Crispino Lobo

The National Water Policy, last revised in 2012, is a guiding principle for Indian states and it is expected that states take cognisance of the NWP while formulating their policies and laws. In 2019, the Ministry of Jal Shakti formed a committee to revise the NWP 2012 under Mihir Shah. Focusing on “water in agriculture,” this article recommends changes in the NWP. The adoption of an ecosystem-based approach and climate proofi ng of watersheds, promotion of water stewardship approach, the Water Governance Standard, climate-resilient agriculture, and policies that incentivise increased production of rain-fed crops have the potential to shift the “use narrative” in India’s water sector.

Read more about Focus on Agriculture in the National Water Policy

Making Smallholder Farming Climate-smart

Vol. 52, Issue No. 1, 07 Jan, 2017

Crispino Lobo, N Chattopadhyay, K V Rao

Climate change is accompanied by increasing weather uncertainty. Farmers, especially smallholder farmers, need advance warning of emergent weather conditions at a local level. Mobile telecommunication systems are increasingly cost-effective and an efficient way of delivering weather-based agro-advisories to farmers at a large scale. Agrometeorological services facilitate flexible, weather-based agriculture planning and help build evidence and capacities of communities, technical and developmental agencies to plan and implement climate-adaptive responses. The relevance and innovativeness of multi-institutional collaboration lies in the institutional, technical and pedagogical strategy adopted which offers important lessons on how agrometeorological services can be organised to make smallholder farming climate-resilient on a larger scale.