Adaptation Mechanisms in Agriculture for Climate Change in Nepal

Abstract

In Nepal, impacts of climate change can be observed in varying levels of climate that are prevalent in diversified topography and vegetation. Broadly speaking, there are impacts of climate change in the Terai lowlands, the mid-hill valleys and mountains, and in the high Himalayas. Nepal is a unique climatic laboratory for studying the impacts of climate change.Sixty-five percent of the Nepalese people engage in agriculture and more than 32% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from it. There are evidences of climate change in frequently changing monsoonal patterns resulting in droughts, floods, landslides, and other unexpected results that impair subsistence agriculture systems in the country. As a result, there is chronic food shortage in remote hills, and in the mountains, and the Terai, the grain bowl of Nepal, has been hit by food shortage. To date, around 3.9 million people have suffered from hunger and poverty. There are reports that major food crops of rice, maize, and wheat production have declined due to changes in monsoon patterns, insurgence of new pests, and decline in soil productivity. Efforts have been initiated to adopt drought and pest tolerant varieties, changes in planting time, and method of plantings as strategies for adaptation to climate change in agriculture. This paper attempts to highlight adaptation as a strategy to address issues of climate changes from the perspective of Nepalese agriculture.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v11i1.7219 Hydro Nepal Special Issue: Conference Proceedings 2012 pp.81-85

Consequences of Climate Change In Agriculture and Ways to Cope Up Its Effect In Nepal

“…Climate change has been observed in Nepal in varying level of climates that are prevalent in diversified topography and vegetation (Paudel, 2010(Paudel, , 2012. There are impacts of climate changes in Terai, mid-hills and valley (subtropical region), and mountains and the Himalaya (temperate and tundra regions) of Nepal.…”

“…In agriculture, about 10% of agricultural land was left fallow due to rain deficit on the one hand, while on the other hand in the midwestern Terai faced heavy rain with floods, which reduced crop production by 30% (Regmi, 2007). Adverse effect of climate change could lead to the extinction of some indigenous crop varieties such as many aromatic rice varieties including Basmati rice, some local wheat, maize, and other agricultural crops as well (Paudel, 2012). It was also observed that a severe winter cold wave in Nepal in 1998 had negative impacts on agricultural productivity and showed a high percentage of yield reduction for potato (27.8%), leaf mustard (36.5%), mustard seed (11.2%), lentil (37.6%), and chickpea (38%) (NARC 1987(NARC /88 to 1997.…”

“…Paudel (2012) has highlighted released of drought tolerant varieties of rice, wheat, maize and legumes. These varieties can withstand drought and can yield even in some fluctuation of moisture which should not be limiting production under stress environment.…”

“…In view of climate sensitive agriculture, farmers need timely information on weather and climate variability to adjust their farming practices to minimize adverse impacts on rural livelihoods, and food security (http://www.worldbank.org/en/news).The economies of developing countries depend heavily on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, water supply, and other natural resources (Paudel, 2012). It is imperative that climate change adaptation is not separated from other priorities but is integrated into development planning, programs, and projects (World Bank, 2008).…”

“…All of such negative consequences of climate change are not sufficiently addressed thereby efforts to limit these consequences of climate change on agriculture should immediately be taken into consideration in the highly vulnerable country like Nepal. Aside from releasing different varieties of crop, Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) has recommended technologies to address vagaries of climate change (Paudel, 2012); these include resource conservation technologies of zero tillage, bed planting, permanent bed planting, strip tillage, minimum tillage, surface seeding, crop residue management and so on and so forth. There are composite technologies to address the effects of climate change on agriculture; these include gray leaf spot disease management of maize by growing resistant varieties.…”