Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change and their Adaptation in a semi-Arid Region in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v7i2.1060Keywords:
Climate Change Adaptation, Perception, semi-Arid, HazardAbstract
Climate change is emerging as a significant threat to farmers in semi-arid rural areas in India, where agricultural livelihoods are primarily dependent on rainfall. The effect of climate change on farmers’ social and economic well-being depends not only on their awareness of shifting climatic patterns but also on their responses to such changes. This study aims to examine farmers’ perceptions of climate change, analyse their responses to it, and identify factors contributing to farmers’ choice of anticipatory or reactive adaptation strategies. It was conducted in Nuh district in Haryana, a semi-arid region. The study comprised a primary survey of 384 farmers, with the sample size determined using probabilistic sampling method. It reveals that farmers have observed long-term changes in climatic factors (temperature and rainfall) and have adopted strategies to deal with them. In Nuh, the current institutional policy and knowledge mechanisms primarily focus on addressing short-term climate risks. As a result, farmers’ adaptive strategies tend to be reactive in nature, primarily focused on mitigating immediate losses in agricultural productivity. There is a critical need to address the differential vulnerabilities of farming communities and build their capacity to absorb risks through institutional and technological interventions.
Downloads
References
Adger, W Neil. 1996. “Approaches to Vulnerability to Climate Change.” CSERGE Working Paper GEC 96-05. Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment, University of East Anglia, Norwich, and University College London.
Adger, W Neil, P Mick Kelly, and Nyuugen Huu Ninh. 2002. Living with Environmental Change: Social Vulnerability, Adaptation and Resilience in Vietnam. Routledge: London and New York.
Adger, W Neil, Saleemul Huq, Katrina Brown, Declan Conway, and Mike Hulme 2003. “Adaptation to Climate Change in the Developing World”. Progress in Development Studies 3 (3): 179–195. https://doi.org/10.1191/1464993403ps060oa.
Adger, W Neil, Nigel W Arnell, and Emma L Tompkins. 2005. “Successful Adaptation to Climate Change across Scales.” Global Environmental Change 15 (2): 77–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2004.12.005.
Alam, G M Monirul, Khorshed Alam, and Shahbaz Mushtaq. 2017. “Climate Change Perceptions and Local Adaptation Strategies of Hazard-prone Rural Households in Bangladesh.” Climate Risk Management 17:52– 63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2017.06.006.
Arbuckle Jr., J Gordon, Lois Wright Morton, and Jon Hobbs. 2015. “Understanding Farmer Perspectives on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: The Roles of Trust in Sources of Climate Information, Climate Change Beliefs, and Perceived Risk.” Environment and Behaviour 47 (2): 205–234. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0013916513503832.
Aryal, Jeetendra Prakash, Tek B Sapkota, Ritika Khurana, Arun Khatri-Chhetri, Dil Bahadur Rahut, and M L Jat. 2020. “Climate Change and Agriculture in South Asia: Adaptation Options in Smallholder Production Systems.” Environment, Development and Sustainability 22: 5045–5075. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00414-4.
Baede, A P M, E Ahlonsou, Y Ding, and D Schimel. 2001. “The Climate System: An Overview.” Working Group I: The Scientific Basis. Edited by B Bolin and S Pollonais. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://archive.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/index.php?idp=38.
Banerjee, Rupsha R. 2015. “Farmers’ Perception of Climate Change, Impact and Adaptation Strategies: A Case Study of Four Villages in the Semi-Arid Regions of India.” Natural Hazards 75 (3): 2829–2845. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-014-1466-z.
Binternagel, Norbert B, Jana Juhrbandt, Sebastian Koch, Mangku Purnomo, Stefan Schwarze, Jan Barkmann, and Heiko Faust. 2010. “Adaptation to Climate Change in Indonesia—Livelihood Strategies of Rural Households in the Face of ENSO Related Droughts.” In Tropical Rainforests and Agroforests Under Global Change: Ecological and Socioeconomic Evaluations, edited by Teja Tscharntke, Christoph Leuschner, Edzo Veldkamp, Heiko Faust, Edi Guhardja, Ariffudin Bidin, 351–375. Springer: Berlin Heidelberg.
Census of India. 2011. “Nuh District: Census 2011 Data.” Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Government of India. Accessed January 18, 2023. https://nuh.gov.in/document/nuh-district-census-2011-data/.
Dai, Aiguo. 2013. “Increasing Drought Under Global Warming in Observations and Models.” Nature Climate Change 3 (1): 52–58. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1633.
Dao, Phuong Uyen, Arnaud Guillaume Heuzard, Thi Xuan Hoa Le, Jing Zhao, Ran Yin, Chii Shang, and Chihhao Fan. 2024. “The Impacts of Climate Change on Groundwater Quality: A Review.” Science of the Total Environment 912: 169241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169241.
