Professional Documents
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ISSN: 0022-457X
ABSTRACT
Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) constitutes about 13% of the total geographical area of the India, and it produces
about 50% of the total food grains. Salt infestation in soils is rampant which poses threat to productivity
of agricultural lands, and change in climate could play vital role in further aggravating the problem.
Many agricultural practices can slow development of salts in soil and may even mitigate greenhouse
gas emissions which contribute to climate change. Crop, soil and water management can provide
immediate adaptation measure for changing climate effects, and can also meet long-term mitigation
goals. Agricultural management can have interactions with soil sodicity-salinity development at several
junctures affecting either one or all of these: GHG emissions, soil carbon balance, water use and landscape
water balance, water and salt fluxes, and water quality. For salt affected soils, most of these interactions
are influenced by change in rainfall and temperature, and extreme conditions in either direction can
lead to increase in salinity and sodicity in soil. Therefore, the management conditions need to be analysed
more carefully with life cycle assessment and feedbacks from other interacting elements like society and
policy developers. A conceptual framework for systematically meeting the goal of climate change
mitigation and adaptation for salt affected soils of Indo-Gangetic region based on these interactions is
proposed.
Key words: Sodicity, Salinity, Agriculture, Adaptation, Mitigation, Climate change
INTRODUCTION
Indo-Gangetic region is one of the most
populated areas of world and provides livelihood
security for several hundred millions of people.
Population explosion in the region, and in India as
a whole, has result in escalated demand for food,
and it is estimated that the food grain requirement
by 2020 in the region will be almost 50% more than
at present (Paroda and Kumar, 2000). The IndoGangetic plain (IGP) is environmentally sensitive,
socially significant and economically strategic
region where landscape, hydrology and soil fertility
are threatened by climate warming coupled with
anthropogenic pressure. Climate change has
various direct and indirect effects on agriculture
production, although these effects may be small to
moderate at present. Despite of various efforts
taken to mitigate the adverse effects of climate
change, significant effects are highly likely to occur
over the next century (IPCC, 2007).
According to intergovernmental panel on
climate change (IPCC), the rise in global mean
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Fig. 3. Framework for adaptation to climate change effects for salt affected soils
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