UPSC Prelims 2021 Q59: Climate-Smart Villages, CCAFS, CGIAR & ICRISAT

In the context of India's preparation for Climate-Smart Agriculture, consider the following statements:

1. The 'Climate-Smart Village' approach in India is a part of a project led by the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), an international research programme.

2. The project of CCAFS is carried out under Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) headquartered in France.

3. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India is one of the CGIAR's research centres.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Statement-wise explanation

  • 1: correct — Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) were introduced in India by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), an international research programme. In a CSV, farmers, researchers, local government and private partners test a bundle of climate-smart practices together, such as laser land levelling, zero tillage, weather-based advisories and crop insurance. In India the model was piloted in states such as Haryana, Punjab and Bihar, with partners including CIMMYT and ICAR's National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA).
  • 2: correct — CCAFS was a CGIAR Research Program, so its projects ran under the CGIAR umbrella. CGIAR, formerly the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and founded in 1971, is a global partnership of agricultural research centres. Its CGIAR System Organization is headquartered at Avenue Agropolis in Montpellier, France, under a 2013 hosting agreement with the French government.
  • 3: correct — ICRISAT, at Patancheru near Hyderabad, is one of CGIAR's research centres. It was set up in 1972 and works on dryland crops such as sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut for Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It is the only CGIAR centre with its global headquarters in India.

How to eliminate

Basic awareness solves Statement 3: ICRISAT in Hyderabad is widely known as an international CGIAR centre. That leaves options (b), (c) and (d). Statement 1 matches the name itself, since CCAFS is literally the programme on 'Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security', and it is the obvious home for a 'climate-smart' village project. Accepting it narrows the choice to (c) or (d). The deciding fact is Statement 2: CGIAR's System Organization sits in Montpellier, France. Many aspirants guess Rome (FAO, IFAD, WFP) or Washington (World Bank), but no option-structure trick removes the need to know this. Fact to remember: CGIAR is headquartered in Montpellier, France; CCAFS was its climate programme; ICRISAT is its centre in India. None of the statements uses an absolute word, so there is nothing to flag there.

Know more

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an approach promoted by the FAO. It has three pillars:

  1. Productivity: raise farm output and incomes sustainably.
  2. Adaptation: build resilience to droughts, floods and heat.
  3. Mitigation: cut or remove greenhouse gas emissions where possible.

The CGIAR system

  • CGIAR, founded in 1971, is a global partnership of agricultural research centres, funded by governments, foundations and multilateral bodies.
  • Its System Organization is in Montpellier, France.
  • Under its old 'CGIAR Research Programs' (CRPs), CCAFS (2011–2021) handled climate work. CCAFS developed the Climate-Smart Village model, which was tested in South Asia, Africa and Latin America. Since 2022, CGIAR has reorganised this work into its 'One CGIAR' initiatives.

CGIAR centres often asked in Prelims

Centre Headquarters Focus
ICRISAT Patancheru (Hyderabad), India Dryland crops: millets, sorghum, pulses, groundnut
IRRI Los Baños, Philippines Rice
CIMMYT Mexico Maize and wheat
IFPRI Washington DC, USA Food policy
IWMI Colombo, Sri Lanka Water management
Bioversity International & CIAT (Alliance) Rome, Italy / Cali, Colombia Biodiversity, tropical agriculture

India's linked efforts

  • NICRA (ICAR, 2011) runs climate-resilient technology demonstrations in vulnerable districts. It is coordinated by ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad.
  • ICAR has signed agreements with most CGIAR centres. One example is the ICAR–ICRISAT work plan for 2019–2023 on dryland cereals and grain legumes.
  • The IRRI South Asia Regional Centre is in Varanasi.

Exam tip: questions on international bodies often turn on where the headquarters is and which parent body runs a programme.

In the news

Around 2020–21, climate-smart agriculture was in the news because of CCAFS's Climate-Smart Village scaling in India and Nepal and ICAR's partnerships with CGIAR centres. ICRISAT was also heading toward its 50th anniversary in 2022, which the Prime Minister later inaugurated.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • Climate-smart agriculture: The question is built on climate-smart agriculture. Knowing it is an FAO-promoted approach helps you place CCAFS and CGIAR among the international bodies.
  • Dryland farming: ICRISAT in Statement 3 specialises in semi-arid, dryland crops. Dryland farming is the core of its mandate.

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