J. Plant Environ. 02 (02) 2020. 71-77 DOI: 10.33687/jpe.002.02.3578
71
Available Online at EScience Press
Journal of Plant and Environment
ISSN: 2710-1665 (Online), 2710-1657 (Print)
https://esciencepress.net/journals/JPE
Sugarcane Farmers Perception, Comprehension Regarding Climate Change and its
Mitigation Through Adoption of Cultural Practices
Hafiz Ali Raza
1
*, Rana Muhammad Amir
1
, Farzana Zaheer Syed
2
, Muhammad Shoaib Ajnum
3
, Imran Kareem
1
,
Muhammad Abdullah Saad
4
, Muhammad Hussnain
4
, Muhammad Sohail Qadir
5
1
Institute of Agri. Extension and Rural Development, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
2
Department of political science, Government Collage Women University Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan.
3
Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
4
Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
5
Department of Entomology, of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Article History
Received: January 16, 2020
Revised: March 11, 2020
Accepted: March 13, 2020
Sugarcane is an important cash crop in Pakistan. Recently, the average per hectare
production of sugarcane is low due to climatic variation. Therefore, sugarcane
farmers are threatened by this emerging issue that has drastically affected their
livelihoods, food security, and sustainability. This study was designed to analyze the
perception, comprehension, and adoption of cultural practices in the mitigation of the
impact of climate change. For this purpose, district Rahim Yar Khan was selected
purposively from the Province of Punjab as the universe of the study; as one of the
highly cultivated areas among all districts of Punjab. From selected districts, two
tehsils were randomly selected, namely Sadiqabad and Khanpur. From each selected
tehsil, 5 villages were selected using randomized sampling technique. In each selected
village, 18 sugarcane farmers were selected randomly thus, making a total of 180
respondents. The data were collected through quantitative methods. A pre-tested and
well-structured interview schedule was developed for the collection of information
from sugarcane farmers. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential
statistics through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Results indicated that
there was a significant difference between the two groups, adopter and non-adopters
of mitigation strategies towards climate change. The results revealed that the
majority (98.3 % and 75 %) of the growers reported that an increase in temperature
and deforestation for the last five years respectively. Moreover, residues burring and
deforestation were major causes of climate change followed by an excess of CO2 from
agriculture activities and farm operations. The study recommended that the adoption
of cultural practices in mitigation of the impact of climate change should be promoted
through information sources.
Keywords
Climate Change
Growers
Sugarcane Production
Adoption Practices
Corresponding Author: Hafiz Ali Raza
Email: razaa0617@gmail.com
© The Author(s) 2020.
INTRODUCTION
Sugarcane production in Punjab is 49.6 Million tons and a
total cultivated area of 0.777 million hectares (Chatta et
al., 2018). Sugarcane is the second major provider of
sweetener after honey in Pakistan (Qureshi and Afghan,
2005) and it provides the raw material for the second
agro-based industry after textiles. However, in recent
times sugarcane is recognized for its role in sustainable