Climate change mitigation options among farmers in South Asia

Abstract

Agriculture in South Asia is highly vulnerable to climate change due to increasing variability in rainfall and rising temperatures leading to the incidence of extreme climatic events such as floods, droughts, heat/cold waves, and storms. Agriculture sector also contributes to the causes of climate change through the emission of greenhouse gasses (GHGs). Hence, adaptation-led mitigation measures are required to sustain agricultural productivity, farm income and reduce GHG emissions wherever possible. This study presents a systematic review of agriculture emission reduction opportunities with a particular focus on agricultural production systems in South Asia. Our review indicates that the adoption of better soil, water, nutrient management practices, and technologies has enormous potential to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture, thereby contributing to the mitigation of climate change. Many existing practices and technologies have the potential to improve both adaptation and mitigation in agriculture which can significantly contribute to complying with nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of South Asian countries. However, barriers to the adoption of GHG mitigating agricultural practices, mainly the financial and institutional barriers, need to be appropriately addressed to achieve the desired level of mitigation.

Gendered impacts of greenhouse gas mitigation options for rice cultivation in India

“…Considering the importance of rice as a staple food crop for the large population, researchers have developed and promoted new technologies for high yield, low labor requirement, and low emission. Recent studies recommend various low emission and less labor-intensive options for rice cultivation (Aryal et al 2020;Jat et al 2019;Sapkota et al 2019).…”

Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options in smallholder production systems

“…In most cases, farms under 2 ha are economically not profitable, and thus, proper design of policy to finance adaptation program in agriculture is very crucial (Dev 2012). Given that several agricultural practices have both greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change adaptation benefits, prioritizing those practices can help reduce the overall cost of climate change adaptation programs in agriculture sector (Aryal et al 2019a).…”

Does women’s participation in agricultural technology adoption decisions affect the adoption of climate‐smart agriculture? Insights from Indo‐Gangetic Plains of India

“…In principle, although CSA must achieve all the aims simultaneously, generally farmers adopt CSA based on its economic benefits (Khatri‐Chhetri, Aryal, Sapkota, & Khurana, 2016). Nevertheless, many adaptation measures with (private) economic benefits to farmers also have GHG mitigation benefits (Aryal, Rahut, et al, 2020; Sapkota et al, 2015). This study considers conservation agriculture, zero tillage with residue retention, laser‐assisted precision land leveling, climate‐stress tolerant varieties, SSNM, and the use of ICT‐based agro‐advisories for farm operations as CSA.…”

“…Another crucial issue is the contribution of agriculture to global warming. In India, the contribution of the agriculture sector to the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is increasing (Aryal, Rahut, Sapkota, Khurana, & Khatri‐Chhetri, 2020). Therefore, climate‐smart agriculture (CSA) is necessary to ensure food systems to develop the capacity to adapt to climatic variability, sequester atmospheric carbon into the soil, and reduce GHG emissions from agroecosystems while increasing production and productivity (Aggarwal et al, 2018; Aryal, Sapkota, Rahut, & Jat, 2020; IPCC, 2014; Sapkota, Jat, Aryal, Jat, & Khatri‐Chhetri, 2015).…”