Problems in the Adoption of Climate-Resilient Technologies by the Farmers of Telangana State, India

Abstract

Climate change refers to significant changes in global temperature, precipitation, and wind patterns. Climate change hasa serious impact on the natural resources available on the earth. Climate change adversely affects human health and quality of life. A majority of the population depends on agriculture directly or indirectly and it is more vulnerable to climate change. To mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, climate-resilient agriculture has become a boon to the farmers in areas that are vulnerable to climatic effects like drought, floods, etc., National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), is a project launched by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) with the aim to enhance the resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and climate variability through strategic research and technology demonstrations. Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) is the main implementing agency of NICRA. With the help of KVKs, the interventions of NICRA were accessible throughout the country. The present study was conducted in the Nalgonda district and Khammam district of Telangana. The ex-post-facto research design was used for the study. A sample of 120 respondents from NICRA implemented villages and 60 farmers from non-NICRA implemented villages were selected randomly for the study. The major problems in the adoption of CRA technologies were limited knowledge of CRA technologies (91.66%) followed by inadequate trainings regarding climate-resilient practices (90.00%),inadequate weather based agro advisory services (88.33%), limited outreach of extension services about climate-resilient technologies to (76.66%), non -availability of required implements in custom hiring centres at the time of heavy demand (73.33%), etc., In case of non-NICRA implemented villages, the major problems faced by the respondents were lack of confidence among the farmers to adopt the new CRA technologies due to the fear of failure (93.33%), lack of awareness on climate-resilient technologies among non-NICRA farmers (90.00%), Difficulty in the understanding of CRA technology (86.67%), adoption of CRA technologies demand more resources like water, labour and money (83.33%), less number of need-based training on CRA technologies (75.00%), lack of access to improved crop varieties and other inputs (70.00%), etc.