Impact of climate change on cropping pattern in Vidarbha region

Abstract

Agriculture is a largest economic sector and plays a very vital role in the socio-economic development of our country, which is now in crises. The farmers of various states particularly in Maharashtra are in distress due to multiple factors that result in suicide in large scale. The suicides of farmers is increasing in numbers throughout the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Punjab is the most crucial problem and calls for the topmost priority in the agenda of rulers & policy makers. The suicidal trend set in 1991 by the farmers of Andhra Pradesh has spread to Maharashtra in 2000-01 and has been continued even today. Vidarbha is observed as the suicide prone/ danger zone of the state. In Vidarbha region more numbers of farmers have committed suicide to overcome the miseries due to various reasons viz. non-production of crops, bad debts, drought, lack of markets, marketing and irrigation facilities exploitation by private money lenders and other social and family causes arising out of the combination of various factors, but no one particular reason could be attributed to this saddest event of the mankind in the Indian history.