Desktop Study on - Regional Climate Change Adaptation ...

Assessment of Capacity Gaps and Needs of South East Asia Countries
in Addressing Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Variability and Climate Change
droughts have resulted in the delay or cancellation
of the paddy planting season. During such occasions,
the paddy farmers whose livelihood depends mainly
on paddy cultivation would be seriously affected.
As for the whole country, the impact of drought
on food production can be very serious, given that
there are about 322,000 hectare of irrigated paddy
fields and another 278,000 hectare of rain-fed paddy
fields producing about 2.5 million tonnes of paddy
per annum. DID, in fact, is very concerned with the
supply of water for irrigation, especially for small
irrigation schemes, during a drought. This is because
about 70 % of the total water consumption in this
country is utilized for irrigated agriculture (Husaini,
2007).
Other impact is related with sea level rise; the nationwide
loss of about 80,000 ha of land planted with
rubber due to flooding as a result of the combination
of increased rainfall and sea level rise of 1 m; also the
abandonment of about 100,000 ha of land planted
with oil palm in the event of a 1 m rise in sea level
(MOSTE, 2000).
Vulnerability and Adaptation in the
Agricultural and Food Sector
Vulnerability is defined in terms of yield, farm
profitability, regional economy and hunger
considering uncertainty about future climatechange
impacts. According to the projection, in the
long term, climate change is an additional problem
that agriculture faces in meeting national food
requirements. Since it is likely that some climate
change will occur over the next 50-100 years,
‘adaptation’ has been suggested as the means to
reduce the impact of climate change on individuals
and societies (Siwar et al, 2009).
In Malaysia there are some national policies
regarding adaptation and mitigation to climate
change, but also specific adaptation measures
are necessary to manage sectoral impacts. In the
agriculture sector, adaptation measures are vital to
ensure sustainability of the agriculture activities.
These measures include (Kamal, 2007):
The use of agro-climatic classification in
agricultural planning: The Department of
Agriculture drafted an agro-climatic map of
Peninsular Malaysia based on the agriculture
rainfall index (ARI) in 1990. Ten agro-climatic
zones were identified according to the number
of consecutive dry and consecutive wet
months. The agro-climatic maps defined the
various regions according to the variations in
environmental requirements of different crops
as well as on the regional differences of the
natural environment, particularly climate and
soils.
The use of Soil Suitability Criteria for crop
production: Physical and chemical properties
of the soil affect crop production. Soil depth,
texture, clay fraction, soil structure, bulk
density and available soil moisture are among
the major soil physical properties that affect
crop production. Soil reaction, cation exchange
capacity and nutrient composition are the
soil chemical properties, important in crop
production. By considering these properties
in soil suitability classification, the success of
a crop production endeavour can be ensured
with a reasonable margin of safety.
Others adaptation measures include: develop
plant varieties that are tolerant to high
temperatures and high water use efficiency;
preserve Permanent Forest Reserves and water
catchment areas to ensure adequate water
supply for agriculture; strengthen agricultural
extension services (soil conservation measure
and production efficiency); strengthen
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and
bio-control procedures to deal incidences
of pest and diseases; improve regional and
international cooperation on agricultureclimate
change related issues; and introduce
agriculture insurance to minimize risk related
to climate change
Some other strategies proposed by the Malaysian
Agriculture and Research Development Institute
(MARDI) are changing management and breeding
by using alternative species (regarding nutritional
quality, social acceptability, environmental
suitability), using alternative cropping systems
(considering social acceptability and environment
suitability) and including water management (in
means of conservation, irrigation and water pricing)
(Abdullah, 2008).
Gaps Identified in Programmes and
Studies
The third National Agricultural policy makes no
references to the climate change threat and to the
necessity of adaptation.
Regarding rice crops, drought and flood resistant
varieties need to be introduced. There is a need to
generate crop varieties with improved water-use
147