Vol.:(0123456789)
Environment, Development and Sustainability (2020) 22:5045–5075
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00414-4
1 3
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation
options in smallholder production systems
Jeetendra Prakash Aryal1 · Tek B. Sapkota2 · Ritika Khurana3 ·
Arun Khatri‑Chhetri4 · Dil Bahadur Rahut1 · M. L. Jat2
Received: 7 November 2017 / Accepted: 27 June 2019 / Published online: 9 July 2019
© The Author(s) 2019
Abstract
Agriculture in South Asia is vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, adaptation measures
are required to sustain agricultural productivity, to reduce vulnerability, and to enhance the
resilience of the agricultural system to climate change. There are many adaptation practices
in the production systems that have been proposed and tested for minimizing the efects of
climate change. Some socioeconomic and political setup contributes to adaptation, while
others may inhibit it. This paper presents a systematic review of the impacts of climate
change on crop production and also the major options in the agricultural sector that are
available for adaptation to climate change. One of the key conclusions is that agricultural
practices that help climate change adaptation in agriculture are available, while the institutional setup to implement and disseminate those technical solutions is yet to be strengthened. Thus, it is important to examine how to bring the required institutional change, generate fund to invest on these changes, and design dynamic policies for long-term climate
change adaptation in agriculture rather than a mere focus on agricultural technology. This
is one of the areas where South Asian climate policies require reconsidering to avoid possible maladaptation in the long run.
Keywords Climate change · Adaptation · South Asia
JEL Classifcation Q18 · Q54
* Dil Bahadur Rahut
[email protected]; [email protected]
1 International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Carretera Mex-Veracruz, km. 45,
El Batan, CP 56237 Texcoco, Mexico
2 International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), New Delhi, India
3 West Virgina University, Morgantown, USA
4 CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Borlaug
Institute for South Asia (BISA), New Delhi, India
5046 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
1 Introduction
Climatic variability explains almost 60% of yield variability and thus a crucial factor infuencing food production and farmers’ income (Osborne and Wheeler 2013; Ray et al. 2015;
Matiu et al. 2017). Climate change infuences the start and length of growing seasons (Fiwa
et al. 2014; Zhao et al. 2015; Lemma et al. 2016) and the duration and magnitude of heat
and water stress in agricultural production systems (Lobell et al. 2015; Saadi et al. 2015;
Schauberger et al. 2017). Growth acceleration due to higher average temperature results
in less radiation interception and less biomass production (Rosenzweig and Hillel 2015).
Besides, above-optimal temperatures directly harm crop physiological processes. A recent
analysis demonstrates the efect of climate change in the production and yield of four major
crops globally, i.e., maize, rice, wheat, and soybean (Wang et al. 2018). Crop yield studies
focusing on India have found that global warming has reduced wheat yield by 5.2% from
1981 to 2009, despite adaptation (Gupta et al. 2017). It is projected that climate change
would reduce rain-fed maize yield by an average of 3.3–6.4% in 2030 and 5.2–12.2% in
2050 and irrigated yield by 3–8% in 2030 and 5–14% in 2050 if current varieties were
grown (Tesfaye et al. 2017). Despite variability in input use and crop management, there
is a negative efect of both season-long and terminal heat stress on rice and wheat, though
wheat is considerably more sensitive than rice (Arshad et al. 2017).
Besides its impact on crop yields and production, climate change also afects the natural
resources, primarily land and water that are fundamental to agricultural production. Water
availability is expected to decline due to climate change, while agricultural water consumption is predicted to increase by 19% in 2050 (UN-Water 2013). For instance, growing reliance of Indian farmers on groundwater to cope with climate-induced drought has led to a
rapid decline in the groundwater table, and it may worsen further due to increased climatic
variability in future (Fishman 2018). In South Asia (SA), it is predicted that the annual
average maximum temperature may increase by 1.4–1.8 °C in 2030 and 2.1–2.6 °C in 2050,
and thus, heat-stressed areas in the region could increase by 12% in 2030 and 21% in 2050
(Tesfaye et al. 2017). Projections claim that almost half of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP),
the major food basket of the South Asian region, may become inappropriate for wheat
production by 2050 as a result of heat stress (Ortiz et al. 2008). Even a relatively modest warming of 1.5–2 °C in SA can severely impact the availability and stability of water
resources due to increased monsoon variability and glacial meltwater, thereby threatening
the future agricultural productions (Vinke et al. 2017). With its impact on agricultural production and natural resources, climate change will bring greater fuctuation in crop production, food supplies, and market prices and will aggravate the situation of food insecurity
and poverty in South Asian countries, which adversely afects the livelihoods of millions
of people in the region (Schmidhuber and Tubiello 2007; Bandara and Cai 2014; Shankar
et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2017; Aryal et al. 2019b). It is projected that food price changes
between 2000 and 2050 are 2.5 times higher for major food crops (e.g., rice, wheat, maize,
and soybean) and 1.5 times for livestock products (i.e., beef, pork, lamb, and poultry) with
climate change (Nelson et al. 2009). Therefore, in the absence of adaptation measures to
climate change, South Asia could lose an equivalent of 1.8% of its annual gross domestic
product (GDP) by 2050 and 8.8% by 2100 (Ahmed and Suphachalasai 2014). The average
total economic losses are projected to be 9.4% for Bangladesh, 6.6% for Bhutan, 8.7% for
India, 12.6% for the Maldives, 9.9% for Nepal, and 6.5% for Sri Lanka. Since agriculture
provides livelihood to over 70% of the people, employs almost 60% of the labor force, and
contributes 22% of the regional gross domestic product (GDP) in SA (Wang et al. 2017),
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5047
1 3
these losses of GDP will have major consequences in agriculture-dependent communities in the region (Ahmed and Suphachalasai 2014). Therefore, improved understanding
of impacts of climate change in agriculture and the adaptation practices to cope with these
impacts are essential to enhance the sustainability of agriculture and to design the policies
that reduce poor farmers’ vulnerability to climate change in SA.
