Feeding the Future: Agroecological Pathways to Climate Adaptation and Food Security

Climate change is altering the biophysical and institutional conditions under which Indian agriculture produces food, income and rural employment. The central challenge is not simply whether average crop yields decline as temperatures rise, but whether farming systems can sustain productivity, yield stability and resource efficiency while exposure to heat, monsoon variability, drought, flooding and atmospheric pollution intensifies. This critical narrative review synthesises India-specific evidence on climate–productivity relationships, adaptation performance and cross-sector trade-offs. Literature published from 1 January 2000 to 14 June 2026 was considered, with earlier foundational evidence eligible when necessary. The evidence indicates that extreme and terminal heat, delayed monsoon onset, rainfall deficits and damaging rainfall extremes already constrain major cereals, although effects differ sharply by crop, agroecology, irrigation access and baseline productivity. Irrigation, altered sowing dates, heat-tolerant germplasm, zero or conservation tillage, integrated climate-smart portfolios and crop diversification can reduce losses, but none is uniformly effective. Irrigation is a particularly strong short-run buffer while simultaneously creating long-run vulnerability where groundwater extraction exceeds recharge. Likewise, groundwater-conservation rules can shift environmental costs towards crop-residue burning and air pollution when policy design ignores the narrow rice–wheat turnaround window. Evidence for conservation agriculture is stronger where timely machinery services and residue management are available, whereas adoption barriers remain substantial for smallholders with limited finance, secure tenure, knowledge or institutional support. The review argues that climate-resilient productivity should be assessed as a multi-objective outcome encompassing mean yield, downside risk, water and energy use, emissions, profitability, labour requirements, nutritional implications and distributional effects. Future research therefore needs harmonised, long-term, farm-linked datasets and multi-objective evaluation designs capable of distinguishing adaptation from resource depletion and of identifying who gains, who bears costs and under which agroecological conditions.