Agriculture in India is highly vulnerable to climate change, particularly in rainfed regions, which account for more than 60 per cent of India's total cultivated area. Akole Block of Maharashtra is part of the Western Ghat zone, which is directly dependent on the monsoon for agricultural production. Changing weather patterns due to climate change viz., early or late-onset and withdrawal dates of monsoon, unseasonal dry and wet spells, erratic rainfall, extreme temperature fluctuations and unexpected events such as hailstorms, and cloud bursts increase risks to crops, livestock and livelihoods, making farmers vulnerable to losses and damage. Unusual weather variations and shifts in local weather patterns are increasingly causing losses for farmers. Their traditional knowledge and experience must, therefore, be complemented by advance information such as weather forecasting and contingent crop plans. Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) has developed 650 district level contingency crop plans based on soils, rainfall and micro- farming situations with the association of network of AICRPDA, Agromet centres and Agricultural Universities. These plans are developed in order to better equip farmers and stakeholders in India to effectively respond to contingent weather situations. In the present situation, the contingency crop plans are currently available at the district and the state level. Many times, the major weather aberrations happen at the micro-level, for example, a village may experience drought, flood situation which may not be the case at the district level. Further, the cropping systems being followed at village/ block level varies a lot within a district. Scaling down of district or block level contingency crop plan to the village level will address these climatic anomalies for quicker response mechanisms and help the administration to channelize the resources appropriately for effective mitigation of the adverse impacts of such eventualities. The project entitled "Centre for Advanced Agricultural Science and Technology (CAAST) on Climate Smart Agriculture and Water Management (CSAWM)" is being implemented in Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (An Agricultural University), Rahuri, Maharashtra under World Bank Sponsored National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, Government of India, Since 2018. One of the major objectives of CAAST-CSAWM project is to develop the capacity amongst the faculties and students of MPKV Rahuri and other Agricultural Universities and related organizations for the development and adoption of the precise Climate Smart Agriculture and Water Management technologies as well as to conduct on-the-job training and case study based learning to enhance the employment and placement rate; and business and entrepreneurship opportunities. CAAST-CSAWM, MPKV Rahuri, has developed a Village Level Contingent Crop Plan (VLCCP) as part of the project objectives and considering the need to localize the available district and block-level contingent plans at the village level to effectively address the local vulnerability. This plan is innovative, rigorous and developed for the adopted villages of Akole Block (viz., Manhere, Ambevangan, Ladgaon, Titavi, Kodani, Pimparkane and Dongarwadi), Ahmednagar district.

     This plan is developed in consultation with various stakeholders in the state including MPKV, Rahuri, NABARD, BAIF, State Agriculture Department, KVKs, Farmers, and Experts from line departments including NGOs and expert facilitation from CRIDA and ATARI. These project villages are part of NABARD’s four projects on “Climate Proofing of Watershed Projects” being implemented in Akole block of Ahmednagar District. Under climate proofing of watershed concept, NABARD applies climate lens in designing and implementation of watershed interventions/measures to arrive at additional soil and water conservation measures required, cropping patterns to be followed to respond to climate change impacts, and designing of risk mitigation and risk transfer mechanisms. The agriculture adaptation / resilience-building measures under these projects do consider current and projected climate change linked variability, however, these measures need to be adjusted/changed to respond the dynamic nature of climate change impacts. This necessitates the contingency planning under these projects so that the communities and village watershed committees would be able to respond to the climate change impacts in a real-time manner.