Adaptation to climate change involves any activity designed to reduce vulnerability and
enhance the resilience of the system (Adger 2006; Vogel and Meyer 2018), and therefore,
the actual impacts of climate change largely depend on the adaptive capacity (Vermeulen
et al. 2012). Adaptation is particularly fundamental to South Asian agriculture for the following reasons: (1) agriculture is a primary source of livelihood; (2) largely rain-fed which
makes it vulnerable to extreme climate; (3) fragmented and small land size—less than a
hectare—reducing farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change; (4) increased population
and high economic growth has further exacerbated the adverse impacts of climate change
due to increased demand for land and water from other sectors of the economy mainly
driven by search for alternative farm practices; (5) lack of better institutions and policies
to address climate risks in agriculture; (6) less developed risk and insurance market to
promote adaptation to climate change; and (7) to sustain local food security, especially of
the poor and small farmers against the high food price fuctuation under extreme climatic
variability.
Farmers in SA use a wide range of resources to adapt to climate change, and thus,
households with better access to multiple resources and diverse livelihood portfolios are
more likely to better cope with climate risks (Ojha et al. 2014; Bhatta et al. 2017; Brown
et al. 2018; Thornton et al. 2018). Given the site-specifc nature of climate change impacts
on agricultural production together with wide variation in agro-ecosystems and socioeconomic conditions, adaptation strategies must acknowledge environmental and cultural contexts at the regional and local levels.
On this backdrop, this study examines the prospects of the smallholder production
system in SA to adapt to climatic variability to minimize the negative impacts of climate
change on food systems. We also discuss why farmers use few adaptation measures, if any,
despite the prevalence of several measures in light of the existing barriers and policy setup.
For this study, SA includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section two documents the impact of climate change on agriculture in SA. Section three presents multiple adaptation measures
applied in the agricultural sector. In section four, we discuss the climate change adaptation
policies and future prospects of agriculture in SA with a due focus on existing barriers, and
the last section concludes the study.
2 Impact of climate change on agriculture in South Asia
Agriculture in SA is highly susceptible to climate change and its variability. For the region,
the IPCC has projected 0.5–1.2 °C rise in temperature by 2020, 0.88–3.16 °C by 2050, and
1.56–5.44 °C by 2080 depending on the scenarios of future development (IPCC 2007a).
This long-term change in temperature and precipitation patterns is more likely to shift
cropping seasons, crop cultivation suitability, and increase the incidence of disease and
pests afecting crop yields, productions, and food markets. For example, between 1980
and 2014, spring maize-growing periods in Pakistan have shifted an average of 4.6 days
per decade earlier, while sowing of autumn maize has been delayed by 3 days per decade,
5048 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
severely afecting the yield (Abbas et al. 2017). These changes ultimately afect the livelihood of millions of farmers in the region, particularly those with less capacity for adaptation to climate change.
