Factors Affecting Farm Income and Climate Adaptation Strategies in the Farming Sector of Gujarat State of India

Introduction

The production of agricultural sector is not possible without climatic and agro-ecological factors, geographical location and availability of ecosystem services (Mondal et al., 2015; Chandio et al., 2021; Mondejar et al., 2021; Singh & Jyoti, 2021; Musafiri et al., 2022). Maximum temperature, minimum temperature, rainfall, precipitation and relative humidity are vital climatic factors which also work as inputs for the agricultural sector. Since, climatic factors cannot control by farmers. Therefore, extreme variation in climatic factors during various seasons may be caused to reduce production and yields of food-grain and crops (Kumar et al., 2014; Singh et al., 2020a). Accordingly, food, nutritional, health and livelihood security; farmer’s income, jobs, rural development and agro-industrial production decline due to climate change (Singh & Issac, 2018; Mligo et al., 2022; Singh et al., 2022c). Earlier evidence indicates that most climatic factors like maximum temperature, minimum temperature, precipitation, rainfall and relative humidity are instable due to rising greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions in the atmosphere (Gadgil, 1995; Akinnagbe & Irohibe, 2014; Kumar et al., 2016; Jat et al., 2016; Zilberman et al., 2018; Balasha et al., 2023). Scientific literature also claimed that GHGs emissions from human or natural activities are responsible for climate change and extreme variability in climatic factors (Kumar & Sharma, 2014; Singh et al., 2016; Singh, 2017). Agricultural and its allied sector has large contribution in GHGs emissions in atmosphere. This sector, therefore, can be considered as a cause and consequences for variability in climatic factors (Kumar & Sharma, 2013; Kumar et al., 2015; Mondejar et al., 2021).

Furthermore, plant growth, production and yield of a specific crop can tolerate the impact of a climatic factor up to a certain extent (Singh, 2017). Prior evidence also found a non-linear association of productivity of individual crop with climatic variables (Singh & Sharma, 2018). Thus, farming activities can be negatively affected due to extreme variability in climatic variables (Akinnagbe & Irohibe, 2014; Asrat & Simane, 2018; Biswas et al., 2020). It is, therefore, seemed that global countries cannot achieve sustainable food security (SFS) and sustainable agricultural development (SAD) in era of climate change. SFS is a state in which agricultural sector can meet the food requirement of all people, and fodder requirement of all livestock as sustaining the common property of natural resources and ecosystem services (Singh et al., 2022b). SFS is an integration of all components which ensure the food security of all (Kumar et al., 2017). SAD also helps to meet the sustainability in economic, social and environmental aspects in the agricultural sector (Singh et al., 2022e). Hence, any decline in agricultural production due to climate change will reduce the SFS and SAD (Singh et al., 2022b; Balasha et al., 2023; Akpo et al., 2023). Thereupon, production scale of agro-industrial sector may decline due to low production of commercial crops like sugarcane, cotton, mustard, potato, soyabean, sesame, groundnut, etc. (Weldesilassie et al., 2015; Singh & Jyoti, 2019). For instance, production activities of sugar and textile industries are expected to be declined due to low production of sugarcane and cotton (Kumar et al., 2015; Jyoti & Singh, 2020). Subsequently, employment opportunities of workers in the agricultural and its allied sector to be decreased (Zilberman et al., 2018). It would also reduce the income of growers of commercial crops (Singh et al., 2019; Weldesilassie et al., 2015).