Impact of climate change on paddy-wheat production and the local adaptation practices by farmers of Bardiya, Nepal

Abstract

Adaptation to climate change relies on farmers: their perception of climate change, willingness and ability to adopt technologies. To assess the climate change perceptions of farmers, climate impact and documentation of adaptation practices of major cereal crops, paddy and wheat production was carried out at 120 households of Motipur and Kalika villages of Bardiya district in 2018. Majority of farmers perceived rise in temperature, decrease in monsoon rainfall, prolonged drought length and severity. They were growing long duration and more water requiring paddy varieties. Unable to transplant paddy seedling on time is a major problem in paddy cultivation where unavailability of irrigation facility on time is a major problem in wheat cultivation. Difference regression model was used to analyze the relationship between crop yield and climate data of the crop-growing period and regression analysis revealed that minimum temperature had positive significant relation with paddy yield and maximum temperature had negative significant relation with wheat yield. Farmers are autonomously adapting various activities include; changing sowing/planting date of crop, use of improved varieties, using more chemical fertilizer and using pest management practices coping with adverse climatic conditions. This study concludes that it is crucial to sensitization, explore, develop and introduce climate smart practices to minimize negative impact of climate change in agriculture.

Keywords

• Climate Change,Adaptation,First difference regression

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