INTRODUCTION
The agriculture sector is one of the most vulnerable
ones to environmental change due to its susceptibility
to variations in temperature and precipitation patterns,
as well as naturally occurring climate limits, and the
resulting barometric carbon dioxide (CO
2
). Further-
more, it is one of the few felds that both mitigates and
encourages the sequestration of fossil fuel by-products
while still leaving a signifcant global carbon footprint
(around 13% in 2010). The Himalayan environment
is extremely prone to the dire effects of imminent
climate change. While the focus of recent research
and debate has been on glacial retreat and its effect
on downstream water discharge, there is growing
evidence of climate change’s possible cascading
impact on all related and satellite regions in the
Himalayas. Because of its geological history and
structural rock formation, the Himalayan ecosys-
tem is rapidly approaching a state of disequilibrium,
with visible changes in its resources and climate.
The food systems are under increasing pressure
from climate change, whose effects are becoming
more noticeable. Among other effects, increasing
temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and
extreme weather events are already lowering
agricultural production and destabilising food supply
chains. Millions of people are predicted to be at risk
of hunger, malnutrition, and poverty by 2050 as a
result of climate change (International Food Policy
Research Institute 2022).
Over 72 million people live in the Indian Hima-
layan region, which is divided into ten states and
95 districts and covers a total area of 5 lakh square
kilometres, accounting for roughly sixteen percent
of the country’s total land area. The Himalayan eco-
system is inherently vulnerable to natural disasters,
which are susceptible to exacerbated occurrences
of floods, droughts, and landslides triggered
by drastic changes in climatic conditions, due to its
high biological and socio-cultural diversity. HP is
a mountainous state in northern India, located
between latitudes 30
o
22’ 40” N and 33
o
12’ 40” N,
and longitudes 75
o
45’ 55” E and 79
o
04’ 20” E
in the western Himalayas. The state has a complex
geological structure that dissects its topography into
extreme altitudinal ranges from 350m to 6,975m
above sea level. Because of the large elevation
variations, it experiences a wide range of climates,
from hot and humid tropical in the south to cold,
alpine, and glacial in the north and east.
The population of the state is 6.86 million, with
approximately ninety percent of the population
living in rural areas. Agriculture employs roughly
*
Address for correspondence:
E-mail: priyankaplp80@gmail.com
DOI: 10.31901/24566543.2022/13.1-2.104 PRINT: ISSN 0976-6901 ONLINE: ISSN 2456-6543
Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture Production
in District Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh
Priyanka Sharma
*
, Harish Bharti, Aditi Panatu, S.S. Randhawa, R.S. Rana
1
and Nishant Thakur
State Centre on Climate Change, Himachal Pradesh Council for Science, Technology and
Environment, Vigyan Bhawan, Bemloe, Shimla 171 001, Himachal Pradesh, India
1
Centre for Geo-informatics, Research and Training, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi
Vishwavidyalaya Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India
KEYWORDS Climate. Cropping Season. Productivity. Temperature. Trend Analysis
ABSTRACT Weather phenomena are infuencing temperature and rainfall patterns in the region, which impacts crop production.
Therefore, the present study was conducted with the objective of ascertaining the effect of climate change on agricultural crop
productivity in the district of Kinnaur. During the kharif season, results revealed that the maximum temperature rose at the rate
of 0.02°C per year. After 1999, the maximum temperature remained above the long-term average except for the years 2001,
2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2014, indicating an overall warming trend. During the rabi crop season, diurnal temperature
increased by 0.02°C per year, which was statistically signifcant. As per the outputs from Mann Kendal Tests, an overall increased
productivity trend was recorded for maize, barley and common millets, wherein wheat showed a decreasing trend of -0.014 t
ha
-1
year
-1
. This means that the observed signifcant maximum variations in climatic parameters for rice are 35.6 percent, 15.4
percent for maize, and 9.0 percent for common millets. Non-signifcant variations were recorded for wheat, barley and ragi.
© JBD 2022 J Biodiversity, 13(1-2): 14-23 (2022)
Full text open access online (Since 2010)