Assessment of Knowledge and Adaptation Strategies of Farmers on Climate Change Regarding Turmeric Cultivation

Abstract

An alarming global phenomenon that refers to the long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns on earth is climate change. It has recently been widely discussed in all spheres of society. Climate change has a huge impact on turmeric cultivation which prefers rich and wet soils in a protected and shady location. At the same time, climate change has become major concern for turmeric growing cultivars in Manipur as its contribution in the production of the turmeric is decreasing. Adaptation strategies to cope up with climate change and the related impacts have drawn a considerable attention. This paper was carried out to study the socio-economic profile of the turmeric farmers and how it affects the farmers’ knowledge and adaptation strategies on climate change in turmeric cultivation in Thoubal District of Manipur. Data for the study were collected from 111 turmeric growing farmers through personal interview. The ex-post-facto research deign was used and the respondents were selected purposively. The study found that only 88 farmers were using adaptation strategies and 23 farmers were not adopting anything in accordance with the climate change. Correlation was calculated in order to find out the relationship of the socio-economic characteristics with the farmers knowledge and adaptation strategies. The study has shown that occupational engagement, level of education and mass media exposure had more positive correlation with the farmers’ knowledge on climate change. Similarly, mass media exposure, level of education and social participation had shown more positive correlation with the farmers’ adaptation strategies respectively than other variables.