Climate uncertainties and adaptation techniques in agriculture: evidence from Indian semi-arid tropics
Student name: Ms Neeharika
Guide: Dr Nirupam Datta
Year of completion: 2017
Host Organisation: TERI University
Abstract: Climate fluctuations have been affecting the global economy for almost two decades now. The worst affected sector due to these uncertainties is agriculture specifically in developing countries due to immense dependence on the optimal weather conditions (specifically rainfall) and the incompetence of farmers to make rapid adaptations to maximize their yields. Adaptation proves to be the optimal solution to cope with these fluctuations for most of the world. However, I look to gauge the benefits, Indian farmers have been able to gain by using the available adaptation techniques.
I have studied the cropping decisions made by the farmers in the state of Andhra Pradesh for the years 2009-2012 using linear fixed effects regression due to variations observed in the rainfall pattern by using data on daily rainfall. The adaptation choice set assumed is a representative of the observations made from the population under study. Multiple changes in the copping pattern have been seen through the data. However, the results show that farmers in India have not been able to incorporate these techniques into their decisions in a way that will help them maximize their net revenues and there exists a wide scope for improvement.
Keywords: Climate fluctuations, agriculture, adaptation, panel, ICRISAT, SAT
