Farmer's perception on climate change and its consequences in kapilvastu district, Nepal

Climate change is becoming an imminent threat to Nepalese agriculture. Climate change on farmer’s view and their strategies to combat against it helps to make effective plan and policies for the anticipated weather and climate. Therefore, survey research was conducted in 2017 at Kapilvastu district of Nepal including sixty-three farmers to get informed with their knowledge on climate change and various adaptation mechanism they are currently practicing. Though only about one-third respondent was aware of the meaning of climate change, they felt the impact of climate change in various ways. Farmer experienced increased temperature in summer and winter season. The duration and magnitude of the rainfall have felt to decrease in recent years. Farmers have faced dry irrigation canals. The unusual delay of the rainfall onset delayed the time of rice transplanting by one to two weeks. They have noticed a higher incidence of insects and pests in their agricultural land than before. To combat against the various negative impact of climate change, farmer’s were practicing some adaptive strategies like the cultivation of improved, abiotic resistant crop varieties as well as crop diversification. Therefore, there is still a need for an awareness program on climate change, its consequences and effective means to combat climate change to minimize the negative impact in Kapilvastu district.