90% of farmers in Telangana concerned over water availability, says ICRISAT study

Hyderabad: A study examining farmers' perceptions of climate change vulnerability in dryland Telangana revealed that 80% of participants were concerned that traditional farming practices were becoming ineffective due to shifting climatic conditions. Additionally, the study found that 90% of farmers were worried about the availability of water sources in the context of climate change.A study conducted by ICRISAT and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka, revealed that the majority of respondents viewed climate change as a significant threat to agriculture and related activities. Approximately 58% of respondents agreed that agriculture was increasingly vulnerable due to climate change, aligning with global studies indicating that agriculture is one of the most climate-sensitive sectors (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2021). Furthermore, 54.2% of respondents acknowledged that uncertainty in rainfall patterns negatively affected crop production.Extreme weather events, including droughts and floods, were identified by 62.5% of respondents as becoming more frequent, indicating that the increased incidence and intensity of such events were impacting agriculture in semi-arid regions. Nearly 58% also reported changes in cropping seasons and practices, making it difficult to determine appropriate times for sowing and harvesting. Additionally, about 58% stated that climate change directly influenced farm profitability, underscoring the economic vulnerabilities arising from climate-induced yield variability.Respondents noted an increase in the occurrence of droughts (54.2%) and hailstorms (56.3%) in recent years, supporting findings by Rao et al. (2020), which documented heightened climate-induced risks in agriculture. Furthermore, 60.5% of respondents reported observing higher incidences of invasive weed species and pests, linking altered climatic conditions to the proliferation of these threats. Importantly, 54.1% indicated that climate change was forcing farmers to migrate to urban areas, highlighting the growing socio-economic challenge of climate-induced rural-to-urban migration. Additionally, respondents observed that livestock rearing (60.4%) and overall livelihood patterns (60.5%) were increasingly vulnerable, reinforcing insights from the Food and Agriculture Organization (2020), which documented significant disruptions in livestock systems and rural livelihoods globally due to climate-related stresses.MSID:: 128916940 413 |