Global Climate Change: Resilient and Smart Agriculture

This book provides essential insights into methods and practices of ‘Climate-smart Agriculture,’ which is driven by the principles of climate resilience and smart resource use in agricultural production. Climate-smart agriculture is a key policy instrument for achieving poverty eradication and a hunger-free world, as well as mitigating the effects of climate change. This book discusses in detail climate-smart agricultural technologies and practices that can reduce the vulnerability of agricultural systems, improve the livelihoods of farmers and other stakeholders, and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from crop production and livestock husbandry.

The agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector produces roughly 10–12 gigatons of CO2-equivalent per year; therefore, sustainable practices for agriculture and related land use hold immense potential to mitigate climate change. The potential impacts of climate variability and climate change on agriculture areextensively documented and articulated, especially with regard to global and national environmental agendas that call for innovation, transformation and climate-resilient advances in agriculture. As the book demonstrates, climate-smart agriculture offers an excellent tool for boosting agricultural output to feed the growing global population; for reducing greenhouse gases emissions from agriculture and other land use; and for protecting agricultural production systems from the impending dangers of climate change.

Dr. V. Venkatramanan is an Assistant Professor at the School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. He graduated with a degree in Agriculture from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, and completed postgraduate studies in Environmental Sciences at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. His areas of interest include climate change studies, biodegradation, and green technologies for environmental management. He has authored more than 30 publications including research papers in peer-reviewed journals, review articles, and book chapters. In addition, he has edited the book “Sustainable Green Technologies for Environmental Management” (Springer Singapore).

Dr. Shachi Shah is an Associate Professor (Environmental Studies) at the School of Interdisciplinary and TransdisciplinaryStudies, IGNOU, New Delhi. Previously, she served as an Assistant Professor for seven years at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. She has nearly two decades of teaching and research experience in environmental microbiology and biotechnology, specifically in the areas of waste management, waste bioremediation, waste valorization, waste to energy, and plant-growth-promoting organisms. She has more than fifty publications in national and international journals to her credit, as well as several book chapters.

Dr. Ram Prasad has been associated with the Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India, since 2005. His research interests include plant-microbe interactions, environmental microbiology, sustainable agriculture, and microbial nanobiotechnology. Dr. Prasad has more than one hundred publications to his credit, including research papers, review articles & book chapters, has five patents issued or pending, and has edited or authored several books. Dr. Prasad has twelve years of teaching experience and has been honored with e.g. the Young Scientist Award & Prof. J.S. Datta Munshi Gold Medal by the International Society for Ecological Communications; an FSAB fellowship by the Society for Applied Biotechnology; and an American Cancer Society UICC International Fellowship for Beginning Investigators, USA. Having previously served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, USA, he is currently a Research Associate Professor at the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.