Climate Change and Its Impact on Food Security and Food Safety

The physical factors associated with climate change have negatively impacted the agro-ecological conditions, which have translated into loss of biodiversity, reduced yield with compromised nutritive quality. Due to environmental fluctuations, pest resurgence has also been noted. To combat these climatic vagaries, farmers have resorted to over fertilization and reckless pesticide use, which has caused imbalance in soil nutrient profile and affected the crop yield. In the face of climate change, a multi-pronged strategy focusing on development of resilient agri-food system coupled with proactive government policies is required to achieve food security and ensure food safety. Development of climate-resilient cultivars/varieties through biotechnology and use of IT technology like big data analytics in terms of crop yield modelling, microbial/insect-pest risk assessment, irrigation and fertilization management are important tools for addressing food security and safety concerns arising out of climate change. Overall, impetus to research and development is needed along with laboratory to field adoption of innovative techniques to maintain yield resilience and sustainability.