Awareness, Knowledge and Adaptation Practices of Farm Women in Relation to Climate Change in Northern Transitional Zone of Karnataka

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change is the topmost contemporary global issue. Climate change can potentially upset the rhythm of nature threatening the very existence of life on earth. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the pre-industrial era, driven largely by economic and population growth, and are now higher than ever. Their effects, together with those of other anthropogenic drivers, have been detected throughout the climate system and are extremely likely to have been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. Further, relative to 1986-2015, warming is projected between 2.6 to 4.8°C under RCP8.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway) by the end of 21st century. So, climate change is the biggest threat to agriculture in countries around the globe as well as in India. Farmers in India are not fully aware of climate change and its indicators, causes, and impacts. Therefore, this study was conducted to know the awareness level, knowledge and adaptation practices of farm women regarding climate change. This study was conducted during 2018-19 under All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Home Science in Sulla village of Dharwad district. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 100 farm women in the village. A pre tested interview schedule was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis of the data. The study revealed that all of the respondents were not aware about the increase in melting of glacier, cold wave and frequent flood. It was observed from the study that, 36 per cent of the farm women belonged to low category of awareness on indicators on climate change. It was also noticed that all of the women were not aware about changes in farming system in present climate condition. Results show that women were not aware about rapid urbanization, use of pesticides, natural disaster, burning of fossils and farm waste, use of electrical appliances and global warming as the causes of climate change. Moreover, all of the women adopted change in planting calendar, adoption of crop rotation and adoption of intercropping.