📍Dire Projections According To Asia Weather Report!

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) which is the UN System’s authoritative voice on Weather, Climate and Water, released its Asia Climate Report for 2025 on 17 June 2026. According to this rather grim report, Asia is in for some rocky times.

The main findings were extremely high heat, devastating uneven rainfall causing floods and severe droughts accompanied by dusty storms which expanded the area prone to desertification. And of course, rapidly melting glaciers.

According to the WMO report “Asia is impacted by rising temperatures, warming ocean waters, higher sea levels and retreating glaciers. Heavy rainfall, flooding and drought have a heavy economic and human cost, while extreme heat, dust storms and glacial flooding are

becoming major hazards.”

Exceptional monsoon and tropical cyclone-related rainfall caused devastating flooding in many countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Climate turbulence, predicted as one of the markers of climate change is to be seen clearly in the Asian region .The report highlights the impact of both too much and too little rainfall. Most parts of Asia received above-average rains in 2025, with exceptionally heavy monsoons. In Pakistan it was 23% above the long-term average. The flooding caused over 1,000 deaths mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where more than 230,000 houses were destroyed and over 3 million people impacted severely.

Severe flash floods caused significant damage in North India and Nepal and 142 lightening deaths were reported during the storms with furious thunder and lightening. There were devastating floods in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too which caused plenty of damage to homes. In Viet Nam, multiple episodes of flooding resulted in at least 200 deaths and about 2 billion US$ in economic losses. Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia suffered very heavy rainfall and severe flooding due to Cyclone Senyar.

On the other hand, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Central Asia as well as the countries of West Asia saw scanty rainfall and protracted dry conditions. There was a long drawn out drought in Iran as well which triggered severe water shortages and prolonged, harsh dust storms.

With respect to temperatures, Asia has warmed faster than the global average in recent decades. The warming trend during 1991–2025 was approximately twice that observed during 1961–1990. The annual mean temperature in 2025 was found to be almost 1 degree C above the 1991–2020 average, indicating a steady rise in global warming.

China, Japan and South Korea suffered extreme heat conditions. All three recorded their highest ever summer temperatures. South Korea experienced such intense heat and the soil temperatures rose so high that the potato crop actually “cooked” in the ground. The harvest was ruined because the potatoes had turned soft and mushy.

Kazakhstan in Central Asia witnessed unprecedented heatwave conditions during which the temperatures soared, reaching up to 14°C above normal and Bahrain recorded ten consecutive days of above 40°C temperatures. Wild fires due to hot and dry winds raged through South Korea from March to May 2025. The 20 separate blazes ended up killing some 32 people.

Asia is warming twice as fast as the global average, driving record-breaking water temperature increase across the continents oceans and seas. The amount of heat stored in oceans in Asia has reached the highest level so far. Ocean temperatures have been increasing steadily for the last 35 years, hitting a new record in 2025. Sea level rise in the Asian region has also reached its highest level after the same 35 year period. Nearly all regional waters—including the Indian Ocean, Western Pacific, and Caspian Sea experienced severe marine heatwaves affecting over 10 million square kilometers.

The rates of sea-level rise in the Indian Ocean were much higher than the global average as registered along the Indian coast. Rising ocean heat is destabilizing ocean currents and marine life and driving up sea levels. Worryingly, the ocean water is becoming more acidic specially in parts of the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the tropical part of the Indian Ocean. This has obvious repercussions for the safety and survival of marine life. Sea level rise is not unconnected to the fact that glaciers in Asia are melting rapidly. The catastrophe in Nepal in late August of 2026 was a horrific reminder of glacier melt but the steady meting of glacial ice has been happening over the years as seen in so many Asian glaciers receding.

After the North and South Poles, it is mountainous Asia, with the Tibetan Plateau at its core, that holds the largest ice volume in the world. The glaciers here spread over approximately 100,000 sq km have been in steady retreat since the 1990s. Higher than usual temperatures and diminished winter snowfall have driven the spiralling glacial melt. According to the 2025 United Nations report, glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region are projected to lose 30% to 50% of their volume by 2100 if emissions are low and up to 80% if current high-emission trajectories continue. 

Glaciers in the eastern and central Himalayas, such as Nepal and Bhutan, are shrinking much faster than those in the west due to higher warming and decreasing snowfall. All in all, a fairly grim picture.