Datta Pritha, Bhagirath Behera, and Dil Bahadur Rahut. 2022. “Climate Change and Indian Agriculture: A Systematic Review of Farmers’ Perception, Adaptation, and Transformation.” Environmental Challenges 8: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2022.100543.
Debela, B. 2017. “Gender and Climate Change: Determinants of Female Farmers’ Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change: A Survey Study in Atsbi Womberta, Ethiopia.” Journal of Citizenship and Morality 1 (1): 14–40.
Deressa T T, R M Hassan, and C Ringler. 2011. “Perception of and Adaptation to Climate Change by Farmers in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia.” The Journal of Agricultural Science 149 (1): 23–31. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021859610000687.
———. 2009. “Determinants of Farmers’ Choice of Adaptation Methods to Climate Change in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia.” Global Environmental Change 19 (2): 248–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.01.002.
Engler, Alejandra, Marieke L Rotman, and P Marjin Poortvliet. 2021. “Farmers’ Perceived Vulnerability and Proactive versus Reactive Climate Change Adaptation in Chile’s Maule Region.” Sustainability 13 (17): 9907. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179907.
Feola Giuseppe, Amy M Lerner, Meha Jain M, Marvin Joseph F Montefrio, and Kimberly A Nicholas. 2015. “Researching Farmer Behaviour in Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Agriculture: Lessons Learned from Five Case Studies.” Journal of Rural Studies 39: 74–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2015.03.009.
Fierros-González, Isael and Alejandro Lopez-Feldman. 2021. “Farmers’ Perception of Climate Change: A Review of the Literature for Latin America.” Frontiers in Environmental Science 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.672399.
Government of Haryana. 2022. “Statistical Abstract of Haryana 2020–21.” Department of Economic and Statistical Analysis. Accessed December 28, 2022. http://esaharyana.gov.in/Portals/0/Compilation/Abstract%202017- 18%20(English).pdf.
———. 2011. Haryana State Action Plan on Climate Change, 2011. Directorate Environment & Climate Change Haryana, Government of Haryana. https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s32cad8fa47bbef282badbb8de5374b894/uploads/2023/06/2023061957.pdf.
Guo, Aijun, Yao Wei, Fanglei Zhong, and Penglong Wang. 2022. “How Do Climate Change Perception and Value Cognition Affect Farmers’ Sustainable Livelihood Capacity? An Analysis Based on an Improved DFID Sustainable Livelihood Framework.” Sustainable Production and Consumption 33 (September): 636–650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.08.002.
Harvey, Celia A, Milagro Saborio-Rodríguez, M Ruth Martinez-Rodríguez, Barbara Viguera B, Adina Chain-Guadarrama, Raffaele Vignola, and Francisco Alpizar. 2018. “Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation among Smallholder Farmers in Central America.” Agriculture and Food Security 7 (1): 57. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-018-0209-x.
Howden, S Mark, Jean-Francois Soussana, Francesco N Tubiello, Netra Chhetri, Michael Dunlop, and Holger Meinke. 2007. “Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104: 19691–19696. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0701890104.
Huang, Jianping, Mingxia Ji, Yongkun Xie, Shanshan Wang, Yongli He, and Jinjiang Ran. 2016. “Global Semi-Arid Climate Change over Last 60 Years.” Climate Dynamics 46: 1131–1150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2636-8.
Indian Meteorological Data. 2023. “Data on Temperature and Rainfall.” Data Supply Portal, Pune, India.
ICRISAT. 2023. “ICRISAT District Level Data for India (DLD).” International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics. Accessed February 12, 2023. http://data.icrisat.org/dld/.
IPCC. 2001. Third Assessment Report. Accessed February 10, 2023. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar3/wg1/.
———. 2022. “Climate Change: A Threat to Human Wellbeing and Health of the Planet. Taking Action Now Can Secure Our Future.” Accessed April 2, 2024. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/02/28/pr-wgii-ar6/.
Jodha, N S, N P Singh, and M C S Bantilan. 2012. “Enhancing Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change in Arid and Semi-Arid Agriculture of India: Evidence from Indigenous Practices.” Working Paper Series No. 32, International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics. http://oar.icrisat.org/6071/.
Kumar, Rohitashw and Harender Raj Gautam. 2014. “Climate Change and Its Impact on Agricultural Productivity in India.” Journal of Climatology and Weather Forecasting 2 (1). http://doi.org/10.4172/2332-2594.1000109.
Kumar, Soora Naresh, Anuja, Mohammad Rashid, Sanjoy Bandyopadhyay, Rabindra Padaria, and Manoj Khanna. 2016. “Adaptation of Farming Community to Climatic Risk: Does Adaptation Cost for Sustaining Agricultural Profitability?” Current Science 110 (7): 1216–1224. https://doi/org/10.18520/cs/v110/i7/1216-1224.
Levina, Ellina and Tirpak Dennis. 2006. “Adaptation to Climate Change: Key Terms.” Working paper COM/ENV/EPOC/IEA/SLT(2006). OECD and International Energy Agency. https://www.oecd.org/env/cc/36736773.pdf.
