As climate disruptions upend traditional farming patterns, India’s agri-input and food sectors must adapt with system-wide strategies—from land regeneration and resilient inputs to hyper-local advisories and decentralised processing

Byline: Crispino Lobo, Co-founder and Managing Trustee, WOTR

In India’s dryland belts, the first sowing has become a gamble. Sometimes the rains don’t come at all; other times, they arrive suddenly, washing the seeds away. The second sowing becomes more uncertain, and for many farmers, the third sowing is financially out of reach. With each failed round, input costs pile up, draining savings and hope. A recent report by the Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA) states yields may fall by 25 per cent due to climate disruptions. This is not just about rainfall. Farmers are losing crops to temperature spikes during flowering, sudden pest attacks, and soil that won’t hold moisture.

And it’s not just farmers who are exposed. Input dealers, procurement agents, food companies—everyone downstream is beginning to absorb the shocks. The model built on predictable seasons, uniform cropping, expected yields and linear supply chains is fraying. De-risking agriculture now requires changes across this entire system, starting from the ground up.

Regenerate The Land To Stabilise Input Performance
In rainfed regions, de-risking starts with water and soil, not with agri-input products. Watershed development practices that are ecologically aligned, such as continuous contour trenches, farm bunds, percolation tanks, and appropriately placed water harvesting structures like check dams, have been proven to increase soil moisture retention, reduce erosion, and recharge groundwater. Villages where these practices have been adopted consistently show better results: higher cropping intensity, more stable yields, and improved productivity, even when the rains fall short.

On the other hand, many agricultural inputs, especially chemical fertilisers and pesticides, are created for predictable, irrigated conditions. In the degraded, dry landscapes of rainfed India, they often underperform. Sometimes, they even make things worse by depleting the soil further.

For agri-input companies, this is a wake-up call. The effectiveness of any product is inseparable from the condition of the land it is used on. Future offerings must align with stressed environments, such as inputs that work in low-moisture, low-carbon, and high-temperature contexts.

Build Demand Around Risk Diversification And Resilience, Not Volume
As climate risk increases, more farmers should be encouraged to shift towards regenerative, low-external-input, diversified farming systems. Practices like multi-layer farming, intercropping and livestock and aquaculture integration are gaining ground. These approaches reduce dependency on synthetic inputs, enhance soil health, use water more efficiently, and spread risk across multiple crops.

Meanwhile, decentralised bio-resource centres are enabling farmers to adopt bio-inputs including compost cultures, fermented organic sprays, and microbial inoculants. These natural inputs help restore soil health, improve microbial activity, and reduce pest pressure without notable increase in costs.

Agri-businesses need to recognise that the future is not about selling more products; it’s about offering smarter, more adaptable solutions. Farmers are looking for inputs that do more with less: low-dose, cost-effective options that build resilience and fit into farming systems that work with nature, not against it.

Provide Hyper Localised Climate-responsive Decision Support Services
For smallholder farmers, decisions on sowing, irrigation, spraying or cultural operations are increasingly high-stakes. With weather patterns becoming unpredictable, the margin for error is shrinking. That is why mobile-based advisory services are proving to be game-changers. By providing timely, hyper-local updates—on weather, pests, markets, and specific crop or livestock needs—in the farmer’s own language, these tools are helping them make informed choices, reduce losses, and boost both productivity and income.

When advisories are linked to specific inputs – what to do and use, when and how -they significantly improve adoption and trust.

This presents a major opportunity for companies to move beyond product sales and bundle decision-support services with their offerings. Advisory is becoming a form of insurance, helping de-risk both farm produce and brand reputation.

Decentralise Processing To Buffer Against Climate Shocks
Even when harvests survive erratic weather, farmers often face market losses due to a lack of storage or timely sale. Perishable produce spoils quickly in villages without cold chains, drying units, or aggregation facilities. One local glut can crash prices, while procurement delays lead to distress sales.

Investments in decentralised cold storage, mobile processing units, and local aggregation hubs can significantly reduce post-harvest losses and increased market access can improve margins for both farmers and buyers.

For food processors and agri-businesses, this is not just about efficiency; it’s a way to stabilise raw material supply during increasingly volatile growing seasons. Companies sourcing across multiple geographies and from diverse crops – especially hardy, rainfed varieties (tolerant to drought, heat, and so on) like millets, pulses, and oilseeds – are better positioned to withstand climate shocks.

No Silver Bullet, Only Interlocking Solutions
There is no single intervention that will climate-proof agriculture. But a convergence of eco-centric, watershed-based land restoration, agroecological practices, bio-inputs, weather based advisory services and decentralised value-adding infrastructure is pointing the way forward.

For agri-input and food sectors, the lesson is not simply to adjust product lines, but to engage more deeply with where and how farming is done. Products, services, and procurement models that align with these shifts will be better equipped to thrive in the decade ahead.

In a climate-uncertain world, resilience is not built in silos. It is built across systems—from the ridge-to-the-root-to-the-retail shelf.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication