Adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices: A Case Study of three Selected Districts of Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The agriculture sector in almost all parts of the world, including Pakistan, is prone to climate change in a number of ways. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC Report, 2013), climate change impacts all dimensions of food security. It affects the agriculture productivity, income of rural households, and food prices. Rising temperatures and variability in rainfall patterns have drastically changed water availability that in turn has put pressure on crops. The purpose of the present study has been to investigate how global warming and other climatic changes have impacted major crops in selected districts of the province of Punjab in Pakistan. Based on information collected through a structured questionnaire, the study finds that there is a general awareness among the farmers of Gujrat, Faisalabad, and Rahim Yar Khan, districts of Punjab that environmental changes have taken place over a period of last twenty years. In response to high temperatures, variability in rainfall pattern, declining water table and quality of underground water, they have adopted the Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices introduced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. However, it has been observed that the degree of adoption of these CSA practices is not uniform across farmers and districts. The study further finds that educated farmers and those who have received regular training and had access to agriculture credit were the forerunners of adoption of CSA practices compared to their fellow farmers who were relatively less educated and un-trained.