Impact of National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) in Jhunjhunu District of Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Climate change and global warming have profound impacts on various sectors of human society, with agriculture being among the most vulnerable. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and an increased frequency of extreme weather events adversely affect agricultural productivity by reducing the yields of many crops and creating favourable conditions for the proliferation of weeds, pests, and diseases. The present study was conducted in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, with Mandawa tehsil purposively selected because it had the highest number of farmers registered under the NICRA project. Three villages, namely Bharoo, Chakwas, and Madansar, were subsequently selected for the study. A proportionate random sampling technique was used to select registered farmers as NICRA beneficiaries, while an equal number of non-beneficiary farmers were randomly selected from the same villages for comparison. The findings revealed that the adoption of climate-resilient technologies under the NICRA project led to notable improvements among beneficiary farmers, including increases in irrigated area (8.92%), crop yield (51.71%), cropping intensity (23.35%), and annual income (84.29%). Furthermore, the majority of beneficiaries (76.67%) experienced a medium level of impact from the project, followed by 15.00% who reported a high level of impact and 8.33% who experienced a low level of impact.