Hill Agricultural Response to Climate Variability: A Case Study from Uttarakhand Himalaya

Uttarakhand offers a vast scope for cultivation of diverse agricultural crops including certain wild edible species. Agriculture has been the primary occupation of people since ages. In Uttarakhand, the livelihood depends more or less on agriculture. Being, an indispensable part of the dayto-day life of the people, agriculture in the villages of northwest Himalayas is losing grounds and people are migrating to the towns in search of occupation. One of the major reasons for migration is the problems faced by the farmers in agriculture in the due course of time. The changing climate is also affecting the livelihood of people in the hills. The present study is focused on the impacts of climate variability on the cropping systems in the north-west Himalayas. The study has been conducted in a few villages across the altitudinal gradient (600–2,200 m) covering important hill districts of Uttarakhand. It has been observed that climate change has impacts almost in all the sites. Though in some areas, the change has been found to be beneficial, yet, the major study reveals that the adverse impacts of climate change have compelled the farmers either to bring some change in their cropping systems or migrate to some other place. The study guarantees policy intervention and inductive R&D for development of climate resilient agriculture to ensure livelihoods in the ecologically fragile mountain ecosystem.