U.N. Pushes Climate-Smart Agriculture – But Are the Farmers Willing to Change? | Inter Press Service
CGIAR Climate's insight:
Farming the climate-smart way, Munjal’s crop mix includes four acres of maize that need only a fifth of the water that rice consumes.
He opts for direct seeding instead of sapling transplantation, which involves high labour costs and a week of standing water to survive, in addition to being vulnerable to floods and strong winds due to a weak root system.
Munjal’s new methods, moreover, give shorter-cycle harvests and vegetables are grown as a third annual crop, translating into higher income for the farmer.
Trained by CGIAR’s Research Programme on Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and theInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Munjal also uses technology like the laser land leveler, which produces exceptionally flat farmland, and thus ensures equitable distribution and lower consumption of water.