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Context

• Zakariyapura village in Borsad taluka, Anand district, Gujarat has become a model for other villages across India by embracing small-scale biogas facilities in every household that owns milch cattle.
• In this context aspirants needs to understand what is climate smart villages and details associated with it.

Climate-smart Village

• Climate-smart Village is an approach that helps guide actions to transform villages and agriculture towards green and climate resilient practices. CSA supports reaching internationally agreed goals such as the SDGs and the Paris Agreement.
• Climate smart villages are invariably linked with climate smart agriculture.

Some examples of climate-smart agriculture practices are:

• Cultivating Climate-Resilient Crop Varieties: Growing crops that are more resistant to temperature and precipitation changes, pests, diseases, and salinity can help farmers cope with the adverse effects of climate change on crop production.
  • For instance, drought-tolerant maize varieties have been developed and disseminated in sub-Saharan Africa, benefiting millions of smallholder farmers.
• Conservation Agriculture: No-till and reduced-tillage cultivation, employing crop residues and cover crops to keep the soil covered, and rotating crops to enhance soil fertility and biodiversity are some of the practices that fall under conservation agriculture.
  • These practices can reduce soil erosion, improve water retention, increase carbon sequestration, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
• Agroforestry: Integrating trees and shrubs with crops and livestock can create more diverse and productive agricultural systems that provide multiple benefits for farmers and the environment.
  • Agroforestry can enhance soil quality, conserve water, diversify income sources, provide fuelwood and fodder, and sequester carbon.
• Precision Irrigation: Drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, and collecting rainwater are all examples of effective climate-smart agriculture strategies that can be used to maximize water use efficiency and reduce negative impacts on the environment.
  • Precision irrigation can also be combined with sensors, drones, and satellite imagery to monitor soil moisture and crop water needs in real time.
• Variable Rate Fertilization: Applying the right amount of fertilizer at the right time and place can optimize crop yields and minimize nutrient losses and greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Variable rate fertilization can be achieved by using soil testing, remote sensing, and precision agriculture technologies to tailor fertilizer application to the specific needs of each crop and field.

Aim of Climate Smart Villages

• Create a new revenue stream for rural communities by helping them grow and monetize mung beans and implement holistic interventions to promote gender equality
• Diversify farmers’ livelihood and add more nutrients to diets
• Sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes
• Reduce and/or remove greenhouse gases emissions, where possible
• Advance progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Benefits Of Smart Farming

• Improved efficiency
  • With smart farming, farmers can better use their resources. This leads to a more efficient system with less waste and more efficient processes.
• Reduced costs
  • Smart farming can also reduce costs because there is less waste in the system, and it uses fewer inputs (such as fertilisers and pesticides) than traditional farming methods.
• Increased production
  • Smart farming allows for increased harvest yields due to improved crop quality, soil health, water quality and farm safety (which means less time spent dealing with pests). This will help increase farm profitability over time and ensure that crops are planted at just the right times so that they reach their full potential before being harvested for sale or consumption.
• Fewer greenhouse gas emissions
  • Smart farms often use more sustainable energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines instead of fossil fuels. Fuels like gasoline or diesel are used for tractors/trucks during planting/harvesting seasons on these farms (which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions).
• Less water used
  • Smart farms use less water than traditional farms because they don't need as much irrigation or chemical fertilisers and pesticides to grow crops successfully. This means less pollution from runoff into rivers, streams and lakes when rain falls on fields where chemicals have been applied heavily in previous years.
• Reduced use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers
  • By using sensors, farmers can determine when to apply chemical fertilisers or pesticides at optimal times, reducing their overall use.
• Remote Management
  • Farmers are looking for a better answer to their management problems because their farms are situated in remote regions and foreign countries. Smart farming technology makes a smart farming solution possible, allowing farmers to control their fields using smart devices remotely.

Case study of Zakariyapura village ●In 2019 officials from the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) facilitated meetings and educational visits for women from Zakariyapura to install flexible biogas units. ●With the assistance of NDDB, all 368 households with livestock were equipped with flexi biogas plants. ●The cost of setting up a plant was between Rs 30,000 and Rs 32,000. NDDB paid for half the cost, while the households contributed the remaining. This contribution can be recovered through the sale of slurry. ●All 368 biogas plants have been geotagged. ●The installation company, in collaboration with NDDB personnel, conducted a series of training sessions to educate local women on plant operation, maintenance and the potential economic and environmental advantages. ●A centralised slurry processing centre was established. ●To ensure fairness, a transparent slurry procurement system was implemented similar to that of milk, where women farmers are compensated based on the quality of slurry supplied (ranging from Rs 0.25-2 per litre), assessed using predefined rate charts based on dissolved solids and electrical conductivity measurements. ●The implementation of these plants has yielded numerous economic, environmental and societal benefits. Each biogas plant produces the gas equivalent to around two LPG bottles per month, sufficient to fulfil the cooking needs of a five-person family three times a day.  In total, the biogas system helps households save between Rs 3,500 and Rs 4,500 per month.

Conclusion

• Climate change has and will continue to significantly impact rural communities around the world. In particular, as weather patterns become increasingly unpredictable, farmers struggle to support regular crop yields. In order to address the effects of climate change on villages and agriculture the research into and implementation of Climate Smart Villages (CSVs) is need of the hour.

Important articles

https://www.cgiar.org/innovations/climate-smart-villages-and-valleys/

https://iirr.org/csv/

PRACTICE QUESTION Q. As weather patterns become increasingly unpredictable, farmers struggle to support regular crop yields. In the context of rising extreme weather events, critically evaluate the importance of climate-smart agriculture in the Indian context. (250 words)