Participatory Evaluation of Effectiveness of Farmer-Led Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in Eastern Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

India has shown high vulnerability towards the impact of climate change due to thedependency of 58 per cent of India’s population on agriculture. The study was carried on180 respondents in three districts selected randomly of eastern Uttar Pradesh to evaluatefarmer-led adaptation strategies to the impact of climate change, activities that arepredominantly led by farmers to make them more adaptable to long-term changes in weatherpatterns. All the respondents had experienced extreme climatic events in the last 5-10 years,making the region climate-prone. Nine farmers’-led adaptation strategies to climate changefollowed in crop farming were documented and quantified by using Climate ChangeAdaptation Index. Adaptation strategies were evaluated using the Quantification ofIndigenous Knowledge method (QuIK) method; by involving the key informants followedby peer farmers. Crop diversification, use of high yielding varieties of crops andpreparations of bunds to control water flow were the most preferred adaptation strategiesto climate change. The irregular rainfall increased the incidence of floods in eastern UttarPradesh; thus, the preparation of bunds to regulate water flow in crop fields was the mostefficient adaptation strategy.

Farmers perception to climate change under sodic environment of Uttar Pradesh

“…The study recommends creating awareness among farmers, and extension personnel should play an essential role in educating the farmers about mitigation and adaptation strategies. Chouksey et al (2021), Devi et al (2021), Yadav et al (2022), Shelar et al (2022), and Bharat et al (2022) in their study mention that farmers are unaware of the long-term impact of climate change on farming as well as on their socio-economic conditions. They further suggest that extension efforts should be intensified to increase awareness and adopt suitable practices to mitigate the harmful effects, as an adaptation to climate change may help the farming community secure their livelihood.…”

Effectiveness of Adaptation Mechanisms of Farmers in Flood Prone Area of Bihar

“…Worldwide flood damage to agriculture, households, livelihood systems, infrastructure, and public utilities each year. India is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to its reliance on agriculture, which provides livelihoods for 58 per cent of the country's population (Yadav et al, 2022). Flooding constitutes the largest share of natural disasters in India since 2008, and as much as 40 million hectares of land are regularly exposed to floods, making flooding one of the highest-priority disasters to be handled by regional authorities (National Disaster Mitigation Authority, Government of India, 2022).…”