YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → TCTP Ep 24: How Climate Change Is Reshaping India's Food System with Apoorve Khandelwal, CEEW

TCTP Ep 24: How Climate Change Is Reshaping India's Food System with Apoorve Khandelwal, CEEW — Transcript

by Climate Trends · 8,502 words · 1,397 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:02Hello and welcome to the climate trends
0:04podcast where we explore policies and
0:07research with people driving India's
0:10climate transition. I am your host Palak
0:13Balyan research lead at climate trends.
0:16India is warming and with rising heat we
0:18are seeing its effects across the
0:20sectors from cities to health systems.
0:23But one of the most deeply affected yet
0:26under discussed system is food. In this
0:30episode, we will explore how heat is
0:32reshaping India's food system from farms
0:35to markets to our plates. And joining us
0:39today, our guest is Apur Khandelwal,
0:41fellow at CW who leads the sustainable
0:44food system program. He has invested
0:46more than decade working on different
0:49sustainability challenges in the arena
0:51of food systems and bioeconomy. Welcome
0:54to the podcast Apur. It is great to have
0:56you with us.
0:57>> Thank you Palak and thank you climate
0:59trends for having me. Uh really
1:01appreciate looking forward to the
1:02conversation.
1:05>> Welcome. So Apur when we talk about the
1:08impacts of climate change on agriculture
1:10what do we really mean by it and what
1:13are some important key risks climate
1:16change poses to the agriculture and what
1:19are the insights do we miss when we
1:21focus only on agriculture rather than
1:23looking food system as a whole.
1:27>> Great question lot to unpack there. Uh
1:31so let us first get started with uh
1:33understanding what climate change is
1:35particularly in the uh context of uh
1:37agriculture.
1:38In agriculture uh climate change is a
1:41mix of acute and chronic changes acute
1:44shocks and chronic changes. Acute shocks
1:47uh you would understand are uh heat
1:50waves, floods, droughts, unseasonal
1:54rains and chronic climate change are and
1:57we talking about them a lot uh rising
2:00temperatures thanks to the Gag
2:03um concentration rise Gas concentration
2:05rise in the atmosphere changing rainfall
2:08patterns and increasing groundwater
2:10stress. Those are some of those examples
2:13over time. These uh changes also create
2:16new risks for example pests and diseases
2:20spreading into new regions regions where
2:23they were not seen before.
2:26Now let's also try to understand uh that
2:29phrase that you use what the food
2:31systems the whole uh if we don't see the
2:34whole if we don't look at the foot
2:35systems what do we miss? So let's first
2:37understand what food systems is. At CW,
2:40we look at food systems as
2:43um everything that shapes the journey of
2:46food
2:48from how it is grown to how it reaches
2:51our plate and then how it nourishes our
2:54bodies and the environment around this
2:57journey that the food faces. It includes
3:02the choices that the farmers make about
3:04the seeds, fertilizers, crops,
3:08water use and water technologies, how
3:12food is stored, transported, processed
3:15and sold and and the factors that impact
3:18what people can afford and choose to
3:21eat.
3:23From this lens, know production and
3:25consumption are fundamentally linked. In
3:28one part of the system, if something
3:30gets disrupted, the effects don't just
3:33stop at the farm.
3:35They will ripple through the markets,
3:37household budgets, and ultimately every
3:40family's plate. Everything is
3:42interconnected and interdependent.
3:44That's food systems lens. When we think
3:46of climate change, climate change will
3:48definitely impact agricultural
3:50production for sure. The million tons of
3:53the the production that the farmers are
3:55solving for us, that will get impacted.
3:57the quantity but it will but we'll miss
4:00important
4:01things that matter if we miss the food
4:04systems lens let me take a few examples
4:07so one thing that comes to my mind is
4:10we'll miss the fact that the climate
4:12change is also driving dilution in
4:14nutrition and let me explain that uh
4:16with an example the crops that we will
4:20we are growing and will be growing in
4:22future may look the same in terms of
4:24size the quantity the shape maybe but it
4:27will start containing less iron, zinc
4:30and protein. Why? Because uh with rising
4:34CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere
4:36which is one of the important greenhouse
4:38gases which is causing the climate
4:40warming with CO2 concentrations rising
4:43the plants are going to accumulate
4:45carbonates much more and much faster
4:47which will then mean relatively lesser
4:49nutrient content.
4:52That means a family that can eat a full
4:55meal, there will be families who will
4:58still eat full meal but still not get
5:00nutrients that they need. Um it would be
5:04important to refer quickly to the the
5:07food security framework that FAO food
5:10and agriculture organization brought in
5:13uh to explain what food sec uh food
5:15security is and they said that it's just
5:17not about production security. It has
5:18four elements. Availability of food,
5:22accessibility of food and third they
5:24said is utilization of food. Ultimately
5:27making that food and that nutrition
5:29bioavailable getting absorbed in the
5:31body and that's important. For example,
5:35uh India loves uh drinking tea. But uh
5:40I'm sure some of the audience will know
5:43but some may not know that if you have
5:46just had a rich iron iron rich uh meal
5:50uh like vegetables etc. and then you are
5:52consuming tea it will actually inhibit
5:55the absorption of iron in your body and
5:57you must not do that. So even if you're
5:59consuming enough iron it is not becoming
6:01bioavailable.
6:03uh and then in future as the CO2
6:06concentrations keep on rising and the
6:08nutrition dilution keep on happening the
6:10awareness that what needs to be
6:13processed how and how it needs to be
6:15consumed is going to be very important
6:16to then enable sufficient bio
6:19availability of nutrition amongst our
6:21population.
6:23So um if climate changedriven nutrition
6:28dilution is not on our radar
6:30>> Mhm. And we won't appreciate the
6:32disproportionate importance of citizen
6:34awareness campaigns on nutrition
6:36sensitive processing and consumption
6:38practices and therefore they such
6:41campaigns will not ever become part of
6:43climate adapt adaptation strategies. So
6:45that's what we'll miss if we miss uh the
6:48food systems uh lens and we miss the
6:51interconnectedness and interdependence
6:53of these outcomes.
6:54>> Yeah. And so as I said
6:58just to frame that food systems what is
7:00food systems lens and approach? Food
7:01systems impact multiple outcomes.
7:05Farmer livelihoods,
7:07environmental outcomes, soil health,
7:09water access and quality um biodiversity
7:14right and uh nutrition for all of us.
