Adapting to Climate Change: A Case Study of Potato Cultivators in Karnataka

Abstract

The study seeks to profile climate change adaptation strategies of potato cultivators in Karnataka and identifies socio-economic factors governing farmers’ adaptations to climate change. Farmers of different size classes differed in their adaptation behavior with large farmers adopting more of crop-and water centric adaptation practices while small farmers opted for alternative livelihood options like diversifying income through dairy management and non-farm employment. Ordinal logistic regression analysis is used to identify factors governing farmers’ adaptation to climate change. Access to credit, membership in farmers’ groups, contact with extension agencies, size of land
holding, number of livestock owned and returns from farm enterprise were found to increase the likelihood of a farmer belonging in a higher adopter category.

Keywords: Climate change adaptation, Credit, Extension, Livestock, Non-farm income, Potato