Climate Change and its Impact on Agriculture (A Case Study of Mangalbare VDC, Ilam)

Abstract

The climate change in general is the change in rainfall and temperature pattern in any region which affects various other sectors such as agriculture and water resources. This study attempts to find the impact of climate change on agricultural system of Mangalbare VDC, Ilam, Nepal. The investigation includes the analysis of agricultural production system, land use system and analysis of temperature and rainfall data to identify the climate change trend and pattern during the 1993 to 2008. The analysis of mean temperature shows that, temperature is increasing about 0.98o c in every 14 years (1993-2008). This shows that the warm days are increasing and cold nights are decreasing in the recent years. The analysis of precipitation shows that, the rainfall trend is also decreasing there is 82.8mm difference in annual mean rainfall from 1993 to 2006. This shows that there is slightly changing on climatic parameters in every decade. Cereal crops, cash crops and vegetable production trend are considered to analyze the climate impacts. Paddy and millet yield shows the positive impact due to increasing temperature and production of other crops such as wheat, maize, cardamom, amriso, zinger, tea, vegetables etc. are decreasing due to rain deficit and problems of diseases. Production system of this region is not only affected by climatic parameters but also affected by availability of natural resources and farming practices. Local people of this area are practicing in mix type i.e. mix of traditional and modern farming system and they are suffering from climate change. So to minimize this problem awareness program and capacity building program should be focused for local people. Agriculture research agencies and government of Nepal should make appropriate policy and implement properly for control the climate borne disaster in future for this region.