📍Supreme Court favours the Great Indian Bustard!

 

In a petition filed by the conservationist M.K. Ranjitsinh to protect the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican from dying by hitting overhead power lines, the Supreme Court delivered a judgement in favour of protecting the birds. What a welcome step!

 

The ruling recognized that the "right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change" is an autonomous, self-determining right. That this right derives from the two fundamental rights granted in the Constitution of India, Article 21 and Article 14.

 

→ Article 21 grants every individual the Right to Life and Personal Liberty. The Supreme Court bench read this to say that  A stable, healthy climate is an essential prerequisite to enjoying a meaningful life.

 

→ Article 14 grants the Right to Equality. The Supreme Court read in this case that Disproportionate climate burdens on vulnerable communities violate equal protection of the laws.

 

The Great Indian Bustard locally called Godawan is the state bird of Rajasthan where it is considered a symbol of pride and grace. It is revered by local communities, especially by the nature loving Bishnois. The Godawan is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world and is a flagship species of the arid and semi-arid grasslands of the Indian subcontinent.

the news: https://www-barandbench-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.barandbench.com/amp/story/law-firms/view-point/judicial-responses-to-climate-change-constitutionalising-right-to-clean-environment-and-protection-against-effects-of-climate-change?amp_js_v=0.1&_gsa=1#webview=1&cap=swipe 

📌 Climate Impact on Forests!

The rich, natural forests of India were brought under “modern, scientific” forestry by the British in 1864. And with that the Indian tradition of seeing the forest as a community resource to be conserved and used sustainably was jettisoned. In its place came the commercial exploitation of the forest by the colonial rulers. Natural mixed forests used freely by locals for their personal needs and for incomes were replaced by commercial monocultures like teak, pine, and sal which were owned by the British.

Colonial exploitation of the forest was reversed when the Forest Rights Act, 2006 was enacted. This Act recognized that Adivasi and tribal communities as well as other traditional forest dwellers have the legal right to own, collect, use and sell minor forest produce, collectively known as Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) NTFPs include tendu leaves used for rolling bidis, mahua flowers and seeds, wild fruits and nuts, honey, tamarind, medicinal plants, herbs, bamboo and a variety of edible and useful forest products. For Adivasi and other forest-dwelling communities, these products have traditionally been part of their food, livelihoods and everyday lives.

But climate change is beginning to interfere with the seasonal and ecological processes on which these resources depend. A change in rainfall is affecting flowering so availability of Mahua flowers gets affected. Rising temperatures affect fruiting and seed production. Drought can reduce the availability of edible plants and wild fruits. Changes in temperature and moisture also affect major NTFPs such as honey and lac which are significant income sources for the tribal communities and forest dwellers.

These changes are already being felt .The forest may still be standing. Its canopy may even appear unchanged. But if the flowers do not bloom as before, if fruits become scarce, or if seasonal forest produce becomes unreliable, then the forest is no longer the livelihood supporting resource it used to be.

📍Climate Change Will Spike Wheat Prices

One of the frightening consequences of climate change is rapidly diminishing water availability. Glaciers melting, disturbed and weak monsoons and extreme heat causing drying up of surface water sources like lakes, ponds and tanks will lead to conditions of severe water stress in the coming years.

The impending water scarcity is a growing threat to global food production, particularly for crops that depend on rainfall rather than irrigation. Globally, 80% of the arable land is rainfed, that is unirrigated and dependent on the monsoon. Only 20% of the arable land is irrigated. In India the figures are 45% irrigated land and 55% rainfed land. Severe water stress is projected to result in reduced harvests accompanied by a spike in food prices in the market and hunger among the poorer sections of society. 

In a Danish study done at the Centre for Climate Change in Aarhus University, scientists found a clear correlation between the area affected by severe water scarcity and global wheat prices. They showed that in the years when large areas were under severe water stress, there was a corresponding increase in wheat prices. When there is not enough moisture in the soil during key growing periods, harvests are likely to fail and food prices therefore rise.

Climate model projections suggest that water scarcity will expand as global warming progresses. The Aarhus study predicts that a temperature increase of about 3°C could raise global wheat prices three times relative to 2010. The reason why global wheat prices are particularly linked to severe water stress is because in most regions of the world, the crop is grown under the least favorable soil moisture conditions. Top wheat producers in temperate countries like Russia, US, Canada and Australia are likely to see falling wheat harvests and rising prices in the global market. The problem these countries will face is that they do not have a substitute crop for wheat. 

