Evaluation of Potential Adaptation Strategies to Enhance Farm Income of Rainfed Fallow-Chickpea Farming System in Andhra Pradesh

This study has used an integrated modelling framework by combining process-based crop system model (DSSAT) with the Trade-offs Analysis model for Multi-Dimensional Impact Assessment (TOA-MD) to find the impacts of climate smart adaptation packages on farm productivity, net returns and poverty rates in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. Based on data collected in the Kurnool district, the study has shown that the average net income in the region across farms increased by 60 per cent with adaptation. However farm net income for the low rainfall region has doubled by adopting the location-specific chickpea cultivar and providing critical irrigation at 60 DAS. The results have also revealed that the predicted rates for climate smart adaptation package among households in low rainfall regions were likely to be higher compared to households in high rainfall regions. The expected poverty reduction is higher in the low rainfall regions than high rainfall region. Therefore, it is important to promote location-specific adaptation strategies as a package by combining biophysical with socio-economic and policy options to achieve higher net returns and reduce poverty rate rather than promoting individual options.