7:16These are all the outcomes that the food
7:18systems enables and all these outcomes
7:20are also interlin.
7:22So it is multi outcome but also interlin
7:26and interdependent in terms of outcomes.
7:28For instance
7:30uh water used in agriculture drives
7:32water stress.
7:34>> Yes.
7:34>> Right. And the level of water stress
7:36depends on the crop choices made by the
7:38farmer. Crop choices made by the farmer
7:42in turn determine what is the kind of
7:44farmer income that farmer is going to
7:46make. But at the same time, crop choices
7:49are heavily driven by the government
7:51procurement policies.
7:53>> Mhm.
7:54>> And what government procures
7:56and then provides via its public
8:00distribution system heavily influences
8:02the diets of 800 million Indians uh to
8:06which the public distribution systems
8:08reach. And then these diets and these
8:11food provisioning shape our uh food
8:14demands. and then we demand the same
8:15back uh and then drive uh the demand
8:19signal for the production. So that's uh
8:22what it means to appreciate food systems
8:25and therefore the foot system lens calls
8:28for a whole of government approach to
8:31governance including the approach to
8:34climate action in the agriculture or in
8:36the food system. What does that mean? It
8:39means agriculture, water, health, rural
8:42development and energy. All policies in
8:45all these spaces, domains by all these
8:47departments shape the food systems
8:50together and therefore we need
8:52convergent and coherent policym
8:56uh food systems lens is also diversity
8:59sensitive. India is too diverse for one
9:01solution to work everywhere.
9:04uh climate risks in Rajasthan are very
9:07different from what we seeing in Assam
9:10the and then that's we still talking
9:12about states within a state we are
9:15seeing in the data that we are making
9:17available with u with the now climate
9:20tools uh climate data tools like kravis
9:22uh kravis.ai AI I think everyone should
9:25uh check this out. This is a digital
9:27public infrastructure that we have
9:28brought out. Uh bringing multiple uh
9:32government endorsed data sets together
9:35with an AI layer so that everyone out
9:38there can understand the climate impact
9:40on themselves uh not just scientists,
9:43researchers but also individuals. But
9:46coming back what we're noticing and you
9:47will notice even on Kravis is that even
9:50within districts even within blocks
9:54uh the the kind of risks we are seeing
9:56they are variable they are different and
9:59therefore the challenges needs and
10:01adaptive capacity is uh will be
10:05different in these uh regions and we
10:07need to appreciate that the challenges
10:09needs and adaptive capacities for women
10:11farmer are going to be different from a
10:13male farmer. The challenges for a tenant
10:16farmer are going to be different from
10:18that uh one that owns a a land already
10:22and therefore food systems approach
10:25calls for a differentiated
10:27region specific approach
10:30based on local realities to then build
10:33climate resilience
10:35in the most suitable, equitable and
10:38effective manner.
10:41Let me stop there on that one.
10:43Wow, this is extremely overwhelming to
10:46understand that how much this food
10:49system actually encompasses starting
10:52from farmer livelihood to environmental
10:54outcomes, nutrition and whatn not. So
10:57this was really exciting to learn the
11:00food system overall. So but when we talk
11:03about climate change, so heat stress is
11:06actually becoming an increasingly
11:08visible consequence of climate change
11:11and with implication across the food
11:14system. How this rising heat is actually
11:17impacting or affecting crop yield, labor
11:20pattern overall because you have talked
11:22about the livelihood as well and the
11:24food availability on the ground.
11:28Thank you for that question because it
11:29really is a you know heat is a is a is a
11:32great example to establish why we need
11:35to do system thinking to come up with
11:37more holistic and and and and uh and
11:41effective uh strategies for climate
11:43resilience. Um so first let's uh discuss
11:47how does heat actually impacts
11:50agriculture.
11:52Uh many of your viewers may be already
11:54aware but for others every crop has
11:57critical growth stages
12:00>> especially during a flowering and
12:02sometimes brain filling etc. If a heat
12:06wave strikes during those particular
12:08days the plant comes under stress
12:13produces fewer grains or fruits and the
12:17yield is permanently reduced. The impact
12:20of reduced harvest obviously then
12:22eventually reaches all of us through
12:24lower supply and higher food prices.
12:28>> We saw this during 2022 heat waves which
12:32reached news like every other heat wave
12:34now becoming prominently covered in the
12:37media cycles. But in 2002, just a few
12:41days of extreme heat during wheat's
12:44critical growth stages caused 10 to 35%
12:48yield losses across parts of North
12:50India.
12:51Less
12:52>> wheat reached markets, supplies
12:54tightened, prices came under pressure.
12:57We are seeing the same story this year
12:59in Alfanzo, my favorite food and king of
13:02fruits in general. I am sure you would
13:05also agree to that. uh extreme heat
13:08during flowering in Maharashtra's Konkan
13:11region caused heavy uh flower drop and
13:16uh poor fruit setting.
13:19Farmers harvested less, consumer paid
13:21more and fruits quality also simply
13:24suffered. I mean uh and this keeps on
13:26happening repeatedly. So there is a
13:28clear pattern and therefore we require
13:30much more systematic
13:33effort from private sector and from the
13:35government to solve for this.
13:37But coming back to uh various other
13:40effects that heat can have. Heat also
13:42affects livestock an important part of
13:45agriculture.
13:46>> Buffalo and crossbreed cattle
13:48>> which are more vulnerable uh to heat
13:51stress uh as compared to the indigenous
13:53cattle. Mhm.
13:54>> Um CW recently u brought out a report
13:58titled Catalin Community in the times of
14:01uh or in uh changing climate sustainable
14:04pathways for India's dairy sector based
14:07on a national survey that we did on bine
14:10raers across India. The study found that
14:13more than half of buffalo retors, about
14:16half of crossbed uh cattle raers and two
14:20out of every five indigenous cattle
14:22raers reported having already
14:25experienced more disease, heat stress,
14:28restless animals and even higher
14:31mortality. When animals are stressed,
14:34they eat less uh produce less milk and
14:37uh and and and and become less uh
14:39productive directly affecting not just
14:42household incomes but also their
14:45nutrition and their ability to do
14:48agriculture. And this is an important
14:49point to note because we generally think
14:52that agriculture uh uh livestock rearing
14:55and and uh and bine reading is all about
14:58milk production. Interestingly in the uh
15:01survey that we did in the report that we
15:03launched we found that 90 38% of
15:06households
15:07in India who are rearing uh bine do not
15:11sell milk at all.
