Background: Climate change, the most threatening issue is hitting almost all spheres of life. Agriculture, being an open field activity, is directly affected by climate change and also most vulnerable to this problem. Worldwide, potato is the fourth largest source of food and India is the second largest producer of potato in the world. Its production is greatly affected by uncertainty of rainfall and temperature.
Objectives: This study analyzes impact of climate change on potato yield and examines the awareness of potato farmers about climate change impact, adaptation and mitigation measures of Agra district, the major potato producing district of Western Uttar Pradesh.
Methodology: The impact of climate change variables (rainfall and temperature) on potato yield is analyzed by using OLS estimation on annual data spanning from 1998 to 2017. The awareness of potato farmers about climate change impact, adaptation and mitigation measures is examined through analysis of primary information gathered through structured group interview of 72 potato farmers randomly selected from 3 villages of Khandauli block of Agra district.
Findings: The results of survey conducted on potato farmers of selected villages of Agra district indicate that though farmers are aware of the problem and are trying at their level best to mitigate adverse impact of climate change on agriculture productivity by adapting various measures to maintain agriculture yield and quality of produce. But, they are facing problems associated with government support, non-availability of subsidized inputs and unaffordable cost of adaptation measures. Farmers' income is either uncertain or lowering year over year and they are getting highly indebted. As a result some potato farmers are thinking about crop replacement and a few are planning to quit from agriculture occupation.
Implications: The study observed that though government is aware of the severity of the problem and is trying to tackle the issue, but the present measures do not seem sufficient. It suggests that government should think seriously about the problem and rationalize the agriculture support system to ensure self-sufficiency in agriculture production and welfare of all.