Managing Extreme Climatic Variability: A Study of Rice Based Farming in Assam, India

Assam has been experiencing the adverse effects of climate change and its most common manifestation is the increasing frequency of extreme flood in the pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. Lakhimpur and Dhemaji are the two districts that have been subjected to severe flood every year and in recent years have been experiencing soil erosion, sand-silt deposition in rice growing areas. The present study was therefore attempted in these two districts to find out the impact of extreme events in agriculture and social activities of the farmers in flood affected areas and to find out their responses and coping mechanisms during extreme climate variability. The result of the study revealed that both men and women farmers have been experiencing changes in the weather patterns with longer duration of hotter days and shorter duration of cold days. They have been experiencing frequent drought and frequent flood accompanied by soil erosion, sand and silt deposition in their rice fields affecting their farming activities. The area and production of rice/pulses/oilseeds had decreased to a great extent due to sand-silt deposition. During extreme flood livestock and fish production also decreased due to diseases and decreasing swampy areas/ponds. Availability of food, fodder and fuel had been affected for which the time taken for collecting fodder and fuel has increased. The impact of extreme climate events resulted in increasing indebtedness, wage labour, migration of young men in search of employment and school dropout of children. In response to such extreme climate events farmers had learned to adapt themselves through diversified farming by branching out into livestock production, change in cropping pattern, increasing the area of rabi crops cultivation, adopting non-farm activities such as wage labour in neighbouring districts/states, shop keeping, fishing and selling dry fish etc. women have adopted non-farm activities such as weaving, fishing and selling local brew. The priority adaptation needs of these men and women farmers are stress tolerant varieties of rice in flood affected areas, stress tolerant crops in sand deposited areas, training on scientific crop and livestock production, poultry etc. Women need training on improved techniques of loom and designing so as to fetch good price of their products as well as livestock and poultry production.