15:13>> Many of them
15:14>> personal consumption
15:16>> yes personal consumption and for very
15:18clear purposes.
15:19>> 31% do rearing uh also for family
15:25nutrition, household nutrition.
15:27>> Yeah. uh and 21% also do for drought
15:31power and 74% do for dung also.
15:36>> Uh what is draw power? Sorry.
15:39>> So uh the mechanical power that you
15:41require uh to do plowing uh and other
15:44agricultural uh sort of operations. Now
15:46they are getting replaced by uh
15:49tractors. But there are still many parts
15:51of India particularly the tribal regions
15:54where uh cattle remains a important
15:56source of drought power and suddenly
15:58imagine uh they are under uh effect of
16:01heat and this is an important uh period
16:04where you need to do an economic
16:06activity
16:08uh suddenly there would be delays and
16:10things like that.
16:11>> Yes. Um okay what else uh heat impacts
16:15and then we are trying to really see in
16:17the systems lens what are the multiple
16:18effects of heat and then direct and
16:20indirect effects of heat so that we can
16:22really solve for heat uh impact of uh
16:26heat uh holistically.
16:28>> So heat also as you framed in your
16:30question also affects labor. Farming has
16:33very short windows for sewing and
16:35harvesting. During extreme heat uh
16:38workers cannot safely stay in the field
16:41for long because of dehydration, heat
16:44exhaustion and and heat stroke. The
16:47risks labor this ultimately risks labor
16:51availability for critical farm work
16:55which in turn risks reduction in
16:57harvests and eventually affects the food
16:59supplies and prices.
17:01One message that frankly came very
17:04clearly out of uh one of our reports
17:06that we launched in 2025 that focused on
17:08climate smart agriculture in Bihar in
17:11Odessa.
17:13Uh it it it brought out that farming uh
17:17farming families are suffering from
17:19repeated droughts, floods and erratic
17:21weather and this has become even more
17:25earth certain for farming with time.
17:28>> Mhm. And therefore when young uh people
17:31see that uncert that uncertainty
17:34increasing year after year many start
17:37looking for uh stable work outside the
17:40agriculture and the sector which is
17:42already struggling to attract youth.
17:44>> Yeah.
17:45>> This is all adding to the fuel and
17:47exodus of uh the the future uh people
17:51power the future force uh that will be
17:55bringing food to us.
17:58last. No, maybe maybe two more. Heat
18:01also drives pest and disease shifts.
18:04Warmer and more humid conditions allow
18:07pest and fungal disease to spread
18:10faster. And we saw that in 2025, heat in
18:14parts of Andhra Pradesh caused mango
18:16flowers to fall before they could even
18:20turn into fruits. Then it led to pests
18:23spreading quickly. Many growers had to
18:26spray their orchards much more than
18:29usual amount of pesticides, increasing
18:31costs of increasing just the cost of
18:34pesticides, but also exposing farmer
18:36workers for much more pesticides than
18:38usual. Yet, many fruits were still
18:41damaged by pests, leaving fewer premium
18:43quality mangoes for sale and making it
18:46harder to meet export standards. In
18:48fact, this year, unfortunately, mango
18:52exports to Japan were disrupted over
18:54gaps in pest control and fumigation
18:56controls.
18:58>> Yeah, that was news all over. Yeah.
19:00>> Yes. Yes. And this is a pattern. We are
19:02seeing this and therefore uh let's not
19:05take this as a ad hoc one-off events and
19:08we need uh much more uh systematic
19:13uh whole of government approach to
19:14address these things. Just coming back
19:17to the last point I want to uh in terms
19:19of impact of heat I want to identify so
19:22that we cover the entire story. We
19:23covered what happens on the farm and
19:25therefore the value chain. We covered
19:27what happens on the livestock. We
19:28covered what happens to the labor uh to
19:31the future labor. Uh also covering what
19:34happens uh to the forests.
19:39Um in the same report that we launched
19:41in 2025 Bihar and Otisa study we
19:44highlighted that uh that because of
19:47there are multiple hidden impacts of
19:49climate change that you don't see uh
19:51when forests and uh become hotter and
19:54drier food and uh water inside them
19:58became scars. Yeah,
20:01>> wild animals, wild boards etc.
20:04who are not able to now get those uh
20:07know food and water inside the forest
20:09increasingly enter nearby farms looking
20:12for food damaging crops like patty maze
20:15pulses leading to ultimately um wildlife
20:19human wildlife conflicts
20:21>> and therefore
20:22>> the ultimate message is uh for heat
20:25action in agriculture we cannot avoid
20:28food systems lens if you want to really
20:31think through and come up with the most
20:34meaningful uh solutions and avoid
20:36unintended solutions and that come and
20:39uh uh come and bite us back uh with
20:42surprise. Back to you.
20:45>> Thank you Apur. And by understanding the
20:48whole list of impacts of heat and
20:50overall climate change uh I see that
20:53there is definitely a need to build a
20:55resilient food system and which requires
20:58better alignment between the production
21:01markets and consumption. So Apur where
21:04do you see the biggest disconnect now
21:06today between what farmer grows where
21:10what market demands and and what people
21:13consumes so where is this disconnect uh
21:15in today's uh agriculture sector or food
21:18system as a whole
21:20>> I don't want to come across too critical
21:22about everything
21:24um but if you ask me I think I see
21:28disconnects everywhere uh across the
21:31entire food term. Let me pick a few to
21:33make my point. Right? The first
21:36disconnect I see is uh between local
21:38demand and the production.
21:41earlier. Now for example uh
21:45in case you have traveled to villages of
21:47India uh the the locally grown mustards
21:52and uh and ground nuts was processed in
21:56the village ghani
21:58and sold within the community in the
22:00village and around right in addition to
22:03also uh selling it to the market uh the
22:06distant market.
22:07>> Mhm. Local demand gave farmers and and
22:11like this there are multiple other crops
22:12that were uh locally produced, processed
22:15and consumed. And that local demand gave
22:18farmers the confidence to grow a
22:20diversity of crops that suited for the
22:23soil of that region, the the climate of
22:25that region, the food culture of that
22:27region. Uh instead of simply just
22:30focusing on one or two crops for a
22:34distant buyer in a distant market.
22:37Today, food often travels much longer,
22:42much longer distances before reaching
22:44our kitchens. The uh the longer the
22:47supply chain is, the more vulnerable it
22:50becomes to climate shocks, heat waves,
22:53floods, transport disruptions.
