Farmers from hill states feel impact of climate fluctuations
Subhash Rajta
Shimla, March 24
Horticulturalists and agriculturalists have started feeling the pinch of climate change in a big way. While the apple growers of Himachal Pradesh are finding it tough to meet the ‘chilling hour’ requirement of the apple plant and the required temperatures during bloom, the impact of climate change in Kashmir is visible in the reduced production of saffron and paddy and the increasing cultivation of warm-area fruits like orange and kiwi.
In Uttarakhand, the paddy-wheat cycle has taken a major hit due to erratic rainfall, especially over the last five-six years. The horticulturalists and agriculturalists from these regions highlighted these changes and their concerns at the recently held two-day Shimla Climate Meet.
Saffron production on the decline
The weather is becoming increasingly conducive to the cultivation of orange and kiwi. This is very alarming for us, and shows how our climate is changing. Besides, the production of saffron is on the decline due to the changing weather patterns. —An environmentalist from kashmir
“Snowfall has become extremely erratic over the last couple of decades. A few years have gone without any snowfall. The changing climate is having a severe impact on apple cultivation. When the snowfall is not on time or less, plants do not get the required chilling hours. Also, there’s a lot of fluctuation in temperature at the time of flowering. And excessive moisture during monsoons is triggering several fungal diseases. All this is making apple cultivation a risky affair,” said Sohan Thakur, an apple grower from a small village near Shimla.
Akhtar Hussain, an environmentalist and agriculturalist from Kashmir, said that snowfall in Kashmir had been decreasing drastically over the last few years and the changing weather was changing the cropping pattern in the Valley. “The water level in Jhelum has reduced significantly and the water is not available for irrigation of paddy. As a result, the paddy production has gone down and several diseases have also surfaced,” said Hussain.
The other major change witnessed in the Valley is the shifting of bloom period from April to the starting of March. “We are getting the temperatures we used to get in April about a decade back in February now. This has pushed the bloom period, which used to start after April 10, to the start of March,” he said.
In Uttarakhand, the impact of climate change is being witnessed in delayed rains, which is affecting the paddy and wheat cycle in the state. Khima Jethi, the environment activist and agriculturalist from Uttarakhand, said the rains have shifted to a month later from the time of the sowing of paddy. “We transplant paddy in July but the rains come in August. And in April and May, when it is time to harvest the wheat crop, we are getting heavy rains, which leave the crop flattened. In short, rain has become very erratic and it’s having a serious impact in agriculture,” said Khima Jethi.
