Perceptions of climatic variability among millet farmers: insights from tribal communities in the Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, South India
Climate change has a diversified impact on the accessibility to resources and maintaining food security for the growing population. In this era, climate-resilient crops such as millet have greater importance and impact on the food security of the nation. Millet cultivation in tribal areas of India p...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Climate |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2024.1506084/full |
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| author | Rajendra R. Chapke C. Tara Satyavathi E. D. Israel Oliver King Peddiveeti Laxmiprasanna Vavilala Priyanka |
| author_facet | Rajendra R. Chapke C. Tara Satyavathi E. D. Israel Oliver King Peddiveeti Laxmiprasanna Vavilala Priyanka |
| author_sort | Rajendra R. Chapke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate change has a diversified impact on the accessibility to resources and maintaining food security for the growing population. In this era, climate-resilient crops such as millet have greater importance and impact on the food security of the nation. Millet cultivation in tribal areas of India presents a unique example of resilience in response to climatic variability. The research was conducted in the Kolli Hills of the Namakkal district in the state of Tamil Nadu to study the tribal farmers’ perception of climate change. Data were collected from 125 tribal farmers from five villages using a multistage random sampling method and a verified semi-structured interview schedule. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for analysis with different statistical tools. The majority of tribal farmers were found to be in the young age, with a high level of illiteracy and had less than 1.5 hectares of land with low mass media utility and limited decision-making ability. It was revealed that in recent years occurrences of drought, untimely rains, temperature fluctuations, and irregular weather conditions have increased. Most of the tribal farmers perceived that climate change substantially impacts low-resourced farmers’ ability to secure their livelihoods. Social participation and mass media utilization were positively correlated with tribal farmers’ perception of climatic variability. Scientific institutional knowledge and local community knowledge must be integrated with the farmers’ experiences of climate change to enable them to minimize the effect of climate change on millet production and develop a strategy that improve production under future climate scenarios. The study recommends the integration of traditional millet farming practices with modern agricultural techniques as well as the need for targeted policies that strengthen institutional support, market access, and capacity-building initiatives for tribal farmers. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-239495bf08b84db98a1b28421a37b93b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2624-9553 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Climate |
| spelling | doaj-art-239495bf08b84db98a1b28421a37b93b2025-01-08T06:11:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Climate2624-95532025-01-01610.3389/fclim.2024.15060841506084Perceptions of climatic variability among millet farmers: insights from tribal communities in the Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, South IndiaRajendra R. Chapke0C. Tara Satyavathi1E. D. Israel Oliver King2Peddiveeti Laxmiprasanna3Vavilala Priyanka4Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, IndiaIndian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, IndiaM. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, IndiaIndian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, IndiaIndian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, IndiaClimate change has a diversified impact on the accessibility to resources and maintaining food security for the growing population. In this era, climate-resilient crops such as millet have greater importance and impact on the food security of the nation. Millet cultivation in tribal areas of India presents a unique example of resilience in response to climatic variability. The research was conducted in the Kolli Hills of the Namakkal district in the state of Tamil Nadu to study the tribal farmers’ perception of climate change. Data were collected from 125 tribal farmers from five villages using a multistage random sampling method and a verified semi-structured interview schedule. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for analysis with different statistical tools. The majority of tribal farmers were found to be in the young age, with a high level of illiteracy and had less than 1.5 hectares of land with low mass media utility and limited decision-making ability. It was revealed that in recent years occurrences of drought, untimely rains, temperature fluctuations, and irregular weather conditions have increased. Most of the tribal farmers perceived that climate change substantially impacts low-resourced farmers’ ability to secure their livelihoods. Social participation and mass media utilization were positively correlated with tribal farmers’ perception of climatic variability. Scientific institutional knowledge and local community knowledge must be integrated with the farmers’ experiences of climate change to enable them to minimize the effect of climate change on millet production and develop a strategy that improve production under future climate scenarios. The study recommends the integration of traditional millet farming practices with modern agricultural techniques as well as the need for targeted policies that strengthen institutional support, market access, and capacity-building initiatives for tribal farmers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2024.1506084/fulladaptationclimate changeclimate vulnerabilityfarmers perceptionlivelihoodmillets |
| spellingShingle | Rajendra R. Chapke C. Tara Satyavathi E. D. Israel Oliver King Peddiveeti Laxmiprasanna Vavilala Priyanka Perceptions of climatic variability among millet farmers: insights from tribal communities in the Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, South India Frontiers in Climate adaptation climate change climate vulnerability farmers perception livelihood millets |
| title | Perceptions of climatic variability among millet farmers: insights from tribal communities in the Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, South India |
| title_full | Perceptions of climatic variability among millet farmers: insights from tribal communities in the Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, South India |
| title_fullStr | Perceptions of climatic variability among millet farmers: insights from tribal communities in the Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, South India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perceptions of climatic variability among millet farmers: insights from tribal communities in the Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, South India |
| title_short | Perceptions of climatic variability among millet farmers: insights from tribal communities in the Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, South India |
| title_sort | perceptions of climatic variability among millet farmers insights from tribal communities in the kolli hills tamil nadu south india |
| topic | adaptation climate change climate vulnerability farmers perception livelihood millets |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2024.1506084/full |
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