Impact of Climate Change on Rainfed Agriculture in India: A Case Study of Dharwad

The impact of climate change is studied in many aspects in different locations in the country and it is concluded that there is high impact on agriculture compared to any other sector in the country. The study results revealed that the climatic variation such as occurrence of drought have high level of impact on the yield of Rainfed crops. The farmers perception on the impact of climate change on the crops grown in Rainfed condition, such as yield reduction and reduction in net revenue. The farmers already act to the changes in the climatic changes both by adopting the technological coping mechanisms on the positive side and negatively through shifting to other professions. It is concluded that the small and medium Rainfed farmers were highly vulnerable to climate change and to a larger extent the small and medium Rainfed farmers adopted coping mechanisms for climate change compared to large farmers. The study suggests that as the impact of climate change is intensifying day by day it should be addressed through policy perspective at the earliest to avoid short term effect such as yield and income loss and long-term effects such as quitting agricultural profession by the Rainfed farmers.