An Analysis of Farmer's Opinion and Their Adaptation Behavior to Climate Change in Bidar District

摘要

A study was undertaken to assess the fanner's opinion on climate change and to understand the adaptive measures, if any, implemented by these farmer's in the Bidar district of Karnataka which is known for the uneven distribution of rainfall. The required data and information were collected through direct interview study. The results indicated that 94% farmer's experienced unusual hot weather, 93% of them expressed unpredictable and uneven rainfall and 49% of them observed unpredictable wind blowing direction since last two decades. Our findings reveal that farmers in the area perceived that climate has been changing over the years due to the diverse human activities. The threat of climate change is more on the livelihood of farmers viz., in food supply, biodiversity loss and livestock, then on business and it is the poor who has to face the consequences of climate change since they depend heavily on the natural resources that are most affected by incidence of climate change. Having experienced theclimate changeby all farmers, they followed adaptation strategies with regard to farming to mitigate climate change; cultivation of different crops (73%), cultivation of different varieties of crops (69.17%), mulching (22%), and change in farming practices like widerspacing (49.68%), increased frequency of irrigation (63%) were the important adaptation strategies followed by them. Results further emphasized that lack of knowledge about modern adaptation strategies (89%), access to water for irrigation (86.67%), capital (85%) and awareness about climate change scenario (96%) were the hindering factors to the adaptation of modern techniques of combating climate changes in the area. Hence, there is a need to encourage the farmers to follow more adaptive strategies based on their experience and also to organize training programs for the farmers about climate resilient technologies thai will help them overcome climate change more effectively.