The study has analysed changes in climate variables, viz. temperature and rainfall during the period 1969-2005 and has assessed their impact on yields of important food crops. A significant rise was observed in mean monthly temperature, but more so during the post-rainy season. The changes in rainfall, however, were not as significant. While an increase in maximum temperature was found to have an adverse effect on the crop yields, a similar increase in minimum temperature had a favourable effect on yields of most crops, but it was not sufficient to fully compensate the damages caused by the rise in maximum temperature. Pigeonpea, rice, chickpea and wheat were more vulnerable to rise in temperature. Rainfall had a positive effect on most crops, but it could not counterbalance the negative effect of temperature. The projections of climate impacts towards 2100 have suggested that with significant changes in temperature and rainfall, the rice yield will be lower by 15 per cent and wheat yield by 22 per cent. Coarse cereals will be affected less, while pulses will be affected more than cereals. If the changes in climate are not significant, damages to crops will be smaller. In the short-run too climate impacts will not be so severe.
This paper has examined farm households' access to different income-generating activities, and their impact on income distribution using data from a nationally representative large-scale survey. The analysis has shown that, as against the common perception of agriculture being the dominant source of income for farm households, these households earn close to half of their income from non-farm activities. The nonfarm income is more important for the households at lower end of land distribution. The poor households diversify more towards low-paid, low-return non-farm activities. Small landholdings, low agricultural productivity and surplus labour force the farm households to diversify their income portfolio towards non-farm activities. The non-farm income sources are accessible to a small proportion of farm households and have un-equalizing effect on income distribution. Nevertheless, non-farm sources are positively correlated with the total income. This contrast in income sources between income level and farm size suggests that non-farm sector can serve as potential entry points for land-constrained farm households to enhance their income level.
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