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

NREGA in Rajasthan plays an important role and is one of the major sources of income for many poor
farmers and land less laborers. Compared to other states in India, NREGA in Rajasthan is particularly
active. The relative importance of NREGA in Rajasthan compared to the Indian average is shown in
Table 2.
Migration: NREGA has the advantage of providing work close to the villages, but not all farmers find
work through the government schemes. One direct impact of declining agricultural production is the
increase in migration rates. During the survey, it became clear that a substantial percentage of the
village population is migrating every year to Jaipur or even to other states in order to find work and
supplement their income. Around 70% of the household in the study area have at least one person
migrating every year. However, the ratio of people migrating varied strongly from village to village and
is depending on the year in question as well. A study examining migration rates in Rajasthan during
drought periods reports important changes in occupation patterns. A severe drought in 2002-03 forced
80% of the farmers to quit the fields and join the labor force, both at relief sites or in the regular
economy (Rathore, 2004).
2.4 Adaptation strategies of small-scale farmers
A old folklore from the Marwar area of Rajasthan says: “A century is made up of seven years of famine,
twenty-seven years of plenty, sixty-four years of semi-drought, and two years of extreme drought”
(Aparna 2001). Small-scale farmers in Rajasthan have continuously adapted their farming practices to
climate variability inherent to their environment. The experience of centuries has taught the traditional
farmer an “empirical art of practicing agriculture”, in tune with nature’s vagrancies (Randhawa et al.
1961). In this sense, traditional knowledge of Rajasthani farmers can prove extremely useful to address
climate change challenges in Rajasthan or other areas. However, some local NGO specialists claim
that farmers were better adapted to their environment a few decades ago than they are now. High input
agriculture introduced in the area in the name of technological progress made farmers more vulnerable
to climate hazards, rather than improving their livelihoods.
Nevertheless, this traditional knowledge still exists in the villages and some practices could prove very
useful as adaptation measures to new climate change threats. They are described in the following
section.
2.4.1 Agriculture sector
Sustainable soil and crop management: Instead of relying on high input agriculture by using hybrid
seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, some farmers still trust on the force of traditional soil and
crop management practices. Such practices consider the highly variable environment and the fragile
ecosystem in a far better way than agricultural activity, solely aiming at maximizing outputs. Such
sustainable practices include among others:
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