FARMERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ITS ASSOCIATED RISKS AND ADAPTATION METHODS: A CASE STUDY OF GHAZIABAD, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA

This study makes an attempt to explore farmers’ perception of climate change, awareness of adaptation and techniques adopted by them. Study area is Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh because this district is located in seismic zone IV and due to this, district is exposed to natural and man-made calamities such as, floods, drought, wind storms. Non-parametric test named Mann-Kendall has been employed to observe monthly trend in the climatic variables. Minimum temperature and maximum temperature showed an upward trend in most of the months; however, rainfall shows an insignificant downward trend in most of the months. The primary survey results indicate that farmers are observing increase in temperature, erratic rainfall and other changes in climate but they are not aware of “climate change” per se. Most farmers believe that “Ancestral Spirits” are the main cause of the variations taking place in climate. The farmers are aware of the climate shocks and climate variability. Although farmers haven’t taken any concrete steps to combat the perceived climate changes, they are changing their farming practises.