Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change in Nasik District of Maharashtra

The paper has studied the perception of farmers about climate change and the factors that determine farmers’ adaptation strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. The study is based on the primary data collected from 68 sample households in Nasik district of Maharashtra. Based on the logistic regression model results, the study has shown that better perception about climate change and different government schemes play critical roles in adoption of a successful adaptation strategy by the farmers. The study has observed that several measures such as construction of water harvesting structures, water retention membrane, renovation of water bodies, etc. can be adopted along with timely and adequate provision of drought-resistant seeds, institutional credit and insurance-cover to achieve long-term agricultural productivity. Protected cultivation practices and watershed programmes should be promoted for maintaining soil productivity in the state.