Options on Land Management and Land Use for Coping with Climate Change in South Asia

Abstract

The South Asia region is characterized by high population density and scarcely available land for sustainable agriculture. The region has a land area of 642 million ha (Mha) and a population of 1,587 million. The agricultural population is 786 million, 49% of the total. The area of agricultural land is 230 Mha, 36% of the total land area. The average ratio of agricultural land to agricultural population in the region is 0.33 ha per caput. Food security situation in South Asia is further affected by low productivity and prone to natural disaster. Causes of these problems are high population pressure, urbanization, increased demand for bio-fuels, building materials, and agricultural lands. The diversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses is also a growing concern. Fertile farm lands are being indiscriminately diverted, thus reducing the area available for food production. Vulnerability to food security is rising because of climate change which makes more areas, particularly coastal and low-lying areas, disaster-prone while growing population is further forcing vulnerable people to settle in risk-prone areas and crop land inundated. The problem is aggravated by factors such as skewed distribution of assets and income, degradation of the natural resource base and unsustainable management of land and water resources. Smallholder and subsistence farmers may not be able to cope with climate change effectively, due to reduced adaptive capacity and higher climate vulnerability. Under such conditions, pressure to cultivate marginal land or to adopt unsustainable cultivation practices as yields drop is likely, and may increase land degradation, water scarcity and endanger biodiversity.

To cope with climate change and increase agricultural productivity through conservation and efficient use of agricultural land and water resources with technical, policy support and environmental considerations, improved land management and land-use planning are possible adaptation methods. Those risks could be reduced through resource conservation technologies, providing information and education, and through suitable policy measures. There is a need to balance food security needs with sustainable use of land and water. Diversifying from high water consuming crops to high value horticulture and livestock products is preferable and growing. Monitoring of climate change may also mitigate the serious implications for the South Asia’s agriculture. For the mitigation to climate change by controlling GHG emissions in agriculture, a variety of options exist. The most prominent options are improved crop and grazing land management, restoration of organic soils, and restoration of degraded lands. In less extent, but still significant mitigation is possible with improved water and rice management, agroforestry, and improved livestock and manure management.

Sustainable use and management of soil and water resources in South Asia is a major issue to be addressed through adaptations of technologies such as low tillage and maintenance of permanent soil cover that can increase SOM and reduce impacts from flooding, erosion, drought, heavy rain and winds. Also the potential areas being explored are conservation agriculture, organic agriculture and risk-coping production systems that incorporate crop rotations, agroforestry, crop–livestock associations, crop–fish systems and the use of hedges, vegetative buffer strips and other farm landscaping practices. Surface mulch cover protects soil from excess temperatures and evaporation losses and can reduce crop water requirements by 30%.

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