India however can cope better with the heat and water stress challenges of climate change because it does have a potential alternative or supplement to wheat. It has many varieties of millets that can be trialled as supplementary crops in the wheat season. Millets withstand high heat and water stress much better than wheat, and they can be cultivated in a wide variety of soils. Blessed with a large genetic diversity in millets, India can indeed counter the climate damage to wheat production. I believe targeted research will yield high yielding, nutritious varieties of millets as substitutes/ supplements to the wheat crop. 

📍Destroying Uttarakhand

Many years ago when I went to school in Nainital, it was a place of thrilling natural beauty. Uttarakhand then a part of Uttar Pradesh, (UP) was lush and green wherever you looked. Every place seemed like a picnic spot.

In 2000, the new state of Uttarakhand was created, hiving off the hilly areas of UP and some parts of the terai. Then “development” began in right ernest , turning this haven into a concrete jungle. A study conducted by the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) using satellite imagery, climate data, and GIS analysis shows that snow cover decreased by over 1640 sq km from 1992 to 2022. In the same period concrete construction increased 13 times from 40.66 sq km in 1992 to 526.35 sq km in 2022.

Uttarakhand is being slowly buried under concrete. Gone is the haven with lush green forests full of wonderful plants, birds and animals. In its place is emerging an ugly built up blot on the Himalayas. Not only is the state turning ugly, it is also turning dangerous. Roads are being cut into hillsides without any planning, opening them up to landslides which have increased several fold. Forests are being slaughtered, driving wild life away and altering the ecosystem for the worse. Forests regulated water flow, when they are cut flooding increases. 

The perverse tragedy is that the development that is needed, is not reaching the villages where good schools, health care, basic services and livelihood opportunities are desperately required. All the development is devoted to urban areas converting them into monstrous concrete jungles. You just have to visit the famed hill stations of yesterday - Nainital, Dehradun and Mussoorie to see what hideous urban sprawls they have become. 

This kind of “development” that our so called ‘vikas’ oriented government boasts about, is actually raising vulnerability, for people in the mountains, as well as for people living downstream. The Himalayas are a living, fragile ecosystem with tenuous limits. It is extremely foolish and highly dangerous to think you can continue treating mountains like construction sites. Nature will have the final say and the consequences will be extremely unpleasant, as we have already begun to see with increasing incidences of manmade calamities.

The Indian monsoon, the lifeblood of India’s very survival, has been wobbling for some years now. Climate change is responsible for the turbulence in the monsoon system which has existed, according to some estimates, for 25 million years. This system has been the bedrock of our agriculture, water security and livelihoods for millennia. When climate change begins to disrupt its timing and intensity, it is not simply a weather anomaly; it is a signal that is putting us on alert that the happy, secure systems that were built around the monsoon are becoming unreliable, that the earlier rhythm is disrupted and we must prepare urgently to deal with it.

Preparations to adapt to the new monsoon should have begun earlier. Any further delay in recognising its growing unpredictability will have very serious implications. Agriculture, water security and rural livelihoods are already under stress. We need urgently to establish climate resilient agriculture systems in different agro-climatic zones. We know what is required: greater genetic diversity in the field, both within crops and across the number and range of crops being planted; better soil management, water conservation and sustainable use etc.

Our preparedness to cope must improve quickly. Although the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has gotten much better at forecasting the monsoon’s vagaries and extreme weather events, these are of little use when authorities do not act on the warning and response remains tardy. Our infrastructure remains inadequate to deal with the changing conditions like the large volumes of water after a cloudburst. Our drainage and flood management systems belong to another era when the monsoon was the benign, predictable system we were familiar with. All that has changed. It’s high time we acted.

👉 A recent article by Murali Krishnan makes an interesting read. https://www.dw.com/en/disrupted-monsoons-force-india-to-face-climate-threat/a-78324753

❗The Silent Pest Invasions Driven by Climate Change

One of the effects of global warming has been an increase in pest populations and the appearance of new pests and diseases in agriculture. This is because rising temperature can prompt insects to mature faster, reproduce earlier and cause population explosions. This makes a minor pest a major one. 

