Perception of Farmers towards Climate Change in Southern Parts of Tamil Nadu: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

The goal of this research was to look into farmers' perceptions of climate change in agriculture. An ex post facto research design was used in the study. The research was carried out in wetland, dryland, and garden land farming systems in the Tamil Nadu districts of Madurai and Sivagangai. A total of 120 farmers representing three farming systems were chosen and surveyed for the study using a proportionate random sample procedure. Personal interviews with respondents were conducted using a well-structured and pre-tested interview schedule. Descriptive statistical tools were used to analyze the data. According to the findings, more than half of the respondents in the wetland (65.00%), dryland (50.00%), and garden land (55.00%) were perceived climate change in agriculture at a medium level. The majority of the garden land respondents (72.50%) had perceived the increased pest and disease incidence due to climate change than the respondents of wetland (52.50%) and drylands (30.00%). More than three-fifths of the respondents in the study area had perceived the income from agriculture was adversely affected (69.17%) due to climate change followed by the change in crop yield (64.17%) and cost of cultivation was increased (61.67%) due to the climate change. As a result, any intervention that supports the use of climate change adaptation measures may take into account location-specific factors that influence farmers' perceptions of climate change and adaptive responses to it.