22:56No. When these links break, farmers lose
23:00market, consumers pay more or sometime
23:04they don't get the right nutrition and
23:07communities become more vulnerable.
23:10So there is a disconnect now we see in
23:12in the local uh market and the
23:16production. Second example I want to
23:18pick or the aspect I want to pick is the
23:20disconnect between what we produce and
23:24what people in India need to eat.
23:28Think about the typical nintali.
23:30>> Mhm.
23:30>> Um even your home my home the chances
23:35are high that uh the cereals take up
23:39most of our plate.
23:41>> Yeah.
23:41>> Right.
23:43>> Right. If we talk in terms of uh how
23:45many roties did you eat,
23:47>> right? Our best our case is in terms of
23:50uh cereals.
23:52>> Um while pulses, vegetables and fruits,
23:56nuts take up much smaller share.
23:58Sometimes they're just not on the earth
24:01at all.
24:02>> Yet these are exactly those food groups.
24:04You go to a doctor, you go to
24:07nutritionists and they will encourage
24:09you to eat the same which are missing.
24:11The question today is not only are we
24:14producing enough food but also whether
24:18we are producing food that helps people
24:21stay healthy. That's the real question.
24:24A simple way to understand this is
24:26through uh the example of rice. Um today
24:30India's rice stock are often around
24:33three times or more
24:36you know higher than the buffer required
24:39for food security.
24:41While we continue to import large
24:43quantities of edible oils and pulses, it
24:46doesn't mean that rice is unimportant.
24:49It means we now have an opportunity to
24:53ask whether some of our land and water
24:56that is at the moment producing rice
25:01can help produce the foods that are
25:04important for our healthier diets.
25:07And if and then healthy diets are
25:09important for ultimately climate
25:11resilience of our people.
25:12>> Yeah.
25:14>> So and and then we know that recently
25:17there was a report by NI National
25:19Institute of Nutrition 56% of India's
25:22non-communicable disease burden is
25:24linked to bad diets not just under uh
25:27under nutrition but also over
25:29consumption of rice, wheat, salt, sugar
25:32etc. And therefore, shouldn't we explore
25:35putting less land and water and even the
25:37PDS machinery and the cost of
25:40maintaining that to produce and provide
25:44instead of rice that we are over
25:47consuming already.
25:49>> Yeah.
25:50uh and then and also not just over
25:53consuming but also putting our ourselves
25:55at a risk of occurrence of
25:58cardiovascular issues, obesity, diabetes
26:00and other entities as NIN notices. So,
26:04so that's second big disconnect uh what
26:08we are producing and what we need to eat
26:10in India. The third disconnect is
26:14between what people need and what our
26:17production system supplies. Mhm.
26:20taking cook take cooking oil right
26:24almost uh and not just what people need
26:27what people are demanding already and
26:29what the production system is supplies I
26:31see somehow there is a disconnect almost
26:33every household has felt their monthly
26:36grocery bill going up when edible oil
26:39price sore right they rose to I mean we
26:44know the levels they rose to and and we
26:45felt it India still imports more than
26:48half of its edible oil that it consumes.
26:51So, global price shocks quickly reach
26:54Indian kitchens.
26:55>> Kitchen
26:57>> uh recently as one of seven appeals to
27:00the nation, Prime Minister Modi urged
27:02every uh household to cut edible oil
27:06consumption by 10% saying
27:10and
27:13India already runs national missions on
27:16edible oils. So the domestic push the
27:19demand is there
27:22somewhere the farmers are either not
27:24receiving uh that strong market signal
27:27relatively
27:29right uh that assured market signal that
27:31procurement signal or somewhere the
27:34value chain is broken. It is not
27:36providing that assurance and and that
27:40support that the farmer needs to
27:42potentially deliver on oil seeds.
27:44>> Mhm.
27:45>> Yeah. or maybe that demand is not
27:46getting converted into the right prices
27:49relatively speaking to the other prices
27:51that are getting realized in the market.
27:54>> So, so there is also a communication uh
27:57disconnect between farmers and the
27:58market demand I guess.
28:00>> Yes. And then with uh the rise of uh
28:04digital uh communication and access to
28:07uh phones etc. uh the hope is uh that
28:11should go at least uh go down. a lot of
28:14entrepreneurs coming and trying to
28:15connect with their digital
28:16infrastructure.
28:17>> Yeah.
28:18>> Uh a lot.
28:20>> Yeah. And let's hope uh this disconnect
28:22uh reduces. But I'm sure there is more
28:24uh out there in terms of value chain
28:26development and that's uh other thing
28:27that need to happen that will simply not
28:30be solved by simply u this digital
28:32evolution we are on. Another point I
28:35want to make again bringing food systems
28:37and the systems thinking
28:40uh the systems thinking reminds us that
28:42agriculture is is serving four Fs not
28:47just food. It serves food, feed, fiber
28:50and fuel.
28:53And we may be at risk
28:56of an imbalance amongst these four and
29:00that may be another form of disconnect
29:02with what India needs versus what we may
29:04be moving towards. Let me take the
29:07example of maze to ethanol. Today the
29:10strong demand of ethanol program for
29:13blending is encouraging a lot of maze
29:15production expanding acceleratedly and
29:18if it continues
29:20uh to serve to expand this way to serve
29:23the expanding ethanol production needs
29:25in India it will further intensify the
29:28competition agri land and resources are
29:32already facing and particularly the
29:35competition that pulses oil seeds and
29:38these important
29:40uh food items are facing in terms of
29:44land getting allocated to their
29:45production
29:46>> and we have to then uh impute all these
29:49pulses and uh seed oils if you're not
29:53producing ourself. Yeah.
29:55>> Yes. So first we need to ensure that
29:57enough uh uh should get produced in
30:00India and that's where the competition
30:02for land is happening because there are
30:03other FS that the agriculture is serving
30:08and uh and that competition definitely
30:11means that in future if we continue to
30:15keep on focusing on say in this example
30:18ethanol and maze for ethanol this may
30:21come at opportunity costs such as the
30:25land that could have delivered pulses
30:28and oil seeds for us and we may remain
30:31constantly
30:33uh dependent on imports for them.
