How India Can Lead The World In Building A Climate-Stack For Agriculture

A climate-stack is a digital platform that collects, analyzes and disseminates data on weather, soil and water parameters that affect agricultural sustainability and resilience. It can help farmers, policymakers, businesses and researchers to monitor, mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change on food production and security.

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to the world’s food systems, especially in developing countries like India, where agriculture is the main source of livelihood for millions of people. India’s agricultural sector is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods, heat waves, cyclones and pest infestations. These events can reduce crop yields, increase input costs, disrupt supply chains, affect food quality and safety, and increase food prices and insecurity.

To cope with these challenges, India needs to transition from the traditional industrial model of agriculture to a new futuristic and sustainable model that is climate-smart, resource-efficient, demand-driven and inclusive. A climate-stack can enable this transition by providing timely, accurate and actionable information to various stakeholders in the food value chain.

How can India build a climate-stack for agriculture?

India has the potential to build a climate-stack for agriculture, given its existing infrastructure, capabilities and innovations in the digital and physical domains. India has a network of weather stations, soil testing labs, satellites, drones, sensors, IoT devices and other hardware that can capture data on weather, soil and water conditions at different scales and locations. India also has a strong base of data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud computing that can process and interpret the data to generate insights and recommendations. India also has a vibrant ecosystem of startups, research institutions, corporates and civil society organizations that are developing and deploying various solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation in agriculture.

However, to build a climate-stack, India needs to overcome some challenges, such as:

• Lack of standardization, integration and interoperability of data sources and formats
• Lack of data quality, accuracy, reliability and validation
• Lack of data accessibility, availability and affordability for end-users
• Lack of data privacy, security and governance
• Lack of awareness, adoption and utilization of data-driven solutions by farmers and other stakeholders
• Lack of policy framework, regulation and incentives for data sharing and collaboration

To address these challenges, India needs to develop a clear vision, strategy and roadmap for building a climate-stack, involving all the relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors. India also needs to create a dedicated institution or agency that can conceive, design, implement, maintain and regulate the climate-stack, ensuring its alignment with the national and global goals and commitments on climate action. India also needs to leverage its existing and emerging digital public goods, such as UPI, ONDC, OCEN, Agristack, etc., to create synergies and complementarities with the climate-stack.

What are the benefits and use cases of a climate-stack?

A climate-stack can offer multiple benefits and use cases for different stakeholders in the food value chain, such as:

• Farmer Advisory: A climate-stack can provide personalized, location-specific and real-time advisory to farmers on various aspects of crop management, such as crop selection, sowing, irrigation, fertilization, pest control, harvesting, storage, etc., based on the weather, soil and water data. This can help farmers to improve their crop productivity, profitability and sustainability, while reducing their risks and losses due to climate shocks and stresses.
• Climate-Linked/Green Financing: A climate-stack can enable the development and delivery of climate-linked or green financing products and services, such as loans, insurance, subsidies, etc., that are tailored to the climate risk profile of farmers and agri value chain players. This can help to increase the access and affordability of formal credit and risk protection for farmers and agri businesses, while incentivizing them to adopt climate-smart practices and technologies.
• Policy Development: A climate-stack can provide evidence-based and data-driven inputs for policy development and implementation, such as crop diversification, resource allocation, subsidy distribution, crop insurance, disaster management, etc., that can enhance the climate resilience and adaptation of the agricultural sector. A climate-stack can also help to monitor and evaluate the impact and effectiveness of various policies and schemes on the ground, and provide feedback and suggestions for improvement.
• Demand-Supply Alignment: A climate-stack can facilitate the alignment of demand and supply of agricultural commodities, by providing timely and accurate information on production, consumption, trade, prices, quality and safety of food. This can help to reduce food losses and waste, ensure food security and stability, and optimize the value addition and distribution in the food value chain.
• Innovation and Research: A climate-stack can foster innovation and research in the agri-climate-tech space, by providing a common platform for data sharing and collaboration among various actors, such as startups, researchers, corporates, NGOs, etc. A climate-stack can also enable the testing, validation and scaling of various solutions and technologies that can address the climate challenges and opportunities in agriculture.

How can India lead the world in building a climate-stack for agriculture?

India has the opportunity and responsibility to lead the world in building a climate-stack for agriculture, given its size, diversity and significance of its agricultural sector, as well as its global commitments and aspirations on climate action. India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of many food crops, and also one of the largest emitters and most vulnerable countries to climate change. India has also pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, and to install 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030, as part of its nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement.

By building a climate-stack for agriculture, India can demonstrate its leadership and innovation in addressing the climate crisis, while ensuring its food security and economic growth. A climate-stack can also help India to contribute to the global goals and agendas on sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, poverty alleviation, and human well-being. A climate-stack can also create a model and a platform for collaboration and cooperation with other countries and regions, especially in the Global South, that face similar challenges and opportunities in agriculture and climate change.