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Farmers’ Perception of Climate Change and Management Strategies in the Mid-Himalaya, India


Affiliations
1 ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora 263 601, India., India
2 ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi 110 012, India., India
3 ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, Barakpore 700 120, India., India
4 ICAR-Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna 800 014, India., India
5 ICAR-Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, Ranchi 834 010, India., India
6 Borlaug Institute for South Asia, Pusa 843 121, India., India
 

The Himalayan ecosystem is one of the most climate change-affected ecosystems in the world. The present study focuses on farmers’ perceptions of climate risks and adaptation strategies in Uttarakhand, mid-Himalaya, India. Using district-level long-term climate data along with village-level surveys, we explored the major trends in climatic variables with farmers’ perception and adaptation practices against climate change vagaries. Farmers noticed changes in the environment that were consistent with trends in the climate data. Farmers’ adaptation measures included changes in crop varieties, reduced number of livestock, shifting to non-farm activities, shifting planting dates and changing the cultivable land size. Stronger extension services, use of mobile advisory for increasing extension contact, inexpensive credit, community-focused agricultural training were the most important factors for effective climate change adaptation behaviour. Farmers’ perception was significantly influenced by number of crops grown, training experience and extension contact. This study emphasizes the need for policymakers to take into account local knowledge of climate change and strategies to speed up communities’ shift towards resilience and the extension mechanism must adapt their strategies for promoting resilience based on locally constrained and unconstrained measures.

Keywords

Agriculture, Adaptation, Climate Change, Farmers’ Perception, Management Strategies, Small Landholdings.
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  • Farmers’ Perception of Climate Change and Management Strategies in the Mid-Himalaya, India

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Authors

Kushagra Joshi
ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora 263 601, India., India
Ankita Kandpal
ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi 110 012, India., India
M. L. Roy
ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, Barakpore 700 120, India., India
Anirban Mukharjee
ICAR-Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna 800 014, India., India
A. Pattanayak
ICAR-Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, Ranchi 834 010, India., India
V. S. Meena
Borlaug Institute for South Asia, Pusa 843 121, India., India
S. C. Pandey
ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora 263 601, India., India

Abstract


The Himalayan ecosystem is one of the most climate change-affected ecosystems in the world. The present study focuses on farmers’ perceptions of climate risks and adaptation strategies in Uttarakhand, mid-Himalaya, India. Using district-level long-term climate data along with village-level surveys, we explored the major trends in climatic variables with farmers’ perception and adaptation practices against climate change vagaries. Farmers noticed changes in the environment that were consistent with trends in the climate data. Farmers’ adaptation measures included changes in crop varieties, reduced number of livestock, shifting to non-farm activities, shifting planting dates and changing the cultivable land size. Stronger extension services, use of mobile advisory for increasing extension contact, inexpensive credit, community-focused agricultural training were the most important factors for effective climate change adaptation behaviour. Farmers’ perception was significantly influenced by number of crops grown, training experience and extension contact. This study emphasizes the need for policymakers to take into account local knowledge of climate change and strategies to speed up communities’ shift towards resilience and the extension mechanism must adapt their strategies for promoting resilience based on locally constrained and unconstrained measures.

Keywords


Agriculture, Adaptation, Climate Change, Farmers’ Perception, Management Strategies, Small Landholdings.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv124%2Fi10%2F1201-1210