30:37Um meaning the same land and water
30:40resources can deliver food for people,
30:43feed for poultry and dairy animals,
30:46fiber for industry,
30:49uh cotton, jute, newish fibers and fuel
30:53for ethanol blending. Like all these
30:56require the same land and uh water
30:58resources. When the same resources have
31:01multiple competing demands, policies
31:03need to deliberately and proactively
31:07balance the resource allocation. So the
31:10so that the strengthening of energy
31:12security doesn't unintentionally
31:15increase the feed costs
31:17cost of balanced nutrition and vice
31:19versa because the effect is vice versa.
31:22So the question is is India's agri
31:25production for the four fs balanced and
31:30coherent with what India needs.
31:32We are trying to investigate this
31:34question at CW. Um
31:37uh we may be at risk. That's my
31:39hypothesis. But let's see what our
31:41research says. uh and hopefully we'll
31:44find a way to come with more deliberate
31:47and proactive policym to steer our uh
31:50resource allocation to the right
31:52balance.
31:53One interesting observation for example
31:55from the same report uh that I talked
31:58about cattle and community uh in times
32:00of climate change uh
32:04we noted three out of four bouvine
32:07rearers
32:09said their feed uh availability and
32:13affordability is one of the biggest
32:15challenges that they're struggling with
32:17right so amongst the four apps we are
32:19already seeing struggle on food we are
32:21seeing struggle on feed and then we are
32:24also at the same time expanding uh the
32:27maze uh for fuel. Uh are we striking the
32:30right balance and therefore there may be
32:32a disconnect. Let me stop there but I
32:35hope uh this brings uh that value
32:37systems thinking uh back to our viewers.
32:40>> No definitely you have kind of explained
32:43the disconnect very well. So now we know
32:45like how these three system are having
32:48disconnect like what farmer grows and
32:51what market demands and how what
32:53actually people needs to consume not
32:55just what consuming but what needs to
32:57consume. So there is a clear disconnect.
32:59We we see what you explained right now.
33:02But based on this disconnect uh approve
33:05are there current policies or
33:07initiatives aligned with building
33:09climate resilient food system or they
33:12are just reinforcing the existing
33:13vulnerabilities in the in the food
33:16system.
33:19>> Answer is yes
33:20>> and no
33:22>> because incentives are still not
33:24coherent. Mhm. Um and that's why at CWV
33:29and and many other important actors are
33:31actively talking about policy coherence
33:33and convergence making sure that
33:35different policies work towards the same
33:37goal or aligned goals.
33:40U the policy environment definitely is
33:42moving in the right direction. Uh we'll
33:44I'll share a few examples of recent
33:45policies that are really exciting. Uh
33:48there is PM Dandhan Krishi PM DDKY which
33:51is a very good example of whole of
33:53government approach. It brings together
33:5536 existing schemes across uh 11
33:59ministries including uh agriculture,
34:02jalaki, rural development, food
34:04processing
34:05um
34:07and aligned with food systems lens
34:09PMDDKY
34:11tries to solve multiple interconnected
34:13outcomes and problems
34:16>> of soil, water, crops, uh productivity
34:20of crops and diversification markets
34:23livelihoods and nutrition together
34:26through policy convergence. So I think
34:28this is a very encouraging one at the
34:31moment being focused on 100 uh districts
34:35across uh India. We ourselves uh
34:39supported actively uh the government of
34:42Rajasthan to come up with district level
34:44district development plans under PMDDKY.
34:47So a very uh very exciting one. Uh
34:50national mission on natural farming is
34:52another one. Uh the mission encourages
34:55uh farmers to gradually reduce
34:57dependence on expensive and heavily
35:00subsidized chemical fertilizers and
35:02instead use locally uh locally produced
35:06locally available uh natural inputs such
35:08as gimmarit
35:10mulching and other biomass recycling
35:13outputs. These practices improve soil
35:17organic carbon, strengthen um beneficial
35:20microbes in the soil, sort of biological
35:25uh activities within soil and help soil
35:29hold much more moisture.
35:32Um
35:34healthy soils actually behave like a
35:36sponge. They absorb
35:39uh whenever there's heavy rainfall, you
35:42will see they will absorb better. they
35:44will retain much more water. They will
35:46uh manage uh dry spells better because
35:48they are absorbing uh and retaining
35:51water. Uh it helps cope with heat waves,
35:55a healthy soil, droughts and eretic
35:58rainfall. So uh national mission natural
36:01farming I think uh a good one uh
36:05unfortunate is uh the the size of money
36:08size of funds that has been allocated to
36:10it relative to other scenes. But this is
36:13the need of the hour. So because people
36:16are rejecting our chemical rich fruit
36:18crops. So that's why I think we should
36:20more focus around the natural farming.
36:22Yeah.
36:22>> Exactly. I think there's much more
36:24awareness amongst the consumers around
36:26safe food now. And I think that's to be
36:28leveraged that is a opportunity that to
36:30be leveraged to start creating a
36:33critical mass of production ecosystem
36:36that then serves this uh demand.
36:39>> Yeah.
36:41I was uh keen to share a third example
36:45uh which is PM prrenam. Uh for decades
36:50systems in India did not reward farmers
36:53or states for efficient fertilizer use.
36:57PM pranam changes that which is exciting
36:59where central government now shares with
37:01the states half of the subsidy savings
37:04that the states are able to do if they
37:06are able to do by reducing fertilizer
37:09consumption and improving nutrition use
37:10efficiency. This really now encourages
37:13states to invest in soil testing uh
37:17balanced fertilizer application uh
37:19composting by inputs uh supply and
37:22farmer awareness. Hopefully this is
37:24encouraging states uh to uh work towards
37:27these things. Last one I think this was
37:30a couple of years ago. The the last one
37:32was the momentum that we saw uh at the
37:36back of the international year of
37:37millets and the millet sort of push that
37:40we saw in India strongly particularly
37:42championed by Prime Minister Modi.
37:45>> Yeah.
37:45>> Where uh no this entire movement helped
37:48bring traditional grains jawar bajara
37:51ragi to mainstream. These are these are
37:54important grains because these are also
37:55very climate hardy, very resilient
37:57grains.
37:58>> Yeah.
37:58>> Uh millets naturally need uh less water.
38:03They tolerate higher temperatures,
38:05perform better in rainfed areas uh which
38:09is still around 40 plus% of India's uh
38:12land.
38:13>> Yeah.