 

Pest populations also migrate to new areas where the earlier cooler conditions were not hospitable. The altered weather conditions become favourable to the pests and pathogens that were not adjusted to the earlier habitats. For example, pests that were historically found in the warmer tropical and subtropical regions are now moving north to cooler temperate areas because these have become more inviting thanks to a warming world.

 

The biting cold of our North Indian winters has acted to some extent as a natural regulator, killing off pests and limiting the size of the population and hence the scale of infestations. But now, as temperatures rise and winters become milder, more pests can survive the winter, extend their breeding seasons and expand into regions where colder temperatures previously restricted them. Warming climates are inviting new, often invasive pest species to migrate into agricultural zones where they were previously unknown. 

 

What is urgently needed is an early warning system that can sound the alert as soon as  anew pest is detected in a region. This will enable agencies to introduce measures to tackle the nascent population before it becomes a full blown infestation. The work of breeding new pest resistant varieties should start much earlier though, in anticipation of possible attacks from new pests.  FAO for instance, tracks the movement of the two significant fungal diseases Wheat Rust and Wheat Bunt and warns countries if they are found approaching their areas so that prophylactic measures can be put in place,

 

The scale of the threat from new pests is already alarming. According to the FAO, up to 40% of global crop production is lost to plant pests and diseases every year, costing the global economy more than US$220 billion annually. And the danger could grow significantly as the planet warms. The International Plant Protection Convention estimates that losses in major crops such as wheat, rice and maize due to insect pests could increase by 10–25% for every additional degree of global warming. Even a single unusually warm winter, an FAO-IPPC scientific review warns, can help an invasive pest establish itself in a new region.

 

An ICAR review states that 20–30% of India’s potential crop production is destroyed by insect pests, diseases, weeds and rodents. Another ICAR publication estimates that pests and pathogens alone account for 15–20% yield losses in major field and horticultural crops, while noting that the profile of key pests and pathogens is changing rapidly due to factors including climate change.

 

India has already seen how quickly a new pest can invade its agricultural landscape. Fall Armyworm, a pest native to the Americas, was first officially reported in India in 2018. By June 2019, it had spread to 20 states and affected more than 376,000 hectares.

 📍How Climate Change is Starving the Himalayan Herders

The pastoral communities of India (the herders who rear sheep, goats, cattle, camels as also yaks in our northern and hilly states) live a transhumance life, moving across regions with their animals, in search of pastures. Such a system allows grazed pastures to recover and regenerate while new pastures ensure their animals had sufficient food throughout the year.

The livelihood of the mountain pastoralists is based on a delicate seasonal migration: taking their herds high up into the mountain pastures (bugyals) in the summer, and bringing them down to the valleys in the winter.

But global warming is disrupting this ancient rhythm. As the Himalayan glaciers melt at an increasingly rapid pace and weather patterns become highly erratic, the vegetation cycles of these high-altitude pastures are changing. The grass is often not there when the herders arrive.

Their traditional knowledge tells them when to move their flocks, but climate change has erased the reliability of that knowledge. Without adequate grazing lands, the animals starve, and the traditional pastoralist economy collapses. 

Clearly, there is an urgent need to draft adaptation strategies for these high-altitude communities.

COPING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE TO PROTECT FOOD AND LIVELIHOOD SECURITY

Suman Sahai
As the world struggles with successive food crises and turbulence marks the countries that suffer from endemic hunger, there is the new factor of global warming and climate change to contend with. Climate change and its impact on agriculture and food production is being properly understood only now, as its anticipated impacts are being felt in agricultural ecosystems across the world.

The developing countries in the tropics are more susceptible to climate change damage than the temperate countries, many of which will be beneficiaries. The worst impacts of climate change on food production are anticipated in Africa and South Asia. For the latter where agriculture remains largely monsoon dependent, disturbances in the monsoon as we know it, could have grave implications for food and water security. If the monsoon falters, so does our food security as well as the livelihood security of large parts of the population.

Changes in rainfall patterns and temperature regimes, influence local water balance and disturb the optimal cultivation period for particular crops, known as Length of Growing Period (LGP). According to climate change data, land with good LGP will decrease by as much as 51 million hectare world wide.

