Climate sensitivity on rice yield: evidence from Telengana, India

Agriculture is one of the most sensitive sectors to climate change. This study attempts to examine the effect of climate sensitivity on rice yield in Telangana using disaggregate district-level panel data from 1980 to 2014. The rice productivity, as a response variable, is regressed on seven major climatic and non-climate explanatory variables. The results from the FGLS estimation procedure suggest that rice yields are significantly influenced by climatic variables. An increase in the minimum or maximum temperature has negative influence on rice productivity. Rainfall has a significant positive effect on it but failed to neutralize the negative effect of minimum and maximum temperatures. On the contrary, deviation of rainfall from normal had negatively influenced the rice yield. The study argues that such significant damage in rice productivity under conditions of climate change in future will have important implications for the state's food-security, given that the population significantly depends on rice for nourishment and livelihood. This study suggests major adaptation activities such as crop insurance, improved irrigation facilities, pesticides & fertilizers, stress-tolerant seeds and changing plantation dates to reduce the adverse effects of climate sensitivity.