ICT platform for Climate Change Adaptation in agriculture

Climate change is now more visible in the form of frequent changes in the weather patterns leading to severe drought or floods. It endangers the food security, especially shrinking of cultivable land and increasing population. Agricultural Research Institutes are working on new cropping patterns, new heat and flood tolerant varieties and cultivation practices. However in the absence of sound knowledge extension system the results of such massive and costly research do not reach its end users, in this case farmers, on time. This research paper talks about the, National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) pilot conducted to develop strategies to enhance Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change in vulnerable regions in India. As part of this research, extensive field demonstrations and data analysis were done to demonstrate how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can play a crucial role in establishing a two way connect between the Research Lab and the end users of research. While Agricultural research can focus on identification of current and future risks to livelihoods due to climatic variability and development or identification of regional climate specific crop varieties and crop practices, the IT and ICT can work jointly to use the outcome of such research to spread awareness and promote the use of such varieties and practices in adaptation by farmers and other stakeholders through an ICT platform.