Vol. 11, Special Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
Karthikeyan, Dr. JS Amarnath, Dr. S Selvam and Dr. B Sivasankari

Abstract:
Climate change refers to long-term changes in the weather pattern and temperature trend. Due to drastic climate change and global warming, the availability of fresh water for irrigation became a major concern. Hence the present study was conducted to study the impact of climate change in canal, ground water and both canal and ground water irrigation ecosystems of Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu, India. For the present study, three blocks were purposively selected from the Tiruchirappalli district. 150 sample farmers were selected from 15 villages. Percentage analysis showed that there was an increase in irrigation intensity in all three-irrigation ecosystems and there was an increased number of irrigation for Sesame and Groundnut in the study area. All three irrigation ecosystems showed a decline in water availability. The irrigated area of major crops in the Tiruchirappalli district declined significantly along with an increase in the area of specific crops namely Sugarcane, Green Gram and Sorghum. The Ricardian model was employed to quantify the impact of climate change on the net income of farmers in all the three irrigation ecosystems. The Ricardian model revealed that both the Kharif season rainfall and the Rabi season rainfall had a positive impact on the net income of farmers in all three-irrigation ecosystems while the Kharif season maximum temperature had a detrimental effect on the net income in both canal and groundwater irrigation ecosystem. Tobit model was used to analyse the factors influencing the adoption of climate-smart technologies in the irrigation ecosystem. Tobit model results revealed that farm size, education and extension contact were the factors influencing the adoption of climate-smart technologies in all the three-irrigation ecosystems. The major constraint in all the three irrigation ecosystems was the labour shortage to adopt climate-smart technologies followed by the consequent yield reduction. Government should plan for climate strategies to enhance the beneficial effects and to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change in the district.