Studies indicate that the impact of changes in temperature and precipitation patterns
on crop production and food security will get worse in SA. These impacts were examined
by analyzing a relationship between crop yields and the amount of soil water availability
during the growing season of various crops. Prevalence of water and heat stresses during
the crop establishment and critical growing period (i.e., fowering, pollination, and grain
flling) is detrimental for many crops (Porter and Semenov 2005; Hedhly et al. 2009). If
unabated, changes in temperatures and precipitation patterns in SA will have signifcant
impacts on agriculture in the long run (Aggarwal and Sinha 1993; Lal 2011). However,
the actual impact of climate change on agriculture varies by crops, locations, and adaptive
capacities to climatic risks (Vermeulen et al. 2012), and thus, adaptive capacity also infuences agricultural productivity (Panda et al. 2013; Aryal et al. 2018a). For example, people
in Hindu Kush Himalayan region, encompassing parts of Pakistan, India, and Nepal, are
particularly vulnerable to climate change because of high dependence on agriculture for
livelihood, physical isolation, limited access to global markets, low productivity, and poor
infrastructure (Rasul et al. 2019).
In the last few decades, many studies examined the impacts of climate change on major
food crops (i.e., rice, wheat, and maize) in SA. Results suggest that the yields of these three
crops are signifcantly infuenced by the changes in temperature (Table 1) and precipitation patterns/rainfall variability (Table 2) in the region. Comparing the yield level of the
1990s without carbon fertilization efects with that of 2020s and 2050s, Parry et al. (2004)
showed that crop yield will reduce by 2.5–10% in several parts of Asia in the 2020s and
5–30% in 2050s. By assessing the possible impacts of thermal and hydrological stresses
on agricultural productivity in SA, Lal (2011) indicated that the impact of global warming on food production might not be extremely severe until the 2020s given that water for
irrigation is available and agricultural pest can be kept under control. However, after 2050,
the productivity of summer crops would reduce with increased climate variability and pest
incidence and virulence. Winter crops are likely to be more afected due to the rise in temperature by 2 °C. By the end of this century, the net cereal production in SA is projected
to reduce at least between 4 and 10% if the temperature increases by 3 °C. Knox et al.
(2012) assessed the projected impacts of climate change on the yield of eight major crops
in SA and observed that the average yield of all crops will be reduced by 8% by 2050s.
Their study projected that the mean yield of maize and sorghum will reduce by 16% and
11%, respectively, while no mean yield change will be noticed for rice. Lobell and Tebaldi
(2014) also showed that there are signifcant impacts of climate change on crop yield.
Table 1 summarizes the results of various studies that assess the impact of the change in
temperature on crop production/productivity in diferent countries in SA.
A wide range of yield losses due to climate change impacts on wheat, rice, and maize
crops in SA is observed. Studies on the efect of warming on crop yield in India reported
yield decrease by 5%, 6–8% and 10–30% in wheat, rice, and maize, respectively (see
Table 1 and references therein). A recent study has shown that such crop-damaging temperatures have led to an increase in the rate of suicides among smallholder farmers in India
(Carleton 2017). Nevertheless, lack of crop insurance and the inability to repay loans could
be some of the plausible reasons for suicides among farmers.
In some areas such as mountainous regions of Nepal, climate change can have positive
impacts on yields, particularly on wheat (Table 1). However, rice and maize yield in the
mid-hills and Terai region signifcantly reduced with increasing temperature. In Bhutan,
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5049
1 3
Table 1 Impact of change (increase) in temperature (∆T) on crops in South Asian countries
Country ∆T (+) Wheat Rice Maize Referencesa
India <2 °C Yield decrease by 0.45-Mg ha-1
(1); yield decrease by
0.4 Mg ha-1 (2); yield decrease
by 5.2% (6)
Yield decrease by 6% (3); yield
decrease by up to 8.2% (4)
Yield decrease by 10–30% under
350 ppm CO2 (5)
1Sinha and Swaminathan (1991);
2Morey and Sadaphal (1981);
3Saseendran et al. (2000);
4Mathauda et al. (2000); 5Kalra
et al. (2007); 6Gupta et al. (2017)
2–3 °C Decrease in all regions (1) Yield decrease by 0.75 Mg ha-1
(2); in % yield decrease by 8.4%
(3)
Yield decrease by 10–30% under
350 ppm CO2 (4)
1Aggarwal and Sinha (1993);
2Sinha and Swaminathan (1991);
3Mathauda et al. (2000); 4Kalra
et al. (2007)
> 3 °C Yield decrease by 10–30% under
350 ppm CO2 (3)
3Kalra et al. (2007)
Bangladesh < 3 °C Yield loss about 60% (1) Yield decrease by 2.6–13.5% (2) 1Karim et al. (1996); 2Basak et al.
(2009)
> 3 °C Yield loss exceed 60% (1) Yield decrease by 0.11–28.7%)2 1Karim et al. (1996); 2Basak et al.