Adequate LGP is needed to ensure that medium to long duration crops are able to grow to maturity. Some crop varieties ripen quickly and are ready for use in a shorter period ( short duration varieties), others, specially among cereals require a longer period to mature.When the LGP in an agro climatic zone is long,a variety of crops from short duration to long duration can be cultivated there, throughout the growing season. This means higher food production. When the LGP contracts, the growing season is shortened, with implications for food production. Most climate change models predict large increases of LGP in today’s temperate, and arctic regions. This means that temperate regions which are currently one crop zones will become two crop zones, thus increasing agriculture production there.

Tropical areas on the other hand are slated to see an expansion of arid zones accompanied by a contraction of 31-51 million ha of favorable cultivation areas. This will mean a significant reduction in food production in the most vulnerable areas where population density is high and food is already scarce. Nearly one billion people live in these vulnerable environments, dependent on agriculture. These vulnerable populations will suffer most from climate damage like land degradation and biodiversity loss.

Climate Change Impacts in India and South Asia
According to climate data almost 40 percent of the production potential in certain developing countries could be lost. In India and South Asia, dryland areas where agriculture is rainfed, will see cutbacks in productivity due to a shorter, more uncertain monsoon. The biggest blow to food stocks however is likely to come from declining production because areas where two to three crops are being cultivated today, as in Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, the Northeastern states and certain coastal areas, are likely to turn into single crop zones, where only one crop can be taken in a year because the rest of the season will be too hot and dry to support cultivation.

The manifestation of climate change in India and South Asia finds many forms. There have been serious and recurrent floods in Bangladesh, Nepal and India since 2002 and unusually heavy rainfall and floods in Mumbai in 2005. Torrential rain in Jaisalmer and parts of Rajasthan in 2010 led to floods in this desert region, accompanied by more frequent and prolonged droughts as in the years 2008 to 2010. At the same time cyclonic activity has become high. Witness the increased cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea since 1970 and more recently Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008 and Cyclone Aila in 2009. This weather turbulence is accompanied by increasing turbulence in India’s food lifeline, the South West monsoon.

According to monsoon modeling data, the total number of rainy days during the monsoon period will decrease by 15 days. Considering that most of the monsoon rainfall falls within 100 days, this will be a significant shortfall. The intensity of the rainfall is expected to increase accompanied by strong surface run off and loss of fertile top soil. The melting of the Himalayan glaciers will diminish the water flow in the major rivers of North India ,affecting the food production in the highly productive Indo- Gangetic plains.

The melting polar ice is causing the sea level to rise. Large parts of the Maldives could go under, as could the Ganges delta in Bangladesh. India with its coastline of nearly 6000 km, has cause for concern. Several million people practice agriculture and aquaculture along the coast, all of which will be threatened by the increasing salinity of ground water as sea water seeps into aquifers. Along with major staple crops, other food sources like livestock and fish , both marine and fresh water will be affected by rising temperatures. Sea level rise will impact the habitations of populations that live along the coast, as in Kerala or Bangladesh and loss of homesteads along with livelihoods will create a new class of climate refugees who will be forced to migrate inwards, seeking new avenues of survival, creating greater pressures on urban centres. Contingency plans will be needed to rehabilitate climate refugees from vulnerable areas.

To cope with the impact of climate change on agriculture and food production India will need to act at global, regional, national and local levels.

Global –India must negotiate hard to ensure that the emission reduction pledges in climate change negotiations are sufficient to ensure that the global temperature rise is capped at 20C. If this is not done, the impact on agriculture and food security in developing countries will be devastating.

Given that agriculture is the lifeline of the developing world and will bear the worst brunt of climate change, India must insist that developed countries must reduce their own agriculture emissions while at the same time paying for adaptation, especially in the agriculture sector, consistent with the ‘polluter pays’ principle.

Regional.- Regional cooperation at SAARC level and with China is necessary to protect the Himalayan ecosystems and minimize glacial melt. Negotiations on river waters emanating from the Tibetan plateau are urgent so that the river flows in our major rivers like the Ganga and Brahmaputra are maintained to support agriculture. Regional strategies for mitigation and adaptation across similar agro ecologies will help all countries of the region to protect their agriculture and food production.

