News and Events

Field Visit on rice field in Andhra Pradesh for direct seeding practices, 30-31 July 2012

Kharif season 2012 sowings were delayed due to the late onset of monsoon in Andra Pradesh. In many villages sowings were not initiated due to the late monsoon and lack of water supply from irrigation projects. However, farmers in the villages where Climarice II is focusig, have gone for direct seeding of rice. Farmers have noticed significant reduction in water utilization in the initial phase of crop and increase in yield of about 2 qt per acre.

Direct sowing of paddy gaining acceptance among farmers

Farmers cultivating paddy in dry conditions in this mandal have started adapting innovating technologies to tide over scarcity of water and shortage of labour.

Food Security and Sustainable Development . What do we have with us at Rio+20

Bioforsk together with the Norwegian Agricultural Authority is organizing a national conference in Oslo on the 12th June. The Norwegian Minister for Development, Mr.Heikki Holmås and the Norwegian Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr. Lars Peder Brekk, will be taking part in the conference. Udaya Sekhar Nagothu from Bioforsk will make a presentation of India’s perspective on Food Security, supported by examples from Climarice and ClimaAdapt programs.

Stakeholders at the annual workshop in Guntur district endorse the relevance of adaptation measures tested in Climarice project

A stakeholder meeting was organised at Regional Agricultural Research Station Station (RARS) in Lam on 7thMay 2012. The main objective of the meeting was to get the feedback of the stakeholders about project's results and to identify potential gaps and needs which can help in the upscaling of climate change adaptation practices. Officials from the Agricultural and Irrigation departments, scientists, farmers, Water user associations and private industries like Indofil chemicals have attended the meeting. More than 50 Agricultural Officers participated in the workshop.

Dissemination of ClimaRice results in International Workshop

An International workshop on AgMIP (Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Programme) was held between February 20 and 24, 2012 at ICRISAT, Hyderabad. The prime objective was the demonstration of multiple models about unertainties of climate impact on agriculture and food security.

ClimaRice Scientist Dr.V.Geethalakshmi nominated to the Steering Committee of Tamil Nadu State Action Plan on Climate Change

Tamil Nadu Government has taken initiatives to prepare State Action Plan on Climate Change and the third meeting was convened on 17.02.2012 at the Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment, Government of Tamil Nadu under the chairmanship of Secretary, Environment, Government of Tamil Nadu. A steering committee has been formed for formulating the state action plan on climate change. Dr. V. Geethalakshmi has been nominated as a member of the committee and given the responsibility of providing inputs to the "Sustainable Agriculture" component and of the SAP. To beign with she will prepare a preliminary report for the Agriculture sector.

Visit to ClimaRice II project fields

In December 2011, the Principal Secretary of Agriculture and Vice Chancellor of the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University visited ClimaRice II project fields in Lam, Guntur district.

Capacity building and dissemination of result

In August 2011, Climarice 2 scientists interacted with stakeholders in Andhra Pradesh at different levels. As part of the capacity building and dissemination in the project, scientists organized the following activities.

Pre monsoon training programme on Azolla and Blue green algal cultivation

In Cauvery Basin of Tamil Nadu, the first season rice cultivation activities have just commenced and to sensitize the farmers on the multiplication and usage of Azolla and Blue green algae, a one-day training programme was organized at ADAC&RI, TNAU, India on 11th of May.

State level technical programme discussions

State level research and technical programme discussions were organised at SV Agricultural College, Tirupati at the Agricultural Extension Division during 5-6th May 2011. Several of the validation technologies taken up in the ClimaRice project were discussed.

Upscaling experiences from the ClimaRice Project

Two recent spin-offs from the work carried out in ClimaRice projects demonstrate the direct project outcomes and its impacts. These new initiatives show that the projects are paying off, and upscaling of certain measures will be done, like the Azolla propagation.

Introductory workshop on GIS modelling

A capacity building workshop on GIS modelling was organized from the 4- 6th of May 2011, at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore.

ClimaRice partner invited to take part in state level adaptation strategy development

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has been invited to take part in the climate change adaptation strategy development in Tamil Nadu state.

ClimaRice Annual Stakeholders Conference

The ClimaRice annual workshop was held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, on February 21st. More than 200 farmers, managers and scientists met to discuss climate change and food production.

Capacity development at Aquacrop workshop

The AquaCrop modeling workshop was held in Hyderabad, from 14th February to 18th February, 2011, as part of the capacity building program for stakeholders.

