全球智库信息集成服务系统

This paper presents available evidence for climate change impacts in India and discusses issues and barriers that make mainstreaming adaptation difficult in agriculture and water sectors in India. Evidence suggests a wide range of climate change impacts in Indian agriculture and water sectors. Most important ones being severe reduction in crop production due to a combination of factors such as warming, incidence of pests and diseases, changes in rainfall patterns, reduction in freshwater sources for irrigation, and non-responsive institutional and social systems. Several barriers exist for mainstreaming adaptation. Information that is useful for initiating action by various stakeholders involved in agriculture and water sectors is very poor. Lack of vulnerability assessment tools, awareness at the extension level, focused research, resources, political and institutional rigidity, inaccessible data and absence of proper knowledge management systems are some of the key barriers. Overcoming these barriers require a set of policies, institutional reforms and investments in capacity building, and deploying tools for vulnerability and risk assessments and for monitoring and evaluating adaptation interventions.