Navigating climate change: Challenges and strategies for women rice farmers

Abstract

Women farmers encounter several significant challenges in adapting to climate change in rice cultivation, primarily due to gender-based inequalities, limited resources, and environmental impacts. This study, conducted in the major rice-producing regions of Shimoga and Hassan in Karnataka, aimed to assess these constraints. Data were collected from women farmers using a pre-tested structured interview schedule. The constraints identified were categorized into four groups: technical constraints, labor and financial constraints, personal and social constraints, and situational constraints. Each constraint was ranked based on cumulative frequency and percentage. Major constraints included the high cost of essential agricultural inputs, inadequate financial support from the government, expensive labor costs, difficulties working in high temperatures during summer, and insufficient training programs on climate-resilient agricultural technologies etc,. Respondents suggested several policy improvements: better market prices (ranked I), subsidies or compensation for crop losses due to weather aberrations (ranked II), and the development of early maturing, flood, and drought-tolerant rice varieties (ranked III).