Climate Change and Agriculture in India: Impacts, Strategic Knowledge, and Adaptation Pathways

Agriculture is the definitive backbone of India’s socio-economic fabric providing a living for nearly 60 percent of the population and ensuring national food security. However, this sector is more and more threatened by the anthropogenic climate change crisis. This paper is a synthesis of strategic researches undertaken under the National Mission on Strategic knowledge on Climate change (NMSKCC). Vulnerability is assessed based on a major staple of the territory, wheat, rice, and potato in different agro-ecological zones by analyzing longitudinal data and simulation models. However, the gains through proactive and anticipatory adaptations through heat-tolerant cultivars and conservation agriculture mitigate the risks, though not necessarily completely, that unchecked climatic shifts might cause catastrophic yield losses by 2050 and 2080. Crucially, the paper explores the intersection of policy, technology, and farmer psychology, arguing that the “last mile delivery” of strategic knowledge is the most vital component of national climate resilience.