Climate Change vis-a-vis Saline Agriculture: Impact and Adaptation Strategies

During the last two decades, the world has recognized that the atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases (GHGs), namely, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), have increased markedly as a result of human activities. During pre-industrial era (1750 AD), their concentrations were 280 ppm, 715 ppb and 270 ppb, respectively, and these values have increased to 385 ppm, 1797 ppb and 322 ppb, respectively, in 2008. Increase in atmospheric CO2 promotes growth and productivity of plants with C3 photosynthetic pathway, but the increase in temperature, on the other hand, can reduce crop duration, increase crop respiration rates, affect the survival and distribution of pest populations and may hasten nutrient mineralization in soil, decrease fertilizer use efficiency and increase evapotranspiration and soil salinity. The water resources which are already scarce may come under enhanced stress. In the scenario of sea-level rise due to climate change, the inundated area with sea water will increase influencing the crop production due to higher salinity. Thus, the impact of climate change is likely to have a significant influence on agriculture and eventually on the food security and livelihoods of a large section of the rural population. There are evidences of negative impacts on yield of crops with variable magnitude in diverse ecologies including soil salinity and waterlogging particularly in the developing countries. Adaptation strategies and mitigation through perennial cropping systems such as agroforestry can be the main approach in handling climate change and salinity-related problems.