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What caused smallholders to change farming practices in the era of climate change? Empirical evidence from Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, India

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Abstract

India’s economy is rooted in agriculture, and the majority of the farmers, being smallholders, are highly exposed to the adversities associated with climate change. It has been argued by several researchers that perceiving climate change is a pre-condition for the adoption of adaptation strategies to reduce vulnerabilities. In this regard, studies are limited to explore the question ‘is the perceptions of changing climate primarily motivate the smallholders to take adaptation actions?’ In this nexus, the present paper seeks to understand the linkages between smallholders’ climate change perception and the changes in their farming practices. The study was conducted in the seven villages of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, India, using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools. Key results show, (1) respondents perceived increased warming and decreased precipitation in accordance with the scientific analysis; (2) abundance of groundwater, misconceptions and lack of awareness shaped respondents’ agricultural risk perception, and despite decreasing precipitation, water management appeared less risky (3) incorporation of irrigation, diversification towards high valued and high yielding crops, as well as farm mechanizations were the major changes in the farming practices; and, (4) except water management, rest of the changes were not necessarily made to adapt with climate change instead to increase crop yield and profit. It is noticed that the changes in farming practices perhaps made the farmers unconsciously adapted to climate change. Still, a prolonged continuation of some of those practices may lead to maladaptation. In this regard, we have given direction towards necessary policy formulation and future research to achieve sustainability.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratefulness to the Editor-in-Chief and the anonymous reviewers for their critical comments and constructive suggestions. The first author would also like to thank Soumik Das for his insightful comments on the earlier versions of this manuscript. Besides, appreciation also goes to Amiya Das, Satyajit Das, Juel Bepari, Satyajit Das, and Pranab Basak for their unconditional help during the field survey.

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  1. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

    Pritha Datta & Bhagirath Behera

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Datta, P., Behera, B. What caused smallholders to change farming practices in the era of climate change? Empirical evidence from Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, India. GeoJournal 87, 3621–3637 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-021-10450-1

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