Farm-level climate change adaptation in cotton: A climate-smart agriculture approach

Abstract

The cotton crop is considered to be climate-sensitive as it needs favourable growing conditions with respect to temperature, Sunlight and soil moisture. A marked dry season is also essential for the bolls to open properly and for harvesting. The effects of climate change on cotton production are manifested in increased temperature, irregular rainfall, soil degradation and, in turn, lower production, productivity and quality degradation of cotton. The current study assessed the level of adaptation strategies followed by cotton growers to mitigate the impact of climate change in Nalgonda district of Telangana. Two tehsils namely Nampalley and Gurrempode were selected with sample size of 140 respondents from 10 villages. Ex-post facto design was used for the study. The study revealed that the adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) adaptation strategies by cotton farmers across key dimensions: water-smart practices, climate-resilient varieties, crop and farm diversification, pest and disease management, and information-based adaptation. Results indicated wide variation in adoption levels. Water smart practices showed low adoption, with micro-irrigation adopted by 34.28% of farmers, while contour and graded bunding were not adopted. In contrast, climate-resilient varieties showed a greater rate of adoption, particularly early-sown cotton varieties (69.28%) and pest and disease resistant cultivars (61.42%). Crop and farm diversification practices exhibited moderate adoption, with timely harvesting (66.42%) and crop diversification (46.42%) being more common than intercropping. Pest and disease management practices showed the highest adoption, especially control measures for bollworm (90.71%), sucking pests (86.42%), and diseases (87.14%). Weather-based agro-advisory services were adopted by half of the respondents. Overall, farmers favoured practices with immediate benefits, while long-term resource-conserving measures require stronger extension and awareness efforts.