Climate resilient agriculture for food security: Farmers perspective and community initiatives Padaria RN2, Rakshit S2, Bandyopadhyay SK2, Pathak H1,2,*, Director 1National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack-753 006, Odisha, India 2Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, India *Email of corresponding author: hpathak.iari@gmail.com
Abstract Agriculture is not only the victim of climate change but can also offer answers to climate change. According to the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the agricultural sector contributes 10–12% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It is projected that the temperature may increase by 1.1–6.4°C by the end of the 21st Century. Readiness of the farmers towards climate change adaptation would be more if they perceive the risks associated with climate change as a threat to their livelihood. Analysis of farmers’ perception revealed that 43% of them perceived the climate change as a reality. It is a positive and encouraging reflectance of the farmers’ perception as far as adaptation is concerned. They would take corrective measures to offset the risks. However, the perception based upon metaphysical explanation about the climate change phenomenon like curse of God, could retard the adaptation initiative among the people. Similarly, the perception like climate change being a hoax, a pessimistic outlook of people, a temporary phenomenon, and a nature's revenge could also retard the readiness towards adaptation. Awareness should be created that the climate change is real and efforts should be made to develop adaptation and mitogation options to address the emerging challenges. Top Key words Climate change, Climate resilient agriculture, Farmers, Food security. Top |