human activities and population growth, India's natural resources are already under immense pressure.
Climate change acts as a "risk multiplier" for small and marginal farmers, exacerbating their existing social, economic, political, and environmental stresses.

Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture

Higher temperatures tend to reduce crop yields and promote weed and pest growth.
Climate change has the potential to reduce irrigated crop yields across agro-ecological regions due to both temperature increases and changes in water availability.
Rainfall variability and a decline in the number of rainy days will have the biggest effects on rainfed agriculture.
Climate change is expected to affect yields, particularly in crops such as rice, wheat, and maize, according to an analysis conducted as part of the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project.
Rainfed rice yields are projected to reduce marginally (<2.5%) in 2050 and 2080 and irrigated rice yields by 7% in 2050 and 10% in 2080.
Wheat yield is projected to reduce by 6-25% in 2100 and maize yields by 18-23%.