Climate Variables, Rice Yield and Farmers Perception-A Study in Nalbari District of Assam

Climate is one of the main determinants of agricultural production. In Assam, agricultural production is affected by climatic variables. Nalbari district of Assam experiences the effect of climate change both in the form of flood due to excessive rain and draught resulting from scanty rainfall. Farmers of the district try to cope with the change by adopting different strategies at their level. An attempt was made in this paper to measure the effect of some climatic variables on rice yield for last seventeen (2001–2017) and how the farmers react to the climate change in Nalbari district. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. A sample of 120 rice growers of Pub-Nalbari Block (Sariahtali and Chengnoi villages) and Barkhetri block(Adabari and Loharkatha villages) was interviewed to assess their perception towards climate change. It was observed that rice yield in the district was influenced by climatic variables. With heavy rainfall during crop growth period and deviated rainfall from normal rainfall were found to affect the rice yield negatively while temperature and relative humidity were found to affect the rice yield positively. The study observed that sample farmers were aware of climate change with increased frequency of flood and droughts, changes in the timing of rains, observed trends of temperature and precipitation. Further some strategies such as introduction of new crop varieties, change towards other professions and use of KCC etc. were found to adopt by the farmers to mitigate the climatic effect. The results of this paper are expected to help in further research on effect of climate change on agriculture, farmer's perception towards climate change in the study area and in the state as a whole.