Ambassador of Norway Nils Ragnar Kamsvag said climate change was the biggest challenge humanity was facing and there was a need for all nations to join hands to face the situation and evolve strategies.
Mr. Nils was at International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) on Wednesday to participate in the two-day international conference on ‘Climate change- water, agriculture and food security’ and delivered the key note address. As many as 35 delegates from 16 international institutes and 22 national institutes were participating in the conference organised by Water and Land Management and Training Institute (WALAMTARI).
“We have been seeing extreme weather conditions for the past few years. Our drain system is unable to handle heavy rains resulting in submergence of areas which were once considered safe,” said Mr. Nils, adding that all the countries have to evolve new policies and global strategy to face these challenges. Informing that this was the beginning of the new challenge, he said adapting to climate change was a requirement.
“We have been allotting US $ 375 million to limit deforestation and increase forest cover. Being successful in farming and facing climate change in a proper way will help in economic growth in India,” he said, stating that technology would play a vital role in optimum utilisation of resources.
Jeremy Bird, Director General, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, said ‘more crop per drop’ should be the target for which we have to adapt to changes. He also stressed the need for scaling up good practices.
Nils Vagstad, Director General, Norwegian Institute of Bio-economy Research (NIBIO), Norway, said as many as one million seeds were kept in safe custody at Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
G.S. Jha, Chairman, Central Water Commission, said climate change was bothering them more in terms of increase in rainfall and flooding.
WALAMTARI Director Yella Reddy, NIBIO Director Uday Sekhar Nagothu and others were present.
