How to beat climate changeLessons from 'progressive farmers' of Karnataka From growing two or more crops together to switching to organic farming, a couple in Karnataka have found ways to cope with climate change and maintain profit
Kalaburagi district (Karnataka): “Year by year, the quantity of rainfall is decreasing,” said Shyamrao Patil, 55, a lungi-clad, generously mustachioed wiry farmer who has learned to read the changing seasons and–most importantly–adapt to them in a country where climate change has started affecting the livelihoods of a fifth of the population, or 263 million people, that depends on farming.Here in the pigeon-pea (tur dal) bowl of Karnataka, Patil and his wife Laxmibai, 50, grow a variety of crops as one bet against climate change in an area where farming risks include water scarcity, increasingly erratic
rain, rising temperatures and decreasing soil quality, we found in a 2018 study of 419 farm households. Further, 91% of farmers surveyed in Kalaburagi reported a decrease in rainfall over a decade to 2016, and 61% reported regular scarcities of water for farming, we found across four blocks in this arid, poor northern Karnataka district where several human-development indicators match those in India’s poorest state, Bihar.Patil and his wife–both have studied till class three, in a district with a literacy rate of 65%, lower than many Bihar districts–represent communities in India’s drylands who have a history of coping with and planning for climatic risks. Some examples: Water harvesting in Rajasthan and tank irrigation across South India.Diversifying risk, investing in machines to process some of their crops, utilising government subsidies and participating in collective efforts to market crops and store water–these are some of the techniques the Patils have learned and now teach others. They offer a template that could be used in many parts of India in an age of shrinking landholdings, growing water scarcity, climate change and agrarian distress. To capture similar examples of bottom-up solutions to the constraints farming faces today, we studied eight progressive farmers in Gulbarga and Kolar districts in Karnataka, all recognised as “progressive farmers” by the state government and, as we argue, are champions of sustainable farming practices that hold lessons for building climate resilience -- or the ability to manage change, reduce disruptions and enhance opportunities.From fires in Greece to flooding in Laos and heatwaves in Japan, the effects of climate change are widespread. Closer home, a July 2018 World Bank report warned that climate change will lower the standards of living of nearly half of India's population by 2050.These changes are already being felt in India's semi-arid regions, which have expanded by 10% in recent decades. These regions include swathes of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu that are home to India’s most vulnerable people.In addition to the impacts of climate change, rural India is witnessing growing agrarian distress despite bountiful harvests, as IndiaSpend reported in June 2017. Caught between fluctuating market prices and growing indebtedness, many farmers regard agriculture as an unviable livelihood: A fourth of 50,000 farmers surveyed nationwide said they would quit farming, if they had an option, according to this February 2017 study.How then can governments and development agencies encourage farmers to invest in their land, and–most importantly– help farmers adapt to a changing climate? Some answers are available in Kalaburagi and the life of the Patils.In a dry land, diversifying crops, saving waterNearly three times as large as Goa or a fourth as large as the Netherlands, Kalaburagi, formerly called Gulbarga, is a drought-prone region that receives an average rainfall of 842 mm annually–the Karnataka average is 1,248 mm–with temperatures varying from 45°C in the summer to 10-15°C in winter.Farms in the tur dal bowl of Karnataka now face rising winter temperatures and erratic rainfall.
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