Building resilience: Farmers’ challenges and solutions to climate change in Marathwada

Abstract

The present study was conducted during 2023–24 in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, India, to examine the profile characteristics of farmers, identify the constraints they face due to climate change, and gather their suggestions for overcoming these challenges. Out of the eight districts in the Marathwada region, three districts i.e. Nanded, Dharashiv, and Hingoli were purposively selected based on their significant climatic variability in terms of rainfall and temperature. Within each selected district, two tehsils were randomly chosen, resulting in six tehsils for the study. Furthermore, two villages were randomly selected from each tehsil, and 15 farmers from each village were randomly chosen, making a total of 180 respondents. An ex-post facto research design was adopted, and data were collected through a pre-designed interview schedule. Farmers were personally contacted to ensure accuracy, validity, and completeness of the responses. Statistical tools such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and ranks were employed for data analysis and interpretation. The findings revealed several major constraints faced by farmers due to climate change, including high costs of agricultural inputs (80.56%), lack of knowledge about effective climate change adaptation strategies (77.22%), low market prices for agricultural produce (75.56%), limited understanding of long-term climate change impacts (71.67%), increased frequency and severity of crop losses due to natural calamities (70.56%), and delays in settling crop insurance claims (66.11%). Farmers suggested that agricultural inputs should be made available at reasonable prices (81.67%), extension services should be strengthened to guide them on climate change adaptation strategies (78.33%), minimum support prices should be determined based on the cost of cultivation (76.11%), awareness campaigns should highlight the effects of climate change on agriculture (72.22%), government policies should support farmers during natural calamities (71.11%), and prompt crop assessments should facilitate early settlement of insurance claims (68.33%).These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address the identified constraints and implement the suggested measures, enabling farmers to better adapt to climate change impacts.