Farmers Switch Their Crops in Response to Climate Change Crisis

Farmers in India are concerned about the risks posed by the climate crisis, and most have developed a backup plan in the face of increasingly extreme weather patterns, according to data. In the face of increasing water scarcity, many cultivators in Tamil Nadu are growing sesame instead of groundnut.

Farmlands have been dubbed the "frontlines of climate change" because the most visible consequences of the crisis are frequently seen in crops. Adaptation, or the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change, is changing the country's farm landscape in some cases. Farmers in Uttarakhand, for example, have been forced to convert "conventional apple fields into vegetables" as a result of "temperature warming," according to the study.

Big farmers have been quicker to adopt newer technologies to combat challenges than small farmers, who make up the vast majority of the country. Farmers' perceptions and responses could be classified into three categories, according to a study published in September last year by Pritha Dutta and Bhagirath Behara of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, along with Dil Bahadur Rahut of the Asian Development Bank Institute, Tokyo. The study is now freely available online.

Growers with more resources are making systemic and transformational changes, whereas others are adapting by taking smaller, incremental steps. "The findings show that the majority of Indian farmers have perceived an increase in temperature, erratic and decreased rainfall, which is continuous with meteorological data," Dutta said.

Crop switching is an example of an incremental change. In the face of increasing water scarcity, many cultivators in Tamil Nadu are growing sesame instead of groundnut. "We also noticed that some farmers increased the number of family labourers to avoid waged labourers," Dutta said, referring to a cost-cutting measure. Others are taking drastic measures, such as leasing land, liquidating land and livestock, and reducing farm size, indicating a reduction in farm operations as a result of the climate crisis, according to the study.

The national Kisan Call Centre helpline for farmers, which can be reached toll free at 1800-180-1551, receives nearly 3.2 million calls per year on average. It has increased its presence to 21 locations across the country and doubled farm tele-advisers to handle higher call volumes. According to data obtained by HT, nearly two-fifths of the calls in 2020-21 were about weather uncertainties, plant protection, seed and planting materials, and crop insurance.

As the demand for precision farming grows, agri-tech companies are promoting a variety of high-tech interventions. Trimble Inc's Greenseeker, a handheld device that instantly reads soil-nutrient levels, to CropIn Technology Solutions' cloud-based SmartFarm platform, which remotely detects crop damage, are just a few of the technologies available to those with the means.

"The key obstacle in technology diffusion (in agriculture) is that landholdings are so small that even using a tractor makes no sense. Second, all of our technologies, such as high yielding seeds, are for irrigated lands, despite the fact that 48% of our sown area is dry land (those outside irrigation cover)," said K Mani, agricultural economics head at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.