जलवायु परिवर्तन पर काबू पाने के लिए किसानों की अनुकूलन/ शमन रणनीतियां

Climate change is a global phenomenon which refers to long term changes of temperature and weather patterns. Major variations in temperature like extreme coldness in winter or extreme heat during summer occurs rapidly. Moreover alterations in seasonal rainfall also occurs leading to flash flood or off-season drought period.

Climate change is caused by various factors out of which the main cause is human alterations to the environment. Since the 1800s, various human activities are mainly responsible for the change in climate which include activities like burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas), deforestation, etc.

Since the nineteenth century, anthropogenic activities have caused an increase in average temperature of 0.9 °C, primarily as a result of greenhouse gas (GHG) releases into the atmosphere.

Given the rate of deforestation, the increase in GHG emissions, and the pollution of the soil, water, and air, it is predicted that this rise will be 1.5 °C by 2050, though it may even be higher.

Change in climate also disrupts the agriculture sector as it reduces the availability of food due to reduction in food productivity, lack of water availability, presence of problematic soil conditions like salinity, lack of easy access to food, etc.  It not only affects the vegetation of farm but it also affects the livestock which overall causes a lot of problems in the livelihood of farmers mainly in India as 60% of the Indian population consists of farmers.

Causes of climate change

Since early days it is known that the main cause of climate change is due to human activities. However we neglected the issue since that activities become habitual as it had been passed on from generation to generations and everyone grows up following that particular traditions. Some of the activities include –

• Burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas)
• Deforestation
• Urbanization
• Waste disposal
• Toxic gases or release from factories
• Combustion from vehicles
• Greenhouse gases (CFCs, methane, ozone) which got emitted from ACs, refrigerators, printing machines, etc.

Effects of climate change

On Agriculture

With change in the climate, we can experience alteration in weather conditions which will further affect the yield of some major crops like rice, wheat, maize, etc. Due to reduce in production there will be food scarcity in some areas.

Also due to change in climatic conditions, certain conditions might be favourable to certain pest and diseases thus there is high risk of insect and pest infestation. Moreover with the alterations in the climatic conditions, the physical properties of soil has also deteriorated leading to problematic soil conditions like salinity, alkalinity, acidic, etc.

On Livestock

With the change in climate the livestock will experience certain acute or chronic stress as they are experiencing change in temperature. Moreover with the change in temperature it will also affect the production of certain livestock species like dairy cattle, beef cattle, small ruminants, etc.

On environment

Due to climate change we experience some drastic changes in the environment like change in meteorological factors like temperature, wind speed, etc. as well as change in climatological designs which include warm or cold season and dry or wet period. Moreover we also experience pollution or offseason rainfall causing flash floods or landslides.

On Human beings

Since climate change occurs due to human activities like burning of fossil fuels, over- exploitation, deforestation etc. , it all leads to pollution which is hazardous for human health. Also inhalation of polluted air due to toxic gases or fumes also causes respiratory related illness like asthma to humans. Moreover due to greenhouse effect, humans are more prone to skin disease and cancers from direct exposure to sunlight radiation.

 Adaptation/ Mitigation Strategies Adopted by Farmers to Overcome Climate Change

Migration

Farmers in rural areas of India like Bihar considered migration as their adaptation strategy to overcome the stress of climate change. One of the main reason for migration is the climate sensitivity of crops as well as livestock. Moreover another reason is the drastic difference in the socio-economic conditions between urban and rural areas.

Awareness

Majority of farmers in rural areas of India does not have any idea about the climate change and its drastic effect on their livelihood until its too late. So awareness should be given to each villages or rural areas regarding the effect as well as the causes by preventing ages long traditional activities of burning fossil fuels which will further instigate the climate change.

Introduction of new tools and technologies

After providing awareness to farmers, farmers in rural areas are trying to adapt the climate change in their own ways. But with the introduction of modern tools and techniques it will be easier for farmer to cope up.

Change in Agriculture or Farming Practices

One of the important strategies adopted by farmers in eastern Uttar Pradesh is change in agriculture or farming practices which were followed till now. These included altering the date of planting and harvesting, growing short-season crops, intercropping, altering the cropping pattern, crop diversification, investing in irrigation, and practising agroforestry.

Water management

One of the major threats posed by climate change in agriculture is scarcity of water. So it is essential to follow proper irrigation method and to prevent exploitation of water by preserving groundwater as it is the only reliable source of water during dry period.

Integrated Farming System (IFS)

Farmers are adopting Integrated Farming System as strategy to cope up with climate change. And it is found that farmers practising Integrated Farming System can increase productivity as well as can maintain farmers’ income. As Integrated farming system consists of various approaches or methods of farming both for irrigated and rain fed conditions, it acts as a reassurance to the farmers from climate change risk and protection of farmers’ returns.

Change to non-farm jobs

One of the adaptation strategy of farmers is to join other jobs not related to farm to maintain a source of income for their livelihood as they cannot continue to cope up with their farms.

Aquaculture mitigation

In certain states of India like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, etc where aquaculture is mainly practised, they are also greatly impacted by the climate change.

Farmers in such areas used certain mitigation strategies like pumping of pool water during extreme heat or implanting mesh over ponds at the time of flooding to prevent loss of fishes. Moreover oxygen tablet are also used by some farmers during hot season.                            

Conclusion

As we all know climate change is an emerging issue currently, we need to focus on how to prevent certain activities which are responsible for instigating climate change. Also we need to focus on introducing new adaptation strategies which are reliable and efficient.

Government of India also introduce the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) after considering the major threats posed by climate change. Moreover the non-governmental organisation also support farmers to cope up with the climate change by constructing dams, wells, etc.

References

1. Adhikari, S., Keshav, C.A., Barlaya, G., Rathod, R., Ikmail, S., Saha, G.S., De, H.K., Sivaraman, I., Mahapatra, A.S., Sarkar, S. and Routray, P., 2018. Adaptation and mitigation strategies of climate change impact in freshwater aquaculture in some states of India. Journal of FisheriesSciences. com, 12(1), pp.0-0.
2. Gaughan, J. and Cawdell-Smith, A.J., 2015. Impact of climate change on livestock production and reproduction. In Climate change Impact on livestock: adaptation and mitigation(pp. 51-60). Springer, New Delhi.
3. Jha, C.K., Gupta, V., Chattopadhyay, U. and Sreeraman, B.A., 2017. Migration as adaptation strategy to cope with climate change: A study of farmers’ migration in rural India. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management.
4. Rust, J.M. and Rust, T., 2013. Climate change and livestock production: A review with emphasis on Africa. South African Journal of Animal Science, 43(3), pp.255-267.
5. Tripathi, A. and Mishra, A.K., 2017. Knowledge and passive adaptation to climate change: An example from Indian farmers. Climate Risk Management, 16, pp.195-207.
6. Venkateswarlu, B., Shankar, A.K. and Gogoi, A.K., 2011. Climate change adaptation and mitigation in Indian agriculture. Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Scientific Publishers India, pp.85-95.
7. Yadav, Dipak & Gupta, Aman & Gupta, Priyanka & Ranjan, Supriya & Gupta, Vishal & Badhai, Sirpat. (2020). Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture.
8. Zhang, P., Zhang, J. and Chen, M., 2017. Economic impacts of climate change on agriculture: The importance of additional climatic variables other than temperature and precipitation. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 83, pp.8-31.

Authors:

Aarshi Kongbrailatpam, Dr. Palak Mishra

Sharda School of Agricultural Sciences, Sharda University, U.P.

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