IPCC Chair, Dr.R.K.Pachauri, appreciates the ClimaRice project efforts

At the "Water and Climate" workshop, jointly organized by Bioforsk and TERI, in New Delhi, 2nd Feb, 2011, Dr.Pachauri, appreciated the efforts being taken by the Climarice team, and the results summarized in the book "Sustainable rice production on a Warmer Planet" as a good example of showcasing the results.

ClimaRice book launch

The book titled "Sustainable Rice Production on a Warmer Planet" was launched by the Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education, Mrs.Tora Aasland at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2011, special event "Water and Climate" workshop on the 2nd February, 2011.

Workshop and book launch in New Delhi

A workshop on "Water and Climate" is being organised on the 2nd February in New Delhi. During the workshop, the launching of the book "Sustainable Rice Production on a Warmer Planet" will take place by the Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education.

Upcoming events- first quarter 2011

Overview of some of the planned activities and events in the ClimaRice II project, for the first part of 2011.

Book release from ClimaRice project

A book summarizing the results from the first phase of the ClimaRice project will be released in February 2011. The book, "Sustainable Rice Production on a Warmer Planet - Linking Science, Stakeholder and Policy", will be published by Macmillan publishers.

SWAT virtual working group established in ClimaRice

A virtual working group of Engineers and Scientists using the SWAT model in the CLIMARICE project has been created.

The SWAT workshop was successful

The first capacity building workshop on SWAT modeling in Climarice was held from December 1st to 3rd December at the Indian Institute of Technology campus, Chennai.

Plant pest and disease forecasting for early warning in crop protection

Climate factors play a major role in determining the impact of several pests and diseases on rice crop yields. Based on this rationale, the ClimaRice II project has identified a potential for further use of existing weather data as input to a computerised system for plant pest and disease forecasting.

Capacity building on water and nutrient use efficiency in rice

A one day training programme on "Increasing water and nutrient use efficiency in rice" was conducted in Thiruvidai Maruthur village in the Cauvery basin by Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute, Aduthurai, which is one of the dissemination centers under Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

Workshop on AquaCrop model

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO, will organize a one week workshop/training course on the Aquacrop model, together with Bioforsk, IWMI and other ClimaRice II partners in February 2011.

Capacity building workshop on SWAT modeling

The first capacity building workshop on SWAT modeling in Climarice will be organized from December 1st to 3rd.

Training with farmers and Women Self Help Groups in Tamil Nadu

From July to September, 2010, several training sessions were organized as part of the ClimaRice capacity building programme, at the Farmers Training Center (Krishi Vigyan Kendra) in Karur district.

Bioforsk has signed sub- contract with Indian Institute of Technology

Bioforsk has entered into a sub-contract with the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology,Chennai, in August 2010. This will enable the project team to expand their tasks related to the use of SWAT model, development of hydrological scenarios, capacity building and data base development.

Farmers training and awareness workshop

As part of the ClimaRice II capacity building activities, a farmers training and awareness workshop on climate change and water management activities was conducted in Jonnalagadda village in Guntur rural, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh.

Project review and field visits

From the 14-21st of August, a team from The Royal Norwegian Embassy and members of the project team visited ClimaRice I and II project sites in Tamil Nadu and Andrah Pradesh.

Gender analysis in ClimaRice

The ClimaRice project wants to put focus on women in rice production and how women and men are differently affected by climate change. A report on gender analysis will be published soon.

Initiation of capacity building programme

The first capacity building workshop was organized at Ammanpetai village of Tanjore district in the Cauvery Delta on 27th June 2010. Around 50-60 farmers, including women participated in the capacity building programme.

IWMI visit and launching of webpage

Dr. Colin Chartres, the Director General of the International Water Management Institute, visited Bioforsk on the 31st of May 2010 and formally launched the ClimaRice 2 project webpage.

Field visits, June & July 2010

The ClimaRice II team will visit the pilot sites in Krishna and Cauvery basins to interact with farmers, women self help groups, local officials of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and explore possibilities for involving them in adaptation field trials.

Water irrigation calculator

The irrigation water calculator will be introduced on a pilot basis in the Krishna basin study site in Kharif season 2010. 

The calculator is based on the climatological approach and estimates the water requirement of the different crops in different locations.

Field visit and selection of pilot areas in Andhra Pradesh state, India

In the months of February-March 2010, the project team from IWMI visited the study area in Krishna river basin, Andhra Pradesh, to finalize the pilot study areas in consultation with stakeholders and local agencies.

First field visits

In November 2009 the project team visited several villages in the Krishna and Cauvery basin.

Inception Workshop

On 23rd November 2009, the ClimaRice inception workshop was held at the ICRISAT Campus in Hyderabad, India.