38:13>> Uh cultivable land. And uh these uh
38:16millets can withstand better uh I mean
38:20drought better than many popular crops
38:22and they're also rich in nutrition like
38:24iron, calcium, fiber and other
38:26micronutrients that our population
38:28needs. So one crop then can really
38:31enable multiple outcomes and all these
38:33initiatives we have seen uh uh in the
38:36recent times that are very encouraging.
38:38At the same time as I said no uh to your
38:42response also is uh the schemes and
38:44policies that are enabling counter or
38:47misaligned incentives. Take the example
38:49of fertilizers. H
38:52>> uh there are incentives and policies
38:54which are not aligned with uh enabling
38:58uh climate resilience in agriculture in
39:00the food system. Let me take a few
39:02important examples. They're in the
39:05agriculture domain quite popular and
39:07discussed but I think for for audience
39:09this is important to be reiterated.
39:12Okay. Let's take the example of
39:14fertilizers and uh how we are how much
39:18we are spending and how we are governing
39:20fertilizers and investing in them. In uh
39:24202526 India's uh urine government
39:27budget uh allocated 1.68 68 lakh crores
39:32for fertilizer subsidies and this year
39:35it is thanks to the West Asia crisis uh
39:37the subsidies are going to go much
39:40higher uh tentatively
39:42um while at the same time uh in 202526
39:47the national mission of natural farming
39:49received 616
39:51crores. So for uh our audience this
39:55means uh what I think around 300 rupees
40:00towards fertilizers to uh uh for every
40:04300 rupees uh on fertilizer spent one
40:06rupee spent towards uh natural farming
40:10uh if I'm correct in doing my maths. Um,
40:14put simply, chemical inputs remain
40:17heavily subsidized in markets and
40:20climate friendly alternatives and bio
40:23inputs are not.
40:25That explains why alternatives still
40:27struggle to compete.
40:30>> This is a disconnect.
40:31>> Exactly. That's a disconnect. Uh that's
40:33a incoherence
40:35>> incoherence
40:36>> uh in our policy ecosystem uh to that
40:42takes us that impedes climate resilience
40:46uh to be achieved.
40:47>> Mhm.
40:48>> Farmers they respond to incentives
40:52>> of course
40:52>> and uh I mean let's not say that they
40:56only respond to incentives but
40:57incentives are a key driver of their
41:00decision-m they're rational actors. And
41:02today those incentives remain much
41:05stronger for conventional inputs than
41:08for climate friendly alternatives.
41:10Without a level playing field, bioinput
41:13entrepreneurs, bio resource centers or
41:15local supply chain actors are struggling
41:17to grow. And we see similar pattern. So
41:21uh we discussed fertilizers, we
41:23discussed how there is uh lack of level
41:26playing field and that's inance that we
41:28must solve for. Another important space
41:32uh to discuss in terms of incorance is
41:35the subsidies that are given for
41:36electricity for uh agriculture uh
41:41particularly in the states such as
41:43Punjab, Hana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
41:46where the farmers are receiving almost
41:49free or very highly subsidized
41:51electricity for irrigation.
41:54This support has been critical for
41:56definitely improving India's agriculture
41:58production and and protecting farmer
42:00incomes also. But when pumping uh
42:03groundwater is so cheap,
42:06>> this is obviously less there's like
42:09limited or no incentive for farmers to
42:11use water efficiently. Over time, this
42:15has encouraged water intensive crops
42:17like paddyy
42:19uh to uh emerge in even water stressed
42:22regions. The story of Punjab we all know
42:24and still continues to uh mine water and
42:28uh produce uh uh patty and there are
42:31many more regions which are on the uh
42:34moving in the same trajectory towards
42:36Punjab.
42:37Another important uh incentive which I
42:40believe or the policy environment that I
42:42believe is incoherent is the assured
42:45rice and wheat procurement that the
42:48government of India is providing via
42:49their MSP system.
42:51MSP on these crops helped India overcome
42:55hunger and food security challenges. An
42:58achievement that should never be
42:59underestimated. We were a ship to- mouth
43:02economy, right? And we must not
43:04underestimate what they have delivered.
43:07But now as I shared earlier, India holds
43:11around three times the rice buffer and
43:13more generally in stock as compared to
43:17what is required for food security.
43:21while we continue importing large
43:23quantities of edible oil and pulses at
43:25the same time as I said before.
43:28>> Thus again the the entire procurement
43:31regime still is enabling incoherence
43:35and impedes us uh in ways to achieve
43:39climate resilience. Last example and a
43:42strong one I would want to pick up is
43:43Odisa which is a which strongly
43:46illustrates why policy cores matters.
43:49Orisa is recognized as a leader in
43:51India's millet movement. Orisa millet
43:53mission become the poster child of uh
43:57the millet movement in India. Yet
43:59unfortunately millet cultivation has
44:02recently declined in some areas in uh in
44:04Odessa farmers because they're
44:07responding to the government incentives
44:08that the government are bringing in the
44:11market incentives for rice. There is
44:12additional
44:14uh uh beyond the the standard MSP. there
44:18is additional uh remineration provided
44:21to the farmers just by the state
44:23government.
44:25The challenge is making sure that that
44:29these incentives that government is
44:31enabling collectively via their multiple
44:33schemes this entire policy environment
44:36are collectively driving farmer and all
44:39the other actors in the same direction.
44:41That's the coherence we must ensure to
44:44enable climate resilience. Let me stop.
44:46>> Mhm. No, I think that was good. Uh we
44:49can jump to the next question now. So,
44:52so Apur as uh you also explained in your
44:56previous answer that food system are
44:58actually shaped by a range of factors
45:00and which also kind of includes our
45:03current policies and government
45:05initiatives that how they are aligned
45:07and how they actually kind of support uh
45:10the production and farmers of specific
45:13crops. So how market plays market and
45:17industries plays a important role
45:19especially uh these large companies food
45:22companies. So how they influence this
45:24transition towards more sustainable and
45:27resilient system. So uh so we talked
45:29about the government initiative but how
45:31these private companies uh or food uh
45:34companies influence this uh transition.
45:38>> Yeah. Industry isn't just a buyer. No,
45:41it's a it's in a way a co-architect
45:45with government
45:47in determining what gets grown in the
45:51lands in India.
45:52>> Yeah.
45:53>> Indian farmers whom uh as I was saying
45:56is a rational actor. We have repeatedly
45:58found in our field studies is a very
46:00rational manager of immediate risks.
46:04>> Mhm. Often they grow crops
46:09because they know someone will buy it.
