Adaptation of small scale farmers to climatic risks in India - Sustainet

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2.1.2 Land use and cropping patterns The main occupation of the people residing in these villages is agriculture. The majority of the population is completely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. The land holdings are categorized into small (1-2 ha), medium (2-10 ha) and large (over 10 ha) size and mostly rain fed. According to farmers, the average crop production ratio is 5 years of poor production, followed by one year of average crop production. Over 90 % of the farm holdings in the visited villages are small and medium farms. Bigger farms are very rare as traditionally farmland is passed on in equal shares to the male heirs of a family. This practice is splitting up farm holdings into smaller and smaller parcels and it is common to find fields of a size of less than one ha. The most common crops sown in the study area are bajra (pearl millet), jowar (sorghum) and pulses in the Kharif (Rainy) season, and wheat, barley, gram and mustard in the Rabi (winter) season. 2.2 Evidences of Climate change 2.2.1 Scientific evidence Low rainfall coupled with erratic monsoons makes Rajasthan vulnerable to drought. A recent report of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology analyzed the rainfall patterns all over the country and indicated an overall decreasing trend in the rainfall in Eastern Rajasthan. The study, analyzing more than 100 years of regional rainfall data found decreasing trends in overall, winter and summer-monsoon rainfall, while pre- and post-monsoon summer rainfall showed increasing trends (Sontakke et al. 2008). Government sources indicate a similar development, as they claim to observe a decrease in total number of rainy days (see Table 1.) As most of the agricultural activity in the study area is rain fed farming, this is not a good indicator for the farmers. Table 1. Variations in total number of rainy days in eastern Rajasthan (1975 to 2005) Year No. of Rainy days 1975 53 1985 34 1995 42 2005 21 Source: www.waterresources.rajasthan.gov.in 2.2.2 Farmer’s experiences Based on the results of the interviews with the farmers most of the farmers mentioned that the villages face climatic conditions, characterized by high natural variability and thus frequent climatic extremes as very high temperatures, prolonged dry spells or heavy precipitation. High natural variability of the climate in Rajasthan makes it difficult to attribute weather events unambiguously to climate change. 20 20
According to farmers, the weather situation has changed drastically compared to some decades ago. In interviews, farmers reported experiencing recent changes in climate in terms of increasing temperatures and generally in terms of a decrease in precipitation during the monsoon season. Farmers observed as well that the monsoon rains are delayed regularly by several weeks and that rainfall is not distributed equally over time. Intensity of rain has increased in the region instead of three to four days of steady precipitation per week. Dry spells during the monsoon season are also on the rise. More untimely rains, in pre- and post monsoon periods, pose additional problems by damaging harvested or freshly sown crops. 2.3 Climate Change impacts The following paragraphs contain information that was collected in the course of the farmer’s interviews and if not otherwise specified is based on oral interactions. 2.3.1 Impact on agriculture and livestock Temperature and rainfall changes have already affected crop production in many parts of Rajasthan and the area of arable land as well as pasture land has decreased significantly. Many interviewed farmers claimed that there are important reductions in crop yields due to changes in rainfall patterns. Crop losses due to untimely rains have multiplied and low yields due to insufficient monsoon rains are becoming the rule rather than the exception. The same is true for the winter season. Higher temperatures reduce the length of the growing period for winter crops, especially wheat. Farmers are constrained to sow the crops later, which also results in decreased yields. Insufficient rainfall in December and January contributes to the problem according to farmers in the villages of Chaksu, Kanwarpura, Suvadyari, and Aliyabad. The important challenges identified by farmers: • Lower crop production • Lower production of fodder crops • Loss of agro biodiversity Most of the farmers have lost their indigenous seed varieties and are now dependent on the market for the supply of seeds. According to interview respondents, Traditional seed varieties were much more 21 21
Page 1 and 2: Adaptation of small scale farmers t
Page 3 and 4: Disclaimer This report is the resul
Page 5 and 6: 3 CASE STUDY ANDHRA PRADESH 35 3.1
Page 7 and 8: 6.3.1 Agriculture sector 83 6.3.2 I
Page 9 and 10: 1 Climate Change India: An Introduc
Page 11 and 12: of its share in the GDP, it is stil
Page 13 and 14: 1.2.2 National Farmers Policy 2007
Page 15 and 16: maintenance of soil fertility both
Page 17 and 18: Figure iii Farmer presenting the re
Page 19: 2 Case Study Rajasthan 2.1 Backgrou
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Page 25 and 26: 2.3.3 Impact on Livelihood Farmers
Page 27 and 28: Adoption of biodiversity based orga
Page 29 and 30: 2.4.2 Water sector The most limitin
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Page 37 and 38: satisfying basic food requirements.
Page 39 and 40: 3.3 Climate Change Impacts The foll
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Page 45 and 46: The results of the regulation schem
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Page 49 and 50: provided by the local seed dealers.
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years, but what it is certain that
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Figure xvii Farmer's fields with tr
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Figure xviii Rejuvenated forests af
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Figure xix Watershed management pla
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5.5.2 Agriculture related For the r
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6.1.2 Rainfall The rainfall pattern
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One of the major concerns expressed
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ten bore wells, only five were succ
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epay. Of the 3.4 million cotton far
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Table 14: crop combination in the
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wet season and less cracking afterw
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7 Summary and Conclusions: This rep
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Promotion of Sustainable agricultur
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States Summary of insights: Experie
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9 References 1. A. Kitoh, R. Knutti
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32. Pashupalak, 2009: Climate chang
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Adaptation of small scale farmers to climatic risks in India - Sustainet

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