Bhartiya Krishi Anusandhan Patrika

The Earth's climate is changing in a manner unprecedented in the past 400,00 years. The most imminent climatic changes in recent times in the increase in the atmospheric temperatures due to increased levels of greenhouse gases which will have severe repercussion on agriculture. The mean annual temperature of India has shown significant warming trend and relatively accelerated warming of 0.22°C/10 yr, during 1970–2003. In developing countries, cliamate change will cause yield declines for the most important crops. Climate change is influencing the growing period of the crops, crop growth, arable land acreage, soil erosion, fertility and pests, diseases and weeds incidence. The effects of an increase in carbon dioxide would be higher on C3 crops (such as mustard) than on C4 crops (such as maize), because theformer is more susceptible to carbon dioxide. Increased CO₂ is expected to have positive physiological effects by increasing the rate of photosynthesis. It is predicted that with the type of climate we have in the northern belt of Indian subcontinent, viz variation in temperatures and CO₂ concentration, the production of Brassica crop is likely to increase and is likely to be shifted in some more relatively drier areas than where it is grown presently. It is suggested to have suitable contingent crop planning for different situations to tackle the weather exremes. Rapeseed-mustard is predominent edible oilseed crop in India. The contingency plans take holistic view of the cropping system and aim at optimizing the stability of the production system while minimizing the associated risk elements. Resource conserving technology was the most cost-effective strategy to reduce N loss and GHG emission, whereas integrated N management cost is high for mitigating GHS emission.