Juxtaposing Farmers’ Suicides and Climate Change Vulnerability: An Empirical Analysis of Indian States

Abstract

India’s overall ranking on the Global Climate Risk Index has been deteriorating in recent years, making it more vulnerable to climate risks. It has been indicated in the literature that climate change is also associated with agrarian distress. However, empirical analyses are scanty on this, especially in the Indian context. In this analytical exercise, we tried to explore the association between farmers’ suicides and climate change vulnerability across Indian states. Using data from various sources, we arrive at an Agrarian Vulnerability Index and juxtaposed that with farmers’ suicide data between 1996 to 2015 collected from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). We noted a strong association between climate change vulnerability and farmers’ suicides. The essence of this analysis is to indicate and understand the broad trends and associations. This research, in the process, informs and presses for a systematic, more comprehensive study with an agenda at micro and meso levels to understand the nuances of this association.
 Submitted: 01 November 2020; Revised: 11 January 2021; Accepted: 29 April 2021

Implications of Farmer's Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in Agricultural Sector of Gujarat: Experience from Farm Level Data

“…Implications of Farmer's Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in Agricultural Sector of Gujarat: Experience from Farm Level Data Ajay Kumar Singh 1* • Sanjeev Kumar 1 • Shah Nawaz Ashraf 2 • Bhim Jyoti 3 • counties including India. Climate change would be caused to increase the vulnerability of 60% of the population who depend upon the agricultural sector in India [2,5] .…”

“…Implications of Farmer's Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in Agricultural Sector of Gujarat: Experience from Farm Level Data Ajay Kumar Singh 1* • Sanjeev Kumar 1 • Shah Nawaz Ashraf 2 • Bhim Jyoti 3 • counties including India. Climate change would be caused to increase the vulnerability of 60% of the population who depend upon the agricultural sector in India [2,5] . There are many reasons which would increase high vulnerability for agricultural sector due to large dependency of population on agricultural sector; large dependency of sugarcane, oilseed and textile industries on agricultural sector in India [5] .…”

“…There exists high illiteracy of farmers, ineffective mechanism of government policies towards climate change, low technological upgradation of farmers and ineffective supports from agricultural extension services in India [5,7,8] . Subsequently, climate change will create several obstacles to increase sustainability in production and yield, food and health security, farmers' income and trust in farming, price stability, rural development, and socio-economic development of farming and nonfarming communities in India [2,9,10] . Also, poverty, income inequality, food insecurity, nutritional insecurity and hunger may increase due to climate change in India [2,9,10] .…”

“…Subsequently, climate change will create several obstacles to increase sustainability in production and yield, food and health security, farmers' income and trust in farming, price stability, rural development, and socio-economic development of farming and nonfarming communities in India [2,9,10] . Also, poverty, income inequality, food insecurity, nutritional insecurity and hunger may increase due to climate change in India [2,9,10] . Therefore, it would be a major challenge for agronomists, agricultural scientists and policy makers to implement an effective plan to increase agricultural sustainability in the presence of climate change and changing socio-economic activities of the people in India [10,11] .…”

“…Climate change has been increased the high uncertainty in production and vulnerability in the agricultural sector world-wide [1][2][3] . Recently, climate change has been observed in terms of rising minimum and maximum temperature, and change in rainfall pattern and precipitation [1,2,4,5] .…”