Climate-smart villages in Uttar Pradesh on the anvil
The initiative encompasses water efficient crop, solar power generation, carbon sequestration and increased income for farmers
Farmers in 39 select villages in Uttar Pradesh will soon get timely climate/weather forecasts under Agromet advisory services aimed at helping them save their crops from sudden extreme weather conditions, including rain and hailstorms, which cause major damage to yield.
The farmers will also be growing species that are resilient to climate change. All this will take place under the ‘Climate- Smart Village’ initiative of the Uttar Pradesh Climate Change Authority, department of environment, forest and climate change.
“Climate-smart villages will have several features related to carbon sequestration, water conservation, weather forecast at gram panchayat level and change in crop variety for better yield. Energy conservation and use of solar power will also be included to make the village a climate-smart village,” said Ashish Tiwari, secretary, department of forest.
Apart from climate forecast at local level, farmers will also be updated about crops that are water efficient to ensure scarcity of water does not affect the produce. “We have weather forecast at regional level that will be brought down to gram panchayat level to actually benefit farmers in a particular village,” said Tiwari, who is looking after climate change initiatives in the state.
These villages will also be generating solar power electricity. The power generated will be debited from the billed units in the villages and the payment will be only for the remaining units, if any. The initiative is being taken in association with Vasudha Foundation and Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group.
Apart from increased income for the farmers, the climate-smart villages will also help in carbon sequestration. The farmers will be motivated for developing one-third of their land for income generating plantation or at the boundary of the farm land.
The districts covered under the initiative include Amethi, Budaun, Moradabad, Shahjahanpur, Mathura, Aligarh, Agra, Mainpuri, Kasganj, Kannauj, Hardoi, Balrampur, Bahraich, Shravasti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Sultanpur, Gonda and Rae Bareli.
They also include Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Bhadohi, Chandauli, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Kaushambi, Chitrakoot, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Kanpur, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Farrukhabad , Etah, Aligarh, Mathura, Jhansi, Lalitpur.
Reliable access to clean drinking water, regular water supply for agriculture and other purposes, expansion of use of renewable sources of energy, access to affordable and reliable energy supply, improved energy efficiency (domestic use, agricultural purposes) will also be developed in these villages which will also be turned into plastic-free villages.
Selection criteria
One village was selected in each district with high emission levels. An assessment has also been done to evaluate the impact of the actions under climate change initiatives. For the initiative, memorandums of understanding (MoUs) have been inked with the corporate sector for 10 villages where the work has already begun.
Source : hindustantimes