Magnan, Alexandre K, E Lisa F Schipper, and Virginie K E Duvat. 2020. “Frontiers in Climate Change Adaptation Science: Advancing Guidelines to Design Adaptation Pathways.” Current Climate Change Report 6: 166–177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-020-00166-8.
McKinley, Justin D, Jeffrey T LaFrance, and Valerien O Pede. 2021. “Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Vary with Climatic Stress: Evidence from Three Regions of Vietnam.” Frontiers of Sustainable Food System 5: 762650. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.762650.
Matthews, J B Robin, Vincent Möller, Renee van Diemen, Jan S Fuglesvedt, Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Carlos Mendez, Sergey Semenov, et al. (Eds). 2021. “Annex VII: Glossary.” In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by V Masson-Delmotte, P Zhai, A Pirani, S L Connors, C Péan, S Berger, N Caud, et al., 2215–2256. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge and New York. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157896.022.
Mehta, Pradeep Kumar. 2015. “Identifying Backwardness of Mewat Region in Haryana: A Block-Level Analysis.” NITI Aayog. Accessed January 25, 2023. https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2019-01/Identifying%20Backwardness%20of%20Mewat%20Region%20in%20Haryana-%20A%20Block%20Level%20Analysis_final_0.pdf.
———. 2020. “Adaptive Strategies to Climate Change and Food Security: A Case Study from the Semi-arid Region of India.” In Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Livelihoods, edited by Gavali, Ravindra S, Reddy Krishna Kakumanu, V Suresh Babu, and Subrat K Mishra, 40–54. Hyderabad: NIRDPR Publications.
Mitra, Susmita, Pradeep K Mehta, and Sudipta Kumar Mishra. 2021. “Farmers’ Perception, Adaptation to Groundwater Salinity, and Climate Change Vulnerability: Insights from North India.” Weather, Climate and Society 13 (4): 797–811. https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-20-0135.1.
Niles, Meredith T and Nathaniel D Mueller. 2016. “Farmer Perceptions of Climate Change: Associations with Observed Temperature and Precipitation Trends, Irrigation, and Climate Beliefs.” Global Environmental Change 39: 133–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.05.002.
Olabanji, Mary Funke, Nerhene Davis, Thando Ndarana, Anesu Gelfand Kuhudzai, Dawn Mahlobo. 2021. “Assessment of Smallholder Farmers’ Perception and Adaptation Response to Climate Change in the Olifants Catchment, South Africa.” Journal of Water and Climate Change 12 (7): 3388–3403. https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2021.138.
Schipper, E Lisa F. 2007. “Climate Change Adaptation and Development. Exploring the Linkages.” Working Paper 107. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. https://www.preventionweb.net/files/7782_twp107.pdf.
———. 2020. “Maladaptation: When Adaptation to Climate Change Goes Very Wrong.” One Earth 3 (4): 409–414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.09.014.
Shivanna, K R, 2022. “Climate Change and Its Impact on Biodiversity and Human Welfare.” Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy 88: 160–171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43538-022-00073-6.
Singh, Chandni, Divya Solomon, Ramkumar Bendapudi, Bhavana Kuchimanchi, Soundarya Iyer, and Amir Bazaz. 2019. “What Shapes Vulnerability and Risk Management in Semi-Arid India? Moving Towards an Agenda of Sustainable Adaptation.” Environmental Development 30: 35–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2019.04.007.
Smit, Barry, Ian Burton, Richard J T Klein, and J Wandel. 2000. “An Anatomy of Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability.” Climatic Change 45: 223–251. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005661622966.
Verstraeten, William W, Frank Veroustraete, and Jan Feyen. 2008. “Assessment of Evapotranspiration and Soil Moisture Content Across Different Scales of Observation.” Sensors 8 (1): 70–117. https://doi.org/10.3390/s8010070.
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Pradeep Mehta
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright
The author(s) retain copyright on work published by INSEE unless specified otherwise.
Licensing and publishing rights
Author(s) of work published by INSEE are required to transfer non-exclusive publishing right to INSEE of the definitive work in any format, language and medium, for any lawful purpose.
Authors who publish in Ecology, Economy and Society will release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. This license allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given.
For details of the rights that the authors grant users of their work, see the "human-readable summary" of the license, with a link to the full license. (Note that "you" refers to a user, not an author, in the summary.)
The authors retain the non-exclusive right to do anything they wish with the published article(s), provided attribution is given to the Ecology, Economy and Society—the INSEE Journal with details of the original publication, as set out in the official citation of the article published in the journal. The retained right specifically includes the right to post the article on the authors’ or their institution’s websites or in institutional repositories.
In case of re-publishing a previously published work, author may note that earlier publication may have taken place a license different from Creative Commons. In all such cases of re-publishing, we advise the authors to consult the applicable licence at article level.
