COPING STRATEGIES OF FARMERS REGARDING THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN RICE-WHEAT ZONE OF THE PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Pakistan is one of those countries which are victim of climate change and is already facing many problems like poverty and food insecurity leading to threats to agriculture expansion. Climate change is ahead of all these due to decreasing agriculture production prolonged water scarcity and declined income growth. Agriculture plays a big role in economy of Pakistan and climate change is matter of serious concern. The main objective of the present study was to find out the factors affecting the strategies of farmers regarding the impact of climate change in Punjab, Pakistan. Three districts from rice-wheat cropping zone (Narowal, Sialkot and Gujranwala) were selected randomly. A total sample of four hundred eight respondents was selected by systematic random sample technique. A well-structured interview schedule was used as research instrument for data collection. Collected data were analyzed statistically. In addition, descriptive and inferential statistics were applied for the data analysis. It was found that education level of the farmers was low in the study area. Most farmers had small land holdings and were used to self-cultivation. Mean area of wheat and rice was 7.31±6.06 and 6.25±5.60 acres, respectively. It was observed that long summer and short winter season and high temperature were the main perceptions of climate change in the study area. Industrial smoke, excessive felling of forests and human activities were also perceived as the factors leading to change in environment. A vast majority of the farmers observed that climate change had negative impact on crop production and annual income. It was also found that recommended varieties (2.58±0.72), applying more industrial pesticides (2.50±0.76) and practicing crop diversification (2.36±0.81), increased use of irrigation (2.19±0.89) and integrated farming system (0 2.15±0.91) were the major coping strategies for minimizing the effect of climate changes and these strategies had positive impact on crop productivity. Binary Logistic Model showed that increase in education, income, agricultural experience, contributes in to adoption of strategies to cope climate changes of farmers. It is recommended that farmers should use approved varieties, fertilizers and practice crop diversification. Investment on improved agricultural technology by government and other stakeholders are very necessary for agriculture to be able to cope with climate change