In its fourth assessment report, the International Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)has suggested  various strategies for mitigating the impact of climate change on agriculture. According to this report the most prominent options for  mitigating the  Green House Gases (GHG)emissions are improved crop and grazing land management (e.g., improved agronomic practices, nutrient use, tillage, and residue management). The restoration of degraded land and organic soils that are depleted for crop production  were some of the other areas to be worked upon. Still other significant measures include improved water and rice management, conversion of land  from one use to the other  (e.g., conversion of cropland to grassland) and agro-forestry and improved livestock and manure management.

However, all these measures are not universally accepted so they need to be evaluated in the context of individual agricultural systems based on climate, soil content, social setting, and the old prevalent  practices of land use and management.

An IMF journal publishes a study on models to tackle climate change in developing countries. --

Fearing the impact of climate change to be far more severe for the developing countries, an IMF study based on data from116 countries across the world has come up come up with  models to tackle climate change. The study has taken into consideration the fact, proximity of the countries to the equator and elevation level of the countries.

The impact of temperature in case of global warming tends to reduce yields because crops speed through their development producing less grain in the process. This also reduces the ability of crop plants to get and use moisture. Country elevation also matters, for example, because of higher elevation and lower average temperatures, Uganda faces smaller losses (17 percent without carbon fertilization) than Burkina Faso (24 percent) even though the latter is situated about 10 degrees farther north of the equator. Whereas the major losses are concentrated in the lower latitudes, the gains, where they occur, are toward the higher latitudes.

The climate change projections are then applied to the agricultural impact models to develop two sets of assessments of the effect of climate change on agricultural productivity. One set, the "crop models," relates farm output to land quality, climate, fertilizer inputs. The other, "Ricardian model," statistically infers the contribution of temperature and precipitation to agricultural productivity by examining the relationship of land price to climate—agricultural productivity.

For Asia, the study reveals a stark contrast for the 2 major countries: India would have losses ranging from about 30 to 40 percent. China would have a more moderate range, from a 7 percent loss to a 7 percent gain.  

Farmers are being given a soft option on climate change…says Green Party of   New Zealand.

Exempting the agriculture sector from ETS, (emissions trading scheme) was not seen as a welcome move by the industry sector. Emissions trading or carbon trading is an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. According to the green party of New Zealand, in the original memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the farming sector, the Government agreed there would be no charge for farming emissions until 2013. In return the sector agreed to do their best to voluntarily reduce emissions by 20 percent by 2013.The farming sector which was exempted from the ETS, however failed to keep to its target of voluntary reduction of ETS. At this the industry felt that when the MOU was signed there were few known options for reducing emissions from farm animals but this is no longer true and so there is no reason why the agriculture sector is kept out of the emissions scheme.

Science-based approach for adapting to climate change in India

Currently, studies are going on in India to devise  science-based  strategies which will help farmers to face the challenges of climate change on two fronts: First, a short to medium-term based strategy to help farmers and their support agents to cope better with current rainfall variability as a prerequisite to adapting to future climate change.
The second medium to longer-term based strategy would help in adapting dryland crops (sorghum, millet, groundnut, chickpea and pigeonpea) to grow in a warmer world.

North and South still divided over measures for coping with climate change.

Developing countries have urged the rich countries for transfer of funds and technology for tackling global climate change crisis at a two-week session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that ended recently in Bonn. Seeking assistance in the form of funds from the developed countries was proposed as a democratic way ahead for mitigating or adapting to changes in the developing countries. Finance and technology, another  important component of food security linked with climate change were to be taken up in the next round of climate talks in Accra in August.