Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
1.8
Adaptation
Adaptation could be possible at the farmer, economic agent
and the macro levels with short- and long-term approaches
for autonomous and policy-driven adaptations (Stern, 2007).
The response time for adoption and technological response in
Indian agriculture is 5-15 years for the productive life of farm
assets, crop rotation cycles and recovery from major disas-
ters (Jodha, 1989). Table 1.5 gives details of these adaptation
practices.
Some of the broad categories of responses which could be
beneficial regardless of how or whether climate changes as
identified by Ninan and Bedamatta (2012) are given below:
•
Improved training and general education of populations
dependent on agriculture
•
Identification of the present vulnerabilities of agricultural
systems
•
Agricultural research to develop new crop varieties
•
Food programmes and other social security programmes
to provide insurance against supply changes
•
Transportation, distribution and market integration to
provide the infrastructure to supply food during crop
shortfalls
•
Removals of subsidies, which can, by limiting changes in
prices, mask the climate change signal in the marketplace
table 1.5
Adaptation in practice
Climate
change
Autonomous adaptation
Policy-driven adaptation
Short-run
Making short-run
adjustment—changing crop
planting dates
Spreading the loss—pooling
risk through insurance
Understanding climate risks—researching
risks and vulnerability assessment
Improving emergency response—early
warning systems
Long-run
Investment in climate
resilience if future effects
relatively well understood
and benefits easy to capture
fully localized irrigation on
farm
Investing to create or modify major
infrastructure- reservoir storage, increased
drainage capacity, higher sea walls
Avoiding impacts—land use planning to
restrict development in flood plains or in
areas of increasing aridity
