TIRUNELVELI: A study on impact of climate change on farmers has been initiated in Manimutharu irrigation area of Tirunelveli district. The study will focus on how farmers are coping with irregular monsoon, frequent droughts and floods - some of the impacts of climate change.
The 18-month study, funded by the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) will be carried out by researchers from Bangalore-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and Azim Premji University (APU).
"Climate change is a slow process, the true impacts of which are difficult to understand. Studying farmers who are now facing water shortage will give us an idea as to how they are likely to adapt to climate change," said Allwin Jesudasan, principal investigator of the project.
The study area has been fixed as Manimutharu irrigation area depending on Manimutharu dam for water to cultivate. In the last three to four years water has not been released in the 80ft channel while it was released in the 40ft channel regularly.
Hence, a situation arose wherein one set of villages received water while the remaining experienced a drought-like situation. Since there is no adequate rainfall in the region for water to flow in both channels, researchers are using this as an opportunity to understand how farmers are coping with water shortage on these two parameters arising in same area, said M Mathivanan, a researcher from ATREE.
Recently, an inception workshop for local stakeholders such as farmers and panchayat officials of Manimutharu region was organised at Agasthyamalai-based Community Conservation Centre (ACCC) of ATREE where Seema Purushotomman, professor, APU and Soubadra Devy, scientist from ATREE moderated the discussion with the farmers. Several farmers said that the one of the primary impacts of water shortage was temporary migration. Some farmers even mentioned that because of temporary migration instances of AIDS in the villages have increased.
In addition, there seems to be difference between how rich and poor farmers are adapting. For example, rich farmers could afford to spend on drilling a borewell. Increased reliance on non-agricultural occupation was another coping mechanism of farmers. The study will help in understanding the nuances of agricultural water shortage and inform state and national policies about their findings on climate change and farmers, the researchers said.
