Empower farmers to make data-based decisions for better climate resilience
ICRISAT News
Access to data by all is better than simple provision of advisories and the information that goes to farmers must be credible and understandable, said Dr Jacqueline Hughes, Director General, ICRISAT during a virtual National Consultation on Data4Policy for Climate Resilient Agriculture in India.
Hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Telangana Government, the panel discussion was at the outset of a Digital Public Good on Climate Resilient Agriculture: Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture (DiCRA), an open-source platform. Using data insights from the platform at the farm level, a suite of knowledge products developed by various partner organizations was released during the program. The platform was developed by UNDP in partnership with the Government of Telangana, the Rockefeller Foundation, ICRISAT, Universiteit Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS), Netherlands, Zero Hunger Lab, Netherlands and Tilburg University.
It is estimated that climate change reduces annual agricultural incomes in India by 15-18%, adversely impacting the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. It is also estimated that in absence of any adaptation of climate-resilient practices by farmers and policy changes, farm incomes will decrease by 12% on average in the coming years.
The program was moderated by Mr Amit Kumar, Head of Inclusive Growth, UNDP in India and had other panellists including Mr CSR Murthy, Chief General Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD); Mr Jeediguntla Satyanarayana, Chief Advisor, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum; Ms Purvi Mehta, Asia Lead, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Dr Giriraj Amarnath, Principal Researcher, Disaster Risk Management and Climate Resilience, International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
Views: 167