Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
• Farmers whose land becomes submerged or damaged by sea-level
rise or saltwater intrusions.
• Producers of crops that may not be sustainable under changing tem-
perature and rainfall regimes.
• Producers of crops at risk from high winds.
• Poor livestock keepers in dry lands where changes in rainfall pat-
terns will affect forage availability and quality.
• Managers of forest ecosystems that provide forest products and en-
vironmental services.
• Fishers whose infrastructure for fishing activities, such as port and
landing facilities, storage facilities, fish ponds and processing areas,
becomes submerged or damaged by sea-level rise, flooding or ex-
treme weather events.
• Fishing communities that depend heavily on coral reefs for food and
protection from natural disasters.
• Fishers/aqua-farmers who suffer diminishing catches from shifts in
fish distribution and the productivity of aquatic ecosystems, caused
by changes in ocean currents or increased discharge of freshwater
into oceans.
19.7
CLIMATE CHANGE IN HIMALAYAS
Out of about 34 million people inhabiting the mountainous region of Hi-
malaya, the major communities belong to hill, mountain and highland
farming. They sustain on largely subsistence farming which they practice
on marginal rainfed and some irrigated farmlands occupying 15.8% of
the total area of the Himalayas. The rest of the Himalaya includes range-
lands, pastures, wasteland and the forests, which account for nearly 69%
of the Himalayan area. Another 15.2% is under permanent snow cover and
Rocky Mountains and serves as perennial source of clean water to the hill
people as well as to rest of the nation. Agriculture is the primary sector of
the economy, contributing 45% to the total regional income of the inhabit-
ants. The majority of the farming households in the hilly areas have land-
holdings of less than 0.5 ha and these are continuously becoming smaller.
In Indian Himalaya livelihood through agriculture has been threatened by
declining per capita available cropland coupled with poor productivity,
poor production management, labor shortages, poor post production man-
