Climate change to make small farmers more vulnerable: Expert

Our Bureau Kochi | Small and marginal farmers, already struggling for survival due to the socio-economic structure prevailing in the country, will be further pushed to distress because of the unpredictable weather conditions, according to Prof Madhura Swaminathan, head of the economic analysis department at the Indian Statistical Institute in Bengaluru.

At a public lecture organised jointly by the Centre for Socioeconomic and Environmental Studies, Aluva UC College economics department and CUSAT Centre for Women's Studies, she said the small and marginal agriculture sector should have access to the knowledge and technologies needed to fight climate change. Only this could take agriculture and their life forward. It was necessary to provide the sector with necessary financial, technical and social support.

She felt this growing distress could be tackled only by acquiring seeds, seedlings and cropping patterns that gave higher yields and were resistant to climate change. The development of rice varieties that could yield multiple harvest from a single seed held promising prospects. Such kinds of knowledge and techniques were the need of the hour, she added.

The developed world was responsible for the overwhelming carbon gas emissions, the main reason for climate change. It was unfair to impose the burden of addressing this threat on poor countries. Such an approach would only hinder the development trajectories of nations like India.

In line with international agreements, India had to adopt approaches to reduce carbon emissions. Prof Swaminathan said this should not entail imposing restrictions that would unfairly burden small and marginal farmers, as that would be gross injustice.

Pointing to Karnataka as an example where a study was conducted, she emphasized the necessity for more regional studies to get precise understanding of how climate change affected agriculture. Such studies were vital for acquiring the knowledge and technologies needed to engage in agriculture and adapt to extreme conditions caused by climate change as effectively as possible.

CSES director N Sudhakaran along with CSES fellow Ajith Kumar, Rakhi Timothy and economics department head Ann George were present during the programme held at UC College.