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Vulnerability of Agriculture to Climate Change District Level Assessment in the Indo-Gangetic Plains

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Title Vulnerability of Agriculture to Climate Change District Level Assessment in the Indo-Gangetic Plains
Vulnerability of Agriculture to Climate Change District Level Assessment in the Indo-Gangetic Plains
 
Creator ICAR_CRIDA_AICRPAM
 
Subject Vulnerability Agriculture,Assessment Indo-Gangetic Plains
 
Description Not Available
The Indian agriculture, despite making significant progress, is facing the challenges
of stagnating net sown area, reducing per capita land availability, deteriorating
soil health and diminishing natural resources. Additionally, climate variability
and changes are the emerging challenges being faced by this sector for ensuring
national food security in both short and long terms and making agriculture
sustainable and climate-resilient, appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies
have to be developed. Assessing vulnerability of agriculture to climate change is
the pre-requisite for developing and disseminating climate-smart technologies.
Decision-makers and planners need this information to prepare strategy for
addressing the adverse impacts of climate change and prioritize vulnerable regions
for resources allocations. With this background the present study was undertaken
to demonstrate a methodology to assess and map the composite vulnerability of
agriculture to climate variability and changes in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP),
which is one of the most populous and productive agricultural ecosystems in the
world.
The vulnerability of Indian agriculture has been determined at the district level
in the IGP using three core components: (i) exposure to hazards, (ii) sensitivity to
climate change, i.e. the amount of damage expected to be caused by a particular
event, and (iii) adaptive capacity to recover from stress. A novelty of this study
is that it has considered climatic, physical and socio-economic factors together to
arrive at vulnerability rating. A total of 8 indicators have been computed using
gridded meteorological data for the period 1951-2009 for exposure. Sensitivity
has been computed from 6 indicators based on crop and soil characteristics.
Computation of adaptive capacity has been based on socio-economic indicators
of agricultural technology, infrastructure and human development. These spatial
datasets of the key indicators contributing to agricultural vulnerability have been
generated for the 161 districts in the IGP. These indicators were ranked; weight of
each factor was estimated using multi-criteria decision-making techniques such
as analytic hierarchal process and finally, the vulnerability maps of agriculture
to climate change in the IGP districts were developed. These districts have been
tabulated as per the vulnerability rank based on which highly vulnerable, medium
vulnerable and less vulnerable districts have been identified. It has been found
that the districts located in the eastern and southern parts of Uttar Pradesh and
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Bihar are most vulnerable, whereas the districts in Punjab and Haryana are having
low vulnerability due to their higher adaptive capacity to recover from the climatic
stresses.
The study also computed state-wise normalized vulnerability rating of
each district separately so as to rank districts relatively with-in a state only. The
study has provided a methodology to identify the vulnerability of any district/
region to climate change and has demonstarted its utility in the identification of
vulnerability status of the districts in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. The study has
provided vulnerability rank of each district in the following modes: (i) vulnerability
rank-wise, (ii) state-wise and (iii) district-wise (in alphabetic order) to make the
findings user-friendly. The districts which are most vulnerable to climate change,
need support on a higher priority. The findings of the study will be useful for
targeting financial resources and better management of resources towards adaptive
capacity. In the regions, which have been found to be highly vulnerable, policy
makers should enact measures to support effective management of environmental
resources (e.g., soil, vegetation and water resources); promote increased market
participation, especially within the large subsistence farming sector; stimulate
both agricultural intensification and diversification of livelihoods away from risky
agriculture; and enact programs and extention services on health, education and
social welfare, which can help in maintaining and augmenting both physical and
intangible human capital.
Not Available
 
Date 2020-01-14T08:45:24Z
2020-01-14T08:45:24Z
2013-06-01
 
Type Technical Report
 
Identifier Not Available
Not Available
http://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/handle/123456789/29988
 
Language English
 
Relation Not Available;
 
Publisher ICAR_CRIDA_AICPRAM_NICRA