The National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), which is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) seeks to address issues regarding ‘Sustainable Agriculture’ in the context of risks associated with climate change by devising appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies for ensuring food security, equitable access to food resources, enhancing livelihood opportunities and contributing to economic stability at the national level.
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The Mission acknowledges that the risks to the Indian agriculture sector due to climatic variabilities and extreme events would be accentuated at multiple levels including at the levels of crop or livestock, farm or cropping system and the food system. Adverse impacts on agricultural production would be severe in the absence of appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures with far reaching consequences in terms of shortages of food articles and rising prices which could endanger the food and livelihood security of our country.
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The Mission, therefore, seeks to transform Indian agriculture into a climate resilient production system through suitable adaptation and mitigation measures in the domain of crops and animal husbandry. These interventions would be embedded in research and development activities, absorption of improved technology and best practices, creation of physical and financial infrastructure and institutional framework, facilitating access to information and promoting capacity building.
While promotion of dryland agriculture would receive prime importance by way of developing suitable drought and pest resistant crop varieties and ensuring adequacy of institutional support, the Mission would also expand its coverage to rainfed areas for integrating farming systems with management of livestock and fisheries.