Raising concern over changing climate scenario and lack of technical and financial resources in tribal farming community, researchers have stressed on the need to develop 'climate-smart' villages in tribal areas of Maharashtra's Palghar district.
A study conducted recently in the predominantly tribal Jawhar and Mokhada talukas of the district by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), New Delhi, has revealed that there is a need to develop climate smart villages in the region by following the CCAFS (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security) research programme.
IFPRI's research personnel Md Tajuddin Khan and Manoj Kumar said during a discussion with farmers they felt that in this changing climate scenario and lack of technical and financial resources in tribal farmers' community, there is a need to promote climate smart villages in the region.
Climate smart village is a community-based approach towards sustainable agricultural development and helping communities to adapt to climate change.
Villages can be made climate smart through weather forecasts and crop advisories, rainwater harvesting, crop rotation that reduces water needed for irrigation, agroforestry, site-specific nutrient management and green manuring and crop residue management, they said.
The researchers held discussions with farmers in Kelicha-pada village of Mokhada and Mendhyacha-pada village of Jawhar to understand their perception and awareness about climate change adaptation.
They said that extreme climate events, like droughts and floods, change in rainfall pattern due to late onset of monsoon and long dry spell and declining number of rainy days, always pose a significant threat to sustainable development of agriculture and its dependent livelihood.
The threat is more pronounced in marginal and smallholder farmers' community because of their heavy dependence on agriculture and lack of technical and financial resources to cope with extreme events, they said.
Jawhar taluka agriculture officer Anand Kamble said the farmers in the region should adapt to climate change.
For the last three years, the changes in weather and rainfall conditions have damaged crops in the region. There is an urgent need for capacity building activities towards agronomic practices and need for innovative and conservation agriculture practices for farmers in the region to make them efficient and smart, he said.
During the discussion, farmers showed an interest in climate-smart agriculture and adopting new technologies for better productivity, Khan said.
IFPRI is an international agricultural research centre. Its mission is to seek sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty through research.
