International workshop in Shivamogga focuses on climate-resilient agriculture solutions

P. Chandra Shekara, Director General of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific at Dhaka, Bangladesh, has stressed the need to increase the investment in post-harvesting management of produce to reduce farmers’ losses.

Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the five-day international workshop ‘Empowering Early Career Researches on Advancing Climate Resilient Agriculture Research and Collaboration (CRARC)’ in Shivamogga on January 5, Mr. Shekara said that every year, farmers lose a significant portion of their harvest owing to inadequate storage, poor handling, weak market linkages, and climate-induced disruptions, rather than low productivity.

“The research into climate must look beyond production and integrate strategies that reduce post-harvest losses, improve storage and processing, and strengthen value chains. Effective post-harvesting processing can turn the vulnerable raw produce into stable, high-value products that can withstand climate shocks, market fluctuations and storage challenges. Investing in post-harvest processing is itself investing in resilience,” he opined.

Mr. Shekara stated that researchers should work with farmers to find solutions. Farm cooperatives and farmer producer organisations are not only market intermediaries but key stakeholders in climate-resilient technology generation and adoption. By organising farmers, they reduce individual risk and strengthen bargaining power and make climate-spot technologies accessible and affordable.

He said that climate change will not impact all communities in the same way, with the impact varying with respect to local soil, microclimate conditions, culture, and history. Hence, one-shot research and blanket recommendation will not work in the real world. He suggested the researchers recognise the local refined knowledge.

Suresh Chandra Babu, Research Fellow Emeritus of the Washington D.C.-based International Food Policy Research Institute, called upon researchers to identify problems in agriculture by visiting fields, getting their hands dirty, and then taking up research to find solutions. “Agriculture policies should not be written sitting in an air-conditioned office. The same thing applies to the lab. Don’t just sit in the lab and produce publications. Get your hands dirty along with farmers in the field and get their problems to the lab to resolve them,” he said.

S.V. Suresha, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru, said that globally, there are around 1,300 researchers per one million population. In India, the number is only around 200. “The gap between the population and number of researchers is wide. The researchers working now need to aggressively push climate-smart technologies,” he said. He also suggested that the researchers ensure their studies result in technologies that are cost-effective and accessible to farmers.

The Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (KSNUAHS) in Shivamogga has organised the five-day workshop in collaboration with the Natural Resource Institute of the University of Greenwich, U.K. It is supported by the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF-British Council) and the Indian Council of Social Science Research. More than 45 researchers from different universities and institutes are participating in the event.

R.C. Jagadeesha, KSNUAHS Vice-Chancellor, Rajendra Tripathi, Education Programmes and Partnerships, British Council (India) Head, Lucie Buchi and Karna Hansson from University of Greenwich, and others were present at the inaugural session.