National – The Prime Minister has established the National Action Plan on Climate Change with eight national Missions designed to cope with the impact of climate change in diverse sectors like energy, water, agriculture and biodiversity. Appropriate policy and budgetary support for mitigation and adaptation actions is needed. In agriculture, adaptation strategies have long lead times and need to start NOW. Multiple food and livelihood strategies are needed in rural areas to minimize risk. Food inflation must be contained at all costs. It will worsen with climate change as more frequent and unpredictable droughts and floods will result in shortfalls in food production. Just one bad monsoon in 2009 led to a reduction of 15 million tonnes in rice and 4 million tonnes in pulse production, causing prices to go through the roof. To prepare for climate altered conditions, practices in agriculture will need to shift from intensive, mechanized, water demanding agriculture to a more sustainable, conservation agriculture that grows crops using less water, extracting more crop per drop of water.


Local- Attention will have to be paid both to mitigation and adaptation to climate change, the real action for which will have to be at the local level. The pursuit of sustainable agricultural development at the local level is integral to climate- change mitigation and combating climate change effects is vital for sustainable agriculture.

Since approximately 17 percent of total GHG emissions are attributed to crop and animal husbandry , it is necessary to reduce this for the overall health of the planet. Mitigation measures can include minimizing mechanization; supplementing urea with biological fertilizer and using neem coated urea to minimize ammonia volatilization contributing to nitrous oxide emissions. An effective strategy to reduce methane emission from cattle is establishing biogas plants with animal dung which in addition provides a clean source of renewable energy. Building soil carbon banks to capture and retain carbon in the soil can be achieved by planting fertilizer trees

Mitigation of greenhouse gases from agricultural systems and building adaptation strategies must be anchored in the village panchayat system to enhance coping capacities of farming communities. Mitigating emissions from agriculture will reduce input costs for the farmer and make the production system more sustainable but the real challenge to the food and livelihood security of our people will have to be met by rapid and targeted adaptation strategies.

Adaptation will require strategies to reduce vulnerabilities, strengthen resilience & build the adaptive capacity of rural and farming communities. Industrial agro ecosystems damage environmental goods and services and so have weak resilience. The ecosystem approach with crop rotations, bioorganic fertilizers and biological pest controls, improves soil health & water retention, increases fertile top soil, reduces soil erosion and maintains productivity over the long term. The more diverse the agro ecosystems, the more efficient the network of insects & and microorganisms that control pests and disease. Building resilience in agro ecosystems and farming communities, improving adaptive capacity and mitigating GHG emissions is the way to cope.

Agriculture biodiversity is central to an agro ecosystem approach to food production. The genetic diversity in livestock and fish species and breeds is as important as in crop varieties . Genetic diversity gives species the ability to adapt to changing environments and combat biotic and abiotic stress like pests and disease, drought and salinity. A knowledge-intensive, rather than input-intensive approach should be adopted to develop adaptation strategies. Traditional knowledge about the community’s coping strategies should be documented and used in training programs to help find solutions to address the uncertainties of climate change, build resilience, adapt agriculture and reduce emissions.

An early warning system should be put in place to monitor changes in pest and disease profile and predict new pest and disease outbreaks. The overall pest control strategy should be based on Integrated Pest Management because it takes care of multiple pests in a given climatic scenario. A national grid of grain storages , ranging from Pusa Bins and Grain Golas at the household/ community level to ultra- modern silos at the district level must be established to store buffer stocks to ensure local food security and stabilize prices. A special climate risk insurance should be launched for farmers and the agriculture credit and insurance systems must be made climate responsive and more sensitive to the needs of small farmers.


Adaptation and mitigation support structures in the form of Climate Risk Research Centers should be established at each of the 128 agro-ecological zones in the country. The Centers should prepare computer simulation models of different weather probabilities and develop and promote farming system approaches which can help to minimize the adverse impact of unfavorable weather and maximize the benefits of a good monsoon. Gyan Chaupals and Village Resource Centers with satellite connectivity should disseminate value added weather data from the government’s Agromet Service to farmers through mobile telephony, giving them information on rainfall and weather in real time.

Uncertain weather will disrupt established cropping patterns, requiring a different set of crop varieties for which seed will have to be produced. Decentralized seed production involving local communities will help to produce locally adapted seed of the main and contingency crops. A network of community level seed banks with the capacity to implement contingency plans and alternative cropping strategies depending on the behavior of the monsoon will be a key adaptation strategy.

Finally, investments must be made in strategic research of both anticipatory and adaptive nature. This should cover all aspects of food production , starting with farming systems and including crop, fodder, livestock, fish and the key aspects associated with each of these.