2012 Sub: Rajya Sabha Provisional Admitted Question (Dy. No. S3153) Climate smart agricultural strategies The results obtained from the simulation study of soybean cultivar JS 335 on the mitigatory option for reducing the negative impacts of increased temperature indicated that delaying the sowing dates to 1st week of July would be favorable for increased soybean yields in central Indian condition. In another study, out of the 10 cultivars of soybean tested for different sowing dates, cultivars like JS 335 and JS 9752 performed better than the other cultivars in terms of biomass and grain yield under late sowing condition. So, these types of cultivars can adapt themselves to late sowing condition very well due to delayed monsoon or drought situations. Strategies to save resources such as irrigation and N in the context of climate change: A simulation study was carried out to explore the possibility of efficient use of the resources such as irrigation water and N fertilizer for wheat crop in the context of climate change. Results revealed that in increased temperature scenarios, grain yield obtained from the application of 4 irrigations with 100 kg N ha-1 to wheat was at par with the yield obtained from 3 irrigations with 50 kg N ha-1. Thus, it is suggested that in increased temperature scenarios where the crop growing period is reduced by a week or so, it is possible to save valuable and important inputs such fertilizer N and irrigation water applied to wheat. Under conservation agriculture experiment carried out at IISS Bhopal, it was found that retention of wheat residue coupled with reduced tillage increased soil moisture content during soybean growing season compared to the conventional practices. This further helps in withstanding the adverse effect of dry spell during crop growth/monsoon. Sub: Rajya Sabha Provisional Admitted Question (Dy. No. U440). The amount earmarked for scheduled caste special plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP): The information is as under: Sr. State District Budget Expenditure No. Sanctioned 1 Gujarat Anand 10.00 10.00 2 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad 12.20 12.19 3 Uttarakhand Pantnagar 7.50 6.00 4 Madhya Pradesh Chhindwara, Seoni, Jabalpur, 24.20 Kundam block, Dindori, Mandla Shahdol 5 Orissa Puri, Khurda, Kandhamal, 29.10 Kalahandi, Nayagarh, Bhubaneshwar 6 Maharashtra Akola 5.50 5.50 7 Bihar Pusa 10.00 10.00 8 Tamil Nadu Coimbatore 8.20 8.20 9 Assam Jorhat 8.00 8.00 10 Jharkhand Ranchi 14.7 11 West Bengal Mohanpur 5.00 5.00 12 Himachal Pradesh Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Kinnor, 12.7 6.00 Lahaspiti, Palampur 13 Kerala Palakkad, Mallapuram 6.7 14 Rajasthan Udaipur, Banswada 6.7 15 Chattishgarh Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Durg 6.7 (a) Whether Government has developed a comprehensive strategy for sustainable agriculture in an era of climate change (b) If so, the details of the climate smart agriculture proposed by Government and (c) Whether any of the climate smart agriculture strategies have been used to minimise the adverse impact of the 2012 drought Sub: Rajya Sabha Starreed/Unstarred Dy. No. S4492 on ‘Cultivable land becoming acidic’ a) Whether Government is aware that around 1.3 million hectares of the total arable land in Karnataka has lower pH in the soil Detailed information about Karnataka state is not available in the institute however, literature says that there are moderately acidic soils that has pH more than 5.5 in most part of Karnataka (Table 1) Table 1 acid soil regions (ASR) in India State Area under Percent area Area having pH less acid soil of the region than 5.5 (mha) Assam and the north eastern state 20.0 80 3.5 West Bengal 3.5 40 2.0 Erstwhile Bihar 5.2 33 0.4 Odisha 12.5 80 1.8 Madhya Pradesh 8.9 20 - Andhra Pradesh 5.5 20 - Tamil Nadu 2.6 20 - Karnataka 9.6 50 - Kerala 3.5 90 2.1 Maharashtra 3.1 10 0.3 Erstwhile Uttar Pradesh 2.9 10 - Himachal Pradesh 5.0 90 0.1 Jammu and Kashmir 15.5 70 - Source: Mandal (1975), Sarkar (2005) b) Whether Government also knows the fact that almost three lakh hectares of cultivable land has become acidic in coastal and hilly zones of Mangalore, Hassan, Bangaluru and Kolar districts Detailed information about the tehsil-wise area under acid soils is not available in the institute. c) If so, the statistical details thereof, district-wise NA d) The steps/preventive measures to safeguard the cultivable land form becoming acidic by Government? Infact soil acidity is one of the limiting factor affecting adversely crop production to a considerable extent mainly in high rainfall and light texture conditions. The degree of soil acidity varies depending upon the pH values of soils. Soils having pH in range of 5.6 to 6.0 are moderately acidic and below 5.5 are considered strongly acid. The management of acid soils aims at improving the production potential by addition of amendment to