Informatics Publishing Limited

S. P. Singh ¹, Harminder Singh ², Nafees Ahmed ³, Huma Sehar ², Nimit Kumar ², Chandan Kumar ²

Affiliations
1 Division of Agricultural Economics and Statistics, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (J), Chatha, Jammu (J&K), IN
2 Division of Agricultural Economics and Statistics, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (J), Chatha, Jammu, J&K, IN
3 Division of Agricultural Extension Education, Shere- Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (J), Chatha, Jammu, J&K, IN

Abstract

The NREGA addresses itself chiefly to working people and their fundamental right to live with dignity. The success of the NREGA, however, will depend on people's realization of the Act as a right. The issues involved in empowering workers are in the range of enhancement of knowledge levels, development of literacy skills and organizing workers. Enhancing social security levels of workers also needs to be considered. Another important task is to link NREGA with other developmental programmes. Empowerment of workers and creation of durable assets depend, in terms of their strategies, to a great extent on the linkages between NREGA and other development programmes. Linkages with human development programmes such as the National Rural Health Mission and the National Literacy Mission are needed to ensure basic human entitlements to workers that in turn will enhance their capacity to negotiate their rights under the Act. Linkages with other livelihood and infrastructure initiatives need to be considered for sustainable employment. The thrust of NREGA is on strengthening the natural resource base of livelihood. Initiatives for natural resource management also need to be dovetailed with income generation projects to enable workers to move from wage employment to self-sustaining employment. In addition to this, there is a need to improve the technological options for performances and monitoring.

Keywords

NREGA, MGNREGA, Socio-economic Impact, Rural Population

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M. H. Wani ¹, S. H. Baba ², Naseer Hussain Bazaz ¹, Huma Sehar ¹

Affiliations
1 Rajiv Gandhi Chair in Contemporary Studies on Livelihood and Food Security, SKUAST-K, Shalimar, Srinagar, 190025, IN
2 Division of Agri. Economics and Marketing, SKUAST-K, Shalimar, Srinagar, 190025, IN

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Climate change has profound impacts on Himalayas, non availability of both data and models to estimate its impacts was a major problem. Therefore, apart from key climate variables, farmer's perceptions in mitigating the climate change formed the major source of information and objective of the current study.

Methods/Statistical analysis: The study is based on both primary and secondary data collected from 270 respondents during 2013-14 and 2014-15 spread over north, central and south Kashmir which was further classified into low to mid (L-M) and mid to high (M-H) altitudes. Group discussions/interactions in each selected village between the farmers, scientists and experts from concerned departments formed an important part of the survey. Averages and percentages were worked out to analyse the data.

Results: The rise in temperature was prominent in first and last quarters of the year. This trend seemed to help the temperate mountain farming scenario owing to extended summers favouring increased cropping intensity and adopting advanced technological mix in the study area. This was supported by the introduction of paddy cultivation in southern elevations of Kulgam district, being only a dream a few years before. The annual averages revealed a considerable decrease in the day^-1 rainfall (-19.44%) and average number of rainy days month^-1 (-24.10%) during period-I over period-II. The variation in the magnitude in different quarters, revealed steeper decrease in winter season (Oct-Dec and Jan-Mar) compared to summer season (Apr-Sep). Important and unambiguous perceptions about climate change perceived by the farmers were increased temperature, long summers, short winters, less snowfall and highly uncertain weather conditions, which triggered since late 1990s. These perceptions are in conformity with the inferences drawn from dynamics of temperature and rainfall during last three decades (170 words).

Conclusion: The study concludes that climate change has initiated in this region which is supported by macroevidences, demanding a serious effort for its mitigation through awareness programmes designed as per farmer's perceptions for better pay-off in long run.

Keywords

Climate Change, Adaptation, Temperate Region, Farmer Perceptions.

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