Sarang strongly advocates for immediate climate action in agriculture at Bhopal Niti Samvaad

Describing climate change as an immediate and serious crisis for Indian agriculture, Cooperation Minister Vishwas Sarang called for accelerating climate consciousness and collective efforts at the Regional Nauti Samvaad: Climate Change and its Impact on Agriculture programme held on Wednesday. Referring to the visionary thinking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, "Climate challenges are before all of us and every person has a role in it. Now is the time for all of us to take decisive steps together." Organised by Sustainability Matters in collaboration with Indiagri and Solidaridad, the dialogue was attended by agricultural scientists, policy experts, industry representatives and farmers. The aim of all was to try to find collective and scientific solutions towards climate-friendly agriculture. Mr Sarang also assured that the state government will give full support to such dialogues so that practical solutions emerge. Dr Suresh Motwani, General Manager, Solidaridad, chairing the session on Climate Sensitive Agriculture and Adaptation to a Changing Climate, said, true climate resilience starts at the farm level, but innovation and integrated policy support are also necessary for this. Now agriculture is not just production, but also a means of protecting livelihoods, ecosystems and food security. Experts emphasized on adopting sustainable measures like micro irrigation, watershed development and decentralized water governance instead of water-intensive farming. Also, the need for institutional structures connecting traditional knowledge and modern climate science was emphasized, so that the voice of farmers is also included in the climate plan. Dr Navneet Anand, Executive Director, Sustainability Matters and Director, GreyMatters Communications, described the dialogue as a step to move beyond academic discussion and connect it to policy-making. He said, we have to move from climate concern to climate action. Madhya Pradesh has a depth of agriculture and readiness to adopt innovation, which enables this state to lead. This platform is an attempt to connect science, soil, policy and sustainability in one thread. Dr. Bhaskar Sinha, Chairman, Centre for Climate Change Studies, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, stressed the need for a strong monitoring mechanism to sensitize legislators and for effective evaluation of the schemes of the Central and State Governments. Two major panel discussions were organised during the dialogue, which were attended by several eminent experts, including from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The event concluded with the Sustainability Awards 2025, which honoured pioneering efforts that have brought about sustainable change in the agriculture sector across the country. This year, awards were given in eight categories. The Soil Health Champion award was jointly given to the Nico Rooijen Centre of Excellence for Regenerative Agriculture and Bihar Agriculture Department. Bihar Agriculture Department was also honoured in the Climate Smart Agriculture and Water Conservation categories. Agri Address was declared the AgTech Start-up of the Year, while Dilip Dhakad was awarded the Young Agripreneur Award for his beekeeping start-up D-Malwa. The Community-Led Agriculture Sustainability Award was given by Bharatkhand Consortium of Farmer Producer Company Ltd. In the Progressive Farmer Recognition category, Shivendra Singh Rajput (Village Badher), Sanjana Bamnia (Village Dhankhedi, Sehore) and Prem Singh (Village Bhilkheda, Bidisha) were honored for their remarkable contribution to climate sensitive agriculture.