Climate change and its effect on crop and livestock productivity: farmers’ perception of Rajanpur, Pakistan

Abstract

Climate change is one of the major challenges for agriculture, food security and rural livelihoods for billions of poor people in the world. Agriculture is most vulnerable to climate change due to its high dependence on climate and weather. Asian agriculture sector is already facing many problems relating to sustainability. The present study was conducted to identify the impact of climate change on the socio-economic status and livelihood of farmers. A sample of 280 farmers' respondents was selected from tehsil Jampur of Rajanpur district. The data were obtained through well designed interview schedule and analyzed statistically. Most of the respondent (39.1%) use to identify climate change through personal experience. Rainfall, temperature and wind patterns are climate change s respectively as reported by all, 41.1 and 26.8% of the respondents. More than half (56.4%) were of the view that climate changes have no impact on fertilizer application. Furthermore, about one-fourth (21.4 and 24.3%) of the respondents reported that climatic change has positive impact on the crop production activities like sowing and land preparation. All the respondents were of the view that climate change has negative impact on harvesting and crop productivity. Majority (68.9 -72.5%) reported that climate change has negative impact on sowing and pesticide application. Whereas, majority (71.1%) of the respondents reported that climate change has no impact on the fodder and its cultivation. All the respondents agreed that climate change have great effect on flood and crop/livestock productivity. While more than half (58.2 and 69.6%) of the respondents reported that climate change has great impact on crop yield and plants/animal species. All the respondents reported that climate change directly affected their annual income.