New Delhi, Nov 9 (FN Agency) Government on Tuesday clarified India has not signed the COP-26 Action Agenda on Sustainable Agriculture at the ongoing Climate summit at Glasgow, adding that several steps are being taken to ensure sustainable agriculture in the country. Issuing a clarification on reports which said India had signed the agenda, an official statement said, “India has not signed up for Sustainable Agriculture Policy Action Agenda during the COP-26 Climate Summit.”
“Several steps are being taken to ensure that Indian agriculture remains on the path of sustainability,” the statement said. It said a National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) is one of the Missions within the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) that is operational in the country to deal with the issue of climate change. The mission aims to evolve and implement strategies to make Indian agriculture more resilient to the changing climate. “NMSA was approved for three major components – Rainfed Area Development (RAD), On Farm Water Management (OFWM), and Soil Health Management (SHM),” the statement said. Subsequently, four new programmes were introduced namely Soil Health Card (SHC), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), Mission Organic Value Chain Development in North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) and Sub Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF). “During 2015-16, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was operationalised and subsumed under Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) component of PMKSY. In addition to aforementioned programmes under NMSA, the Restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) was launched in April 2018,” the statement said, listing out steps taken by the government to ensure sustainable agriculture. The ‘Sustainable Agriculture Policy Action Agenda for the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture and Global Action Agenda for Innovation in Agriculture’ was among action pledges at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).