Arindam Nag

Assessment of social vulnerability to climate change in the eastern coast of India

This study highlighted the social vulnerability to climate change of 29 eastern coastal districts across 4 eastern coastal states of India by using the ‘Integrated vulnerability assessment approach’ and IPCC’s definition of vulnerability. The assessment was based on secondary data, like socio-economic and bio-physical indicators, collected from several authenticated sources; and weightage of these indicators were assigned by using Principal Component Analysis. Vulnerability was calculated as the net affect of exposure and sensitivity on the adaptive capacity. Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu was found to be the most vulnerable district, while East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh was the least vulnerable. The net effect was found to be negative in 10 districts: South 24-Parganas of West Bengal; Bhadrak of Odisha; Prakasam of Andhra Pradesh; Thiruvallur, Villipuram, Thanjavur, Thoothukkudi, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram and Cuddalore of Tamil Nadu. This net negative effect may be considered as an indicator of alarming situation.

Climate Change Risk Perception, Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy: An Extension Outlook in Mountain Himalaya

Climate change is becoming an ever increasing global threat which is difficult to ignore. The major underlying cause is anthropogenic, i.e. excessive use of fossil fuels, destruction of forests for industrialisation and urbanisation with rapid overgrowing population. The danger is such alarming that ecosystem will be irreversibly altered which will lead to suffering of human life by many ways. The overriding appearance of climate change is the increasing average worldwide temperature which is popularly called as global warming, and as a consequence several regions of the Earth are facing visible problems such as melting of glaciers, sea level rising, deviations in precipitation patterns and increase in plant diseases, and a number of bourgeoning challenges for public health are coming across by many nations. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the Indian Himalayan ecosystem (IHE) is one of the extremely vulnerable zones followed by the coastal ecosystem towards the climate change in India, and as per projection the climate change will impart serious environmental, economic and social impacts of the Indian Himalaya agricultural production system. At this juncture, strong adaptation and mitigation strategy is needed for reducing the vulnerability of resource-poor hill farmers and sustainable development of the Himalayan ecosystem. Climate change adaptation involves holistic changes in agricultural and ecological management practices. It comprises a combination of distinct responses, the indigenous knowledge systems, alternative practices and accessible technologies. Adaptation policy should be taking into account the farmers’ perspective. In this piece of writing, the focus is to draw an outline of present condition and, furthermore, propose a strategy for effective adaptation and mitigation of climate change suited for Himalayan agricultural system.

Measuring Attitude of Rural Youth towards Dairying as an Occupation: A Likert Scale

There are two important ways of thinking on the issue of rural youth vis-a-vis farming: Farming as the saviour of rural youth, or rural youth as the saviour of farming. Whatever may be the situation, one thing is quite evident that rural youth and farming are interrelated with each other. According to the latest Census of India (2011), the total population of India is 1.21 billion and 66 per cent of population is up to 35 years of age. Even if 18 to 35 years of age category is considered, 36 per cent population would be covered in it. Demographical distribution of India is very much skewed towards lower age. According to the latest survey of National Sample Survey Organization (2013), 64.1 per cent of rural people are engaged in the agricultural sector. In rural areas, especially among marginal and small farmers, dairying provides a supplementary income opportunity, and many a time, it may be only livelihood option for landless peasants. Livestock sector specifically dairying provides livelihood security. But migratory intention of rural youth towards urban area, had made the basic tenet of studying attitude International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 12 (2017) pp. 3173-3181 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com