Participatory GIS (PGIS) Approach for the Development of Community-based Climate Smart Sustainable Agriculture Models in the Semiarid Regions of Southern India

Abstract

The climate change impacts primarily affect the developing country’s agriculture and natural resources which is highly vulnerable due to population pressure. Using Participatory GIS (PGIS) approach, first hand information on farmers needs, availability of resources, location specific problems and researchable issues were identified in Thattaparai village in Gudiyatham taluk of Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. In the present study, the Participatory Rural Appraisal tools like transect walk, agro-ecological mapping, social mapping, time trend, gender analysis, time line, livelihood analysis, seasonal calendar, technology mapping etc were employed to understand the farmers real need and problems of the study village. The Rank Based Quotient (RBQ) and Value Based Indicator (VBI) were calculated to find out the ranking of the problems in that village. Through analysis, it was found research gaps of water scarcity, increased atmospheric temperature, cropping system practices, heat waves causes extreme heat stress in crops and the extension gaps of poor awareness about water conservation and maintenance of water bodies, water harvesting process, crop insurance and weather forecasting and cultivation of less water consuming crops like sorghum, millets, pulses, oil seeds and value addition. The authors suggested solution to the identified problems of the village under study and also gave suggestion to formulate community- based climate smart sustainable agriculture model projects for inclusive development of the region.