Role of Autonomous Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture : A Survey-Based Analysis of Bihar, India

Climate change is having adverse implications for agriculture yields in India, especially in the agriculture-dependent economy of the state of Bihar. The agricultural productivity in Bihar is one of the lowest in the country. Bihar is also less resilient to climate change, deeming it necessary to rely on climate adaptation strategies. Within adaptation, it is important to understand the channels of autonomous (spontaneous) adaptation in addition to planned adaptation measures. So far, most of the studies and government policies have had the focus on technology-based planned adaptation strategies, while autonomous adaptation (one that does not result from any deliberate policy but instead is adopted spontaneously by the farmers) has been gaining eminence in transitioning agriculture towards sustainability. This research fills the gap to tease out the role of autonomous adaptation – through the means of inherent ability/ ancestral knowledge and community networks – on agricultural productivity in case of two staple crops, paddy, and wheat, for understanding adaptation to climate change. We have undertaken a mix of quantitative perception analysis and survey econometric method to delineate the role of inherent ability and community networks, both formal and informal, in adaptation of agriculture in Bihar to climate change. The survey of farmers is based on stratified random sampling for two districts of Bihar, belonging to different agro-climatic zones, so as to capture the role of adaptation channels in agricultural adaptation to climate differences. One is Gaya, a drought-prone location and other is Purnia, a flood-prone location. Our research finds that farming communities are discerning about climate change and have been relying on various adaptation measures to cope with it, through both planned and autonomous adaptation channels. Moreover, the effectiveness of planned adaptation channels to cope with climate change is found to be rather weak in the case of both the surveyed districts. The main empirical finding is that ancestral knowledge and community networks, in general, have positive impacts on both paddy and wheat yields. However, the results differ between the two community networks. Formal community networks boost crop yields in both the surveyed districts. While informal community networks dampen paddy yields, but improve wheat yields in both the districts