correct the acidity and manipulate the agricultural practices so as to obtain optimum crop yields under acid condition. One of the practices is to grow acid tolerant crops/ varieties and to supplement nutrients through suitable carriers. For example crops like rice, potato, aloe, millets, etc may be preferred. When the soil is highly acidicand where sensitive multi-crops are grown, application of lime is a desirable practice which is adopted. The actual amount of lime to be applied depends upon the soil pH values. It improves base saturation, availability of Ca and Mg along with other nutrients and minimize the fixation of P and Mo. The toxicity arising from excess soluble Al, Fe and Mn is also corrected and there by root growth is promoted and uptake of nutrients is improved. Liming also stimulates the microbial activity and encourage N2 fixation and nitrogen mineralization, and hence, legumes are highly benefited from liming. When applied in high doses, much of the lime is lost by leaching from the top soil of light textured soils because of their low exchange capacity. Split application is thus recommended to minimise the leaching loss. Lime should preferably be applied in smaller doses more frequently (every alternate year) rather than in heavy dose one in three to four years. The lime requirement approximately ranges from 3.5 to 15 tonnes/ha. Lime application should be done smaller and split doses, preferably in furrows at the time of sowing. Application has to be done in every alternate year till the soil pH is brought to normal range. Reply to Parliament question No.S5223 raised by Sh. RamJethmalani Whether the problem of hunger of whole world can be addressed by development of agriculture through proper utilization of natural resources in agro-sector; Reply: Yes, the food security and proper natural resource management in agriculture must go hand in hand in order to eradicate the hunger at national and global level. Nearly 870 million people still go hungry whereas nearly 1.3 billion people are living in extreme poverty at the world scale. Another global challenge is how food security and sustainable use of natural resources can be achieved, when the natural sources of food become scarcer and scarcer. This means we have to ensure sustainable food security under land, water, and energy stresses. Goal is a productive agriculture that conserves and sustains natural resources. It involves an ecosystem approach that ensures enrichment of soil organic matter, soil and water conservation, more efficient irrigation methods, insect pest management, appropriate external inputs at the right time and in the right amount, developing improved crop varieties that are resilient to climate change and use the nutrients, water and external inputs more efficiently. Besides, “food” itself is a natural resource, which cannot be synthesized in a factory and thus need to be used still judiciously. So we must also change the way we eat and find ways to feed the world withoutwasting the food. We can do this by changing to healthier diets in the richer segments of our population and by diminishing the food loss and waste that exist in industrialized and developing countries, and that make us throw away 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year, between production and consumption. (b) If so Government reaction thereto Reply:In India these issues have been addressed through various centrally sponsored programmes, being implemented by Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Environment & Forests. These programmes are namely, (i) National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA), (ii) Soil Conservation in the Catchments of River Valley Project & Flood Prone River (RVP & FPR), (iii) Reclamation & Development of Alkali & Acid Soil (RADAS), (iv) Watershed Development Project in Shifting Cultivation Areas (WDPSCA) (v) Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) (vii) Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP) and National Afforestation & Eco– Development Project (NAEP). Since inception upto Tenth Five Year Plan, an area of 50.89 million hectare of degraded land has been brought under cultivable lands (agri-horti system) with an expenditure of Rs.19251.22 crore. In addition to this, all states have their own departments of agriculture, Deptt of soil conservation, ATMAs, KVKs, SAUs, Deptt. of Horticulture etc, that are working on technology dissemination on efficient use of natural resources. Besides, national agricultural research system (NARS) and National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) has been tirelessly working to address these issues. c) Whether it is also a fact that the problems of availability of water and climate change have created crisis for agriculture sector Reply:This is true that the problem of availability of water and climate change have created crisis for agriculture sector.