TIRUNELVELI: Researchers from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and Azim Premji University (APU) have initiated an 18-month study on climate change adaptation among farmers in the Manimutharu Irrigation area in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
The study, funded by South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE), will look into how farmers are coping with irregular monsoon, frequent droughts and floods - some of the impacts of climate change.
A peculiar situation is prevailing in the Manimutharu Irrigation area. Water has not been released to the 80-foot channel from the Manimutharu dam in the last three years. However, water has been released to the 40-foot channel. This has resulted in a situation where a set of villages has received water whereas another set of villages have been experiencing a drought-like situation.
This has given researchers an opportunity to understand how farmers are coping with water shortage. The study will be helpful in policy making, according to researchers from ATREE.
