Main Article Content
Abstract
Climate change has become a major concern globally, demanding immediate attention and action. In view of the extreme climatic uncertainties, it is obvious that Indian agriculture is highly vulnerable to climate change as climate is the direct input for production. This scenario emphasizes the dire need to understand the patterns of climate change and thus prepare agricultural systems for future climatic uncertainties. Therefore, the present study was conferred to analyse the climatic variability of Nalgonda district in Telangana State, considering 30 years (1988 to 2017) of historical weather data pertaining to rainfall and temperature (maximum and minimum). Climatic variability of the district was systematically analysed using box-and-whisker plot, Coefficient of Variation (CV), and trend analysis. The association between climatic variables (rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures) and the major Kharif crop yields was calculated using Pearson's correlation coefficient. The results revealed that the recent decade (2008-2017) had a stable increase in seasonal rainfall in almost all the months compared to the earlier two decades but with the least consistency in rainfall (CV 29.03 %) and higher fluctuations in the maximum temperature (CV 2.38%). September month had shown the higher risk of recording low rainfall conditions compared to July and August months in the district. The rice crop yields during the recent decade (2008-2017) were found to have significant positive and negative associations with the rainfall in September and October months, respectively. Similarly, the lint yields of cotton crops were found to have a significant negative association with the maximum temperatures of the October and November months of the district. The major finding of the study realized was that climate variability and change exist in Nalgonda district, and the climate variables had significant effects on the crop yields of the district.
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References
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References
Alam, M. M., Siwar, C., bin Toriman, M. E., Molla, R. I., & Talib, B. (2012). Climate change induced adaptation by paddy farmers in Malaysia. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 17(2), 173-186. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-011-9319-5
Alam, M., Siwar, C., Jaafar, A. H., Talib, B., & Salleh, K. (2013). Climate change adaptability of farmers: Malaysian case study. Alam, MM, Siwar, C., Jaafar, AH, Talib, B., and Salleh, KO, 130-135.
Baker, J. T., & Allen, L. H. (1993). Contrasting crop species responses to CO2 and temperature: rice, soybean and citrus. Vegetatio, 104(1), 239-260. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00048156
Bal, P. K., Ramachandran, A., Palanivelu, K., Thirumurugan, P., Geetha, R., & Bhaskaran, B. (2016). Climate change projections over India by a downscaling approach using PRECIS. Asia-Pacific journal of atmospheric sciences, 52(4), 353-369. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-016-0004-1
Chanapathi, T., Thatikonda, S., Keesara, V. R., & Ponguru, N. S. (2020). Assessment of water resources and crop yield under future climate scenarios: A case study in a Warangal district of Telangana, India. Journal of Earth System Science, 129(1), 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-019-1294-3
Chettri, N., Shrestha, A. B., & Sharma, E. (2020). Climate change trends and ecosystem resilience in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. In Himalayan Weather and Climate and their Impact on the Environment (pp. 525-552). Springer, Cham. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29684-1_25
Guntukula, R. (2020). Assessing the impact of climate change on Indian agriculture: evidence from major crop yields. Journal of Public Affairs, 20(1), e2040. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2040
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2007a). Climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability–summary for policymakers. Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. 7-22.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2007b). Climate change 2007: The physical science basis summary for policy makers’ contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. 174-182.
Li, L. I. U., Li, W. A. N. G., Fei, D. E. N. G., Huang, Y., LIU, D. Y., REN, W. J., & YANG, W. Y. (2013). Response of osmotic regulation substance content and protective enzyme activities to shading in leaves of different rice genotypes. Rice Science, 20(4), 276-283. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6308(13)60137-7
Oosterhuis, D. M. (1999). Yield response to environmental extremes in cotton. Special Reports-University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, 193, 30-38.
Padakandla, S. R. (2016). Climate sensitivity of crop yields in the former state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Ecological indicators, 70, 431-438. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.06.008
Palanisami, K., Kakumanu, K. R., Nagothu, U. S., & Ranganathan, C. R. (2019). Climate Change Impacts on Rice Yield in Southern Region of India. In Climate Change and Future Rice Production in India (pp. 185-208). Springer, Singapore. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8363-2_9
Reddy, V. R., Baker, D. N., & Hodges, H. F. (1991). Temperature effects on cotton canopy growth, photosynthesis, and respiration. Agronomy Journal, 83(4), 699-704. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1991.00021962008300040010x
Saxena, R., & Kumar, S. N. (2014). Simulating the impact of projected climate change on rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield and adaptation strategies in major rice growing regions of India. Journal of Agrometeorology, 16(1), 18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54386/jam.v16i1.1481
Soliz, L. M. A., Oosterhuis, D. M., Coker, D. L., & Brown, R. S. (2008). Physiological response of cotton to high night temperature. Am. J. Plant Sci. Biotechnol, 2, 63-68.
Sreenivas, G., & Raji Reddy, D. (2010). Assessment of modified weather on rice yields using CERES-rice model in Andhra Pradesh. In ISPRS archives xxxviii-8/w3 workshop proceeding: Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture (pp. 55-57).
Vaghefi, N., Shamsudin, M. N., Makmom, A., & Bagheri, M. (2011). The economic impacts of climate change on the rice production in Malaysia. International Journal of Agricultural Research, 6(1), 67-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3923/ijar.2011.67.74