There is a need to assess the potential impacts of climate change on agriculture in order to plan appropriate adaptation measures. Farmers are already adapting to these changes to a certain degree. This article presents a case study of rainfed and farmer-managed irrigated agriculture in the Indrawati Basin, Nepal. It describes farmers' perceptions of climate change, an analysis of historical water availability, and future projections of temperature and precipitation. Adaptation strategies already being used by farmers are identified and new ones are recommended based on primary information collected from farmers and an in-depth analysis of the climate data.
This paper presents the trends of precipitation and temperature in the Indrawati basin, Nepal and tries to compare it with the experiences and perceptions of the local farming communities. It forms part of the preliminary findings from the AGloCAP (Adaptation to Global Change in Agricultural Practices) project under which field data is being collected from selected sample sites in the basin. The impact of global changes on agricultural practices and underlying socio-economic variables has been analysed by characterizing the basin into different agro-ecological zones.The preliminary analysis of field data reveal that global changes is having diverse impact on agriculture ranging from change in agro-climatic condition, shifting of cropping areas, change in timing of agricultural activities, change in input levels, outbreak of disease and pests. The farmers’ perceptions of these changes, although sometime found to be a bit exaggerated and possessing their own interpretations, were observed to be very much in line with the identified trends of climatic factors. Similarly, it was also observed that in addition to the changing climatic condition, the underlying social, economical and institutional drivers have a remarkable influence on agricultural production in the region and that global change is first impacting those who are already marginal.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v11i1.7201 Hydro Nepal Special Issue: Conference Proceedings 2012 pp.35-41
This study examined the performance of dairy farming systems in Brazil, Ethiopia, Nepal, New Zealand and the USA, based on existing databases of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and country-specific data sources. There are primarily three types of dairy farming, with pasturebased open grazing being the dominant one in Brazil and New Zealand. In the USA, stall-feeding is more popular, while mixed dairy farming is traditionally adopted in Ethiopia and Nepal. Compared to the mixed and pasture-based systems, the stall-feeding system puts more pressure on water quantity, as the water requirement to produce a given amount of concentrated feed required for a stall-feeding system is higher than to produce an equivalent amount of grass, crop residue and fodder required for pasture-based and mixed systems. Nitrate leaching, and subsequent contamination of water resources, is the biggest environmental problem, with the high-intensity stall-feeding in USA, followed by the pasture-based system in New Zealand, being the most challenging in terms of managing nutrient losses. Irrigation networks with sufficient and appropriate flow control structures, and irrigation scheduling that incorporates plant-available water, soil moisture and plant growth stages, are prerequisites for conversion of low-productive agricultural land into highproductive dairy farming.
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