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Mumbai: Agriculture scientist Dr M S Swaminathan has warned that Kerala would need to brace itself for climate change refugees from within. Addressing an invited audience hosted by the Trivandrum Managament Association, Dr Swaminathan said that food and water security could be at worst risk due to sea-level changes entailed by climate change, according to a report in Business Line.
If the increase in temperature was of the order of 2 degree Celsius, there would be a one-to-two metre rise in mean sea level during the current century. This could potentially throw up unimaginable threat to lives and livelihoods of coastal communities. Production and productivity of plantation crops such as spices, coffee, tea, rubber, apart from rice and other staples, would be affected. This could affect the entire economy of the state.
In this connection, he alluded to the Kuttanad region, which is the only place in the country where 'below sea-level farming' is being carried out. He recalled the fact that he had recommended to the state government the setting up of an International Centre for Below Sea Level Farming in Kuttanad. This unique wetland permits one good crop of rice and one harvest of fish by turns. It is an area of thriving water tourism and is a biodiversity paradise.
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