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Enhancing Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change in Arid and Semi-Arid Agriculture of India: Evidences from Indigenous practices: Developing International Public Goods from Development-oriented Projects.Working Paper Series no. 32.

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Title Enhancing Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change in Arid and Semi-Arid Agriculture of India: Evidences from Indigenous practices: Developing International Public Goods from Development-oriented Projects.Working Paper Series no. 32.
 
Creator Jodha, N S
Singh, N P
Bantilan, M C S
 
Subject Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
Climate change
 
Description The primary focus of this paper is on farmers’ adaptation strategies against climatic variability
in arid and semi-arid regions of India. The farmers’ perceptions and coping practices are largely
governed by village level variables governed by the weather conditions. The paper is based on
the synthesis of village, farm and plot level information collected through different studies in arid
and semi-arid regions of India over a period of nearly thirty years. The discussion is broadly
grouped under:
A) Adaptation practices determined by (i) risk generating features of the communities’ natural
resource base; (ii) long and short term weather patterns; and (iii) extreme events such as
severe droughts.
B) The farmers’ (experience-based) perceptions about climate (weather) variability and their
potential adaptation practices (including preparedness, covering both collectively and
individually managed steps) are considered. These adaptation measures are classifi ed
as (a) fi rst (b) second and (c) third order adaptations, which cover different aspects of
agricultural systems affected by climatic variation.
To facilitate effective adaptation to climate change (recognizing the uncertainties and information
gaps in the micro-level spatial contexts), the following important points are relevant:
a) The collection,analysis and dissemination of reliable information on climate-response
related variables (including farmers’ perceptions) in a diverse micro-level spatial context;
b) The search for indicative adaptation options for the above inventory should focus on (i)
prevailing farmers’ practices in different areas with varying degree of vulnerability (eg, water
scarcity or aridity) and other environmental constraints; (ii) agricultural R&D and location
specifi c usable scientifi c results; (iii) effective formal and informal institutions.
The overarching suggestions incorporating the above points is to diagnose and understand
farmers’ adaptation strategies against climate variability with a focus on the dynamics,
diversity and fl exibility of adaptations, implying search for and promotion of approaches and
options to harness the opportunities in the changing economic, technological and institutional
opportunities, which may even exceed the ones evolved by farmers in the subsistence-oriented,
locally-focused contexts. The implementation of the above suggestions highlighting dynamism,
diversity and fl exibility would need both enhancement and reorientation of the capacities of the
farmers and rural communities, as well as that of the institutional arrangements and innovations
supporting them.
 
Publisher International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics
 
Date 2012
 
Type Monograph
NonPeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/6071/1/WPS_32_enhancingFarmers_2012.pdf
Jodha, N S and Singh, N P and Bantilan, M C S (2012) Enhancing Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change in Arid and Semi-Arid Agriculture of India: Evidences from Indigenous practices: Developing International Public Goods from Development-oriented Projects.Working Paper Series no. 32. Working Paper. International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh India.