As floods ravage eastern and northern India, agriculture in 115 districts across 15 states is “highly vulnerable” to climate change, according to a May 2016 study, published in Indian Academy of Science’s journal Current Science.
The first to analyse 38 meteorological, agricultural and social data across all of India’s 572 rural districts, the study creates a climate vulnerability index for agriculture, divided into five categories of vulnerability: Very high, high, moderate, low and very low.
The vulnerability index has already been used by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research to demonstrate climate-resilient agricultural practices in 121 of either the “very high” or “high” vulnerability districts identified by their study, study coauthor Alok K. Sikka, India representative and principal researcher at the International Water Management Institute, New Delhi, told IndiaSpend.
While the study is possibly the most comprehensive yet, independent observers said it may yet be inadequate to inform local decision-making on climate change.
Most of the “very highly vulnerable” districts come from India’s western and peninsular regions. Rajasthan has 25 “highly vulnerable” districts, the most in this category nationwide. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar also exhibit “very high” and “high” vulnerability, the study said.
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