46:12There is assuredness of market linkage
46:16and they not necessarily will grow a
46:19crop only because it is good for the
46:21soil there or the climate there etc.
46:25Right? Uh that's why the market signals
46:29for a rational risk manager is very
46:32important.
46:33>> Mhm. And you know uh procurement is one
46:36of the biggest levers with which
46:38industry can actually transform the foot
46:40system. And just to prove that point
46:42let's take the example of the tea
46:44sector. Jun lever Tata and Vary the top
46:48three buyers dominate auctions and
46:51procure domestically half of potentially
46:55half or around T uh production of India.
47:00Okay,
47:01>> that's the kind of leverage uh private
47:04sector has for example in this sector
47:07and and and most farmers will be willing
47:09to diversify
47:11which is an important strategy.
47:13Diversification is an important strategy
47:14for climate resilience.
47:16>> Mhm.
47:16>> But they will they still ask the same
47:18question and it's a very simple
47:21question. If I grow millets or pulses,
47:24who will buy them?
47:26Right? They're solving for immediate
47:29risk. They are great risk managers and
47:32procurement is a great uh way therefore
47:35to drive their behavior. Procurement
47:38insurance of diverse crops,
47:42aggregation of small farmers, investment
47:45in storage, processing, local value
47:48chain development. Um
47:52and particularly bal chain development
47:54for suitable crops
47:56reduce they will this all right uh this
47:59entire package
48:00>> will reduce the uncertainty and and make
48:03diversification a practical decision
48:05business decision hopefully unless we
48:08solve for them the risk of
48:11diversification will stay and the
48:13farmers will never move uh towards
48:15diversification. Today uh supply chains
48:18mainly reward consistent quantities
48:23whether private sector or uh public
48:27sector. Increasingly private sector
48:31companies who have appreciated who have
48:33come to appreciate the criticality of
48:35climate resilient chains supply chains
48:38for themselves.
48:39They also need to therefore start
48:42rewarding soil health, efficient water
48:44use and diversified farming because
48:46those are the exactly the kind of
48:48interventions that will make their
48:50supply chains resilient.
48:52>> Right.
48:52>> Yeah. Yeah.
48:53>> So they need to move beyond just
48:55rewarding quantity but also these
48:58qualitative aspects
49:00and to enable adoption of climate
49:02resident agriculture at speed and scale
49:04in their supply chains and in the supply
49:08sheds that they procure from. Large food
49:10and beverage companies need to provide
49:14collective market signal
49:18that can be in the form of say public
49:20pledges that they come and make X% of
49:23their ingredients they will start only
49:25procuring from climate resilient supply
49:27chains by XYZ day right those kind of
49:31public commitments if they make
49:32collectively collectively make that
49:34happen they will nudge the entire supply
49:37chain uh actors to move start moving
49:39towards
49:40uh uh resilient uh practices and climate
49:44resilient agriculture.
49:47So uh this is actually one of the spaces
49:49where we are working with uh uh food and
49:51beverage private sector actors to uh to
49:53together uh inspire them to make public
49:56commitments on sustainable sourcing and
49:59actually on also sustainable uh
50:01nutrition maybe I'll get an opportunity
50:03to talk about that later.
50:05>> Okay. So as you explained uh Apo that uh
50:09when we talk about players or
50:10stakeholders in food system it's not
50:13just the farmers or government or uh
50:17consumers who are important but
50:18industries plays very critical and
50:20important role to drive this sector and
50:24that's that actually uh brings me to my
50:27next question and this is something
50:29personal kind of a question that given
50:31the consumer's preference which are
50:34largely driven by the availability ility
50:36and affordability of the of the
50:38consumer. So what would a climate
50:40resilient agriculture diet look like uh
50:43as from your perspective and how
50:46feasible it is to shift consumers
50:48behavior towards such diet because it's
50:50not just the agriculture production
50:53shifts required but also the consumer
50:55shifts required towards the healthier
50:57diet. So what is that
51:00>> palak? This is not just personal for
51:02you, it's definitely personal for me and
51:04for many other uh many of our viewers
51:07today. Uh so let's uh start from the
51:10top. Let's first unpack what a climate
51:13resilient Indian diet means.
51:16Right? climate resilient. A diet to be
51:19climate resilient needs to be climate
51:20resilient
51:22in getting produced and becoming
51:24accessible
51:26as well as it must improve health of the
51:30consumers so that they become resilient
51:34uh going ahead.
51:36So it is not just about uh replacing
51:39rice or wheat with one new superfood.
51:44>> Mhm. But it is about bringing diversity
51:46back to the plates that enables that the
51:49production is more uh is climate
51:51resilient as well as uh the consumer
51:54health improves.
51:58So what will it include? It will
52:00definitely include nutrials right we
52:02have been talking about them uh the jar
52:04bajra ragi the local millets whatever
52:07locally uh is suitable based on the
52:10farming systems the environment the food
52:12culture
52:14uh in fact uh CW's dietary diversity
52:18study that we launched this year
52:22uh notices an very interesting fact that
52:25on an average uh Indians consume a
52:28sufficient amount of protein protein per
52:30capita. But when you double click
52:34uh what we discover is that nearly half
52:36of that protein is coming from cereals
52:40especially rice and wheat uh as as
52:44compared to anion's recommendation of
52:46one/ird I will repeat an recommends that
52:51one/ird of our protein or less should I
52:55think it's not less oneird of the
52:57protein should come from cereals.
53:01Okay. And rest should come from uh
53:05higher quality protein sources such as
53:08pulses, dairy etc. And for us it is half
53:12of it half of our protein that we
53:14consume per capita is coming from
53:15cereals. So we are consuming enough
53:17protein but not of the right quality.
53:20Right? And and therefore again we we
53:23need to solve for diversity in where we
53:25are consuming protein from.
53:28Um and when uh pulses are obviously uh
53:32one of the most affordable uh sources of
53:36protein and and they're important for
53:38our diets and health but also when you
53:40produce pulses uh pulses fix nitrogen in
53:43the soil which then reduces dependence
53:46to fertilizer and thus makes food system
53:48further resilient.
53:51Climate resilient diet would also
53:54include
53:55uh more seasonal uh and local fruits.
