International Conference on Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture and Public Leadership

A two-day International Conference on Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture and Public Leadership begins February 7. The Conference is being organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Education in collaboration with the National Council for Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Public Leadership.

The main objective of this conference is to bring scientists, teachers, researchers, economists, managers and policy makers from around the world on a single platform to discuss various aspects of climate change, sustainable agriculture and public leadership and develop a consensus containing a set of valuable recommendations, as a way forward for addressing the issues related to the future climate scenario, Indian agriculture and food security.

According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and World Meteorological Organization, climate change can adversely impact global environment, agricultural productivity and the quality of human life. More importantly in developing countries, it will be difficult for farmers to carry on farming in the scenario of climate change. Developing countries, India in particular, are vulnerable to climate variability and climate change as farming depends largely on the variability of rainfall. Fluctuations in areas planted to arable crops and annual yield are directly related to climate conditions and notably to rainfall and rainfall pattern.

The knowledge and understanding of implications of climate change at the national level is inadequate and fragmentary. International efforts to address the issue of climate change began with the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. The importance and significance of the vulnerability of natural and human systems to climatic changes and adaptation to such changes is increasingly being realized.

Apart from different national organizations, several international organizations like ICRISAT, FAO, IFAD, ICARDA and expert from Morocco, Kenya, Syria, Canada, USA, UAE and Singapore are expected to take part in the Conference.