53:59You know, we just discussed about what
54:01we consume more and what we consume
54:02less, right? And therefore uh such a
54:05climate resilient diet will have to
54:06include more local seasonal uh fruits,
54:09vegetables, green leafy vegetables, nuts
54:12and depending on what grows in uh the
54:15local region uh more context specific
54:19varieties of the uh the kind of food
54:21items that I talked about. It means also
54:25the the climate diets, the climate
54:27resilient diets will also mean to not
54:29just eat more of these foods but
54:31moderate
54:33consumption of what we are the food item
54:35that we're consuming more such as ex we
54:38consume a lot of oil. So that reduction
54:40in that oil is important consumption
54:43salt we uh should reduce sugar we are
54:46consuming much more we should reduce
54:47that and ultrarocessed foods uh that uh
54:52consumption ultrarocessed food is
54:54constantly rising and that we also noted
54:56in our uh report recently on India's
54:58diversity and we need to uh really
55:01moderate that the goal is simple rebuild
55:05diversity on the plate
55:08that improves our health and therefore
55:10our resilience as individuals and then
55:13align
55:15and simultaneously align production,
55:17procurement, processing and markets
55:20behind this diversity to enable this
55:22diversity and enable in a way it is
55:26climate resilient.
55:28Now your uh central question can
55:30consumer behavior really change?
55:34Uh the answer is yes and I will not say
55:37no. Answer is yes because our habits
55:41have never been static.
55:43>> They have been changing with time and we
55:45know that no public policies uh around
55:48procurement, subsidies, school meals,
55:50private sector led advertisements,
55:52marketing and are changing incomes and
55:54our own lifestyles are changing and all
55:56of them have led to changes in the diets
56:01uh that we are consuming. The green
56:03revolution didn't just change the farmer
56:06production and their production
56:08portfolio. It gradually also changed the
56:12Indian diets that the families were
56:14consuming. Rice and wheat became much
56:16more available and affordable and
56:17therefore mainstream. That was not the
56:19case earlier.
56:20>> The same approach can now therefore we
56:22can can't we repeat the same experience
56:24the same trajectory in our opinion. The
56:26same approach can be used to diversify
56:29uh our diets. Again the the using the
56:32public programs um the the public
56:35distribution systems the PM portion PM
56:38portion 2.0 zero. We can gradually
56:40introduce more pulses, millets, fruits,
56:42vegetables, milk and eggs and whatever
56:46uh is suitable depending on the regional
56:48uh food habits. But we can really need
56:51to we need to really improve the
56:54diversity,
56:56localization and de decentralization of
56:59the food system that enables uh our
57:02diets.
57:04Industry role is a big one as we
57:06discussed already in uh changing the
57:08diets particularly they have a role in
57:10marketing and by marketing I mean uh
57:13just the product design itself right uh
57:16if the product is designed based on
57:19heavy rice heavy corn uh based uh sort
57:23of uh recipes then obviously we are
57:25consuming uh the much more stewed uh
57:28consumption is bound to happen because
57:30the product design is like that. So
57:32better product design, better uh
57:34placements, promotion, marketing,
57:37advertisement uh towards more
57:39sustainably uh sustainable or
57:42sustainable nutrition, nutritious uh
57:44product is going to be important and can
57:47actually drive change and we have seen
57:48that in past. Mhm.
57:50>> Uh you might recall uh when we were uh
57:53younger Sunday rose one day was was a
57:58>> and there was also do do po glass full.
58:02No, these were
58:04uh product category level
58:07focused collective marketing campaigns
58:09by private sector and uh other enablers
58:13and other enabling institutions and and
58:16uh why can't we do the same for more
58:18diverse uh uh food uh categories and
58:21product categories. Um more recently we
58:25have actually seen right a movement
58:26towards oats breakfast cereals protein
58:29drinks ready to cook food companies
58:33don't just sell products they made them
58:36convenient they make them uh visible and
58:39easy to use and they're shaping
58:41therefore the aspiration and consumer
58:42behavior again and it is happening in uh
58:45it has happened in past it is happening
58:47now and if that marketing machinery can
58:52uh be further aligned towards more
58:54sustainable nutrition. It can drive uh
58:57uh consumption behavior change
58:58definitely. In fact, we are uh working
59:01towards uh no uh sustainable nutrition
59:04uh pledges uh with uh some uh private
59:08sector food and beverage companies
59:10fronters and hope that we'll be able to
59:13bring more public commitments towards uh
59:15sustainable nutrition uh from them at
59:18least the leading ones. Also uh let's
59:20keep in mind government uh has a lot of
59:23role to drive such campaigns right uh
59:25they already did India right campaign uh
59:28mission life is one of PM Modi's u uh
59:33favorite u uh lifestyle for environment
59:37that's the full form such consumer
59:39campaigns or citizen campaigns that the
59:41government has done have a lot of
59:45potential to deliver consumer behavior
59:47change.
59:49what is needed is much bigger and much
59:52more sustained momentum towards them.
59:55Let me stop here. I think uh I've
59:57covered a lot of grounds. Uh back to
59:59you.
1:00:02>> So thank you Apur. uh and uh based on
1:00:06whatever you explained about the climate
1:00:08resilient diet uh so we we kind of
1:00:11understood that local and season
1:00:14seasonal food is is the key uh with some
1:00:17diversity of grains and pulses and it's
1:00:20not just that affordability and
1:00:22availability should drive our diet and
1:00:25reshaping consumers behavior is not just
1:00:28like uh a challenge anymore. I think
1:00:30together farmers uh markets and uh
1:00:33government uh support can actually drive
1:00:36this uh change easily. So that's a
1:00:38positive note and uh as this
1:00:41conversation unfolds how climate change
1:00:44is not just altering what we produce uh
1:00:47in the field but it is also kind of
1:00:49reshaping the entire food system around
1:00:52it uh from farm to markets to our
1:00:55plates. building resilience is is
1:00:58actually it will require us to rethink
1:01:01not just agriculture uh only but the
1:01:04connections between environment
1:01:05nutrition and overall livelihood of this
1:01:07sector and this brings us to the end of
1:01:10the conversation. Thank you so much Apur
1:01:13for shaping or sharing your valuable
1:01:15insights about this uh topic and this
1:01:18was climate trends podcast. Stay stay
1:01:21connected for more conversations and
1:01:23unpack the climate stories which
1:01:25reshapes our world. Thank you for
1:01:27listening and take care. Thank you.
1:01:29Thank you.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of TCTP Ep 24: How Climate Change Is Reshaping India's Food System with Apoorve Khandelwal, CEEW by Climate Trends, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 8,502 words across 1,397 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.