(2009)
Nepal 4 °C Yield increases by 18.4% due to
CO
2 fertilization and by 8.6%
with an increase in temperature
(1)
Yield decrease by 1.8% in Terai
and increase in hills by 5.3% and
mountainous by 33.3% (1)
Yield decrease by 26.4% in Terai
and by 9.3% in hills (2)
1Malla (2008); 2Prasai (2010)
Pakistan < 3 °C Yield decrease by 5–7% (1); Yield
decrease by 7% in Swat district
and 14% in Chitral district (2);
yield decrease by 6–9% in subhumid, semiarid and arid zones
(3)
1Aggarwal and Sivakumar (2010);
2Hussain and Mudasser (2007);
3Sultana and Ali (2006)
> 3 °C Yield decrease in arid, semiarid and
sub-humid zones, but increases in
humid zone (1); yield decrease by
21% in Swat district and 23% in
Chitral district (2)
1Sultana et al. (2009); 2Hussain and
Mudasser (2007)
5050 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
aNumber in the parentheses refers to the corresponding reference mentioned in column six
Table 1 (continued)
Country ∆T (+) Wheat Rice Maize Referencesa
Sri Lanka ≤1 °C A loss of 6% rice output (1); yield
decrease by 1–5% (2)
1GoSL (2000); 2Vidanage and Abeygunawardane (1994)
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5051
1 3
Table 2 Impacts of change rainfall variability on crops in South Asian countries
NDVI is Normalized Diference Vegetation Index (*); for the Rabi season, the relationship for those areas with a signifcant impact is mostly positive
Country Impacts Crops References#
Bangladesh Positive and statistically signifcant efect

Bangladesh Negatively afects rice yields Bangladesh Variability in rice yields leading to Yield decrease by 8–17% by 2050

Rice, wheat, and maize Ali et al. (2017)
Pakistan Normal precipitation during vegetative and maturity stages and their deviations from the historical
mean (positive) exert a positive impact on the wheat yield
Wheat Ahmad et al. (2014)
5052 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
though farming is constrained by the mountainous topography, almost 57% of the people
depend on agriculture. The country has been experiencing the impacts of climate change
such as crop loss to unusual outbreaks of diseases and pests, erratic rainfalls, windstorms,
hailstorms, droughts, fash foods, and landslides (Chhogyel and Kumar 2018). A similar
level of yield reduction was also reported in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (Table 1).
Temperature change is directly linked to change in water availability, and there are very
limited studies that assess the impact of rainfall variability alone on crop productivity.
For example, if India continues to deplete its groundwater, negative impacts of increased
warming and other climatic variabilities on crop production are going to increase by half
(Fishman 2018). One study by Kumar et al. (2004) indicates that a 19% decrease in summer monsoon rainfall reduces the food grain production by about 18%. Table 2 summarizes
the results from studies assessing the impact of rainfall variability on crop production.
Most of the studies provided in Table 2 showed that rainfall variability afects crop production negatively, but the magnitude of the efect is less explored. This is one of the areas
for further research. Based on this review, an adaptation of agriculture to climate change is
almost imperative, particularly to rising temperature, increasing heat stress, waterlogging,
and terminal heat efects.
3 Climate change adaptation measures in the agricultural sector
in South Asia
By formulating efective adaptation strategies, it is possible to reduce or even avoid some
of the negative impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector. However, if unabated climate change continues, limits to adaptation will be reached. Adaptation to climate change refers to the adjustment in natural and human systems in response to actual
or expected climate change which moderates the intensity of harm or creates an opportunity to take advantage from IPCC (2007b) and Lasco et al. (2011). Achieving adaptation
in agriculture and food security will require both technological (e.g., new varieties, better
farming technologies, etc.) and non-technological (market, insurance, social networking,
and risk sharing) solutions. Adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change involves
producing more food where needed, reducing or sharing risk, and improving governance
(Godfray and Garnett 2014). Adaptation measures in agriculture depend on the attributes
of climate change, farm types, locations, and cost to farmers (Smit and Skinner 2002). Rising temperature, waterlogging/excess or low soil moisture due to rainfall variability, terminal heat efect, and food and droughts are the major climate change variables necessitating
adaptation of SA agriculture.
Many current agricultural management practices can be optimized and scaled up to
advance adaptation. Among the often-studied adaptation options are on-farm practices
and biophysical measures that include increased soil organic matter, improved cropland
management, use of local genetic diversity, improved livestock management, crop–livestock mixed system, multiple cropping, improved grazing land management, increased
food productivity, prevention and reversal of soil erosion, agroecological approaches, and
so on (Altieri and Koohafkan 2008). However, Nie et al. (2016) argued that while integrated crop–livestock systems present some opportunities for climate change adaptation
and environmental benefts, there are some challenges, including yield reduction, difculty
in pasture cropping, grazing, and groundcover maintenance in high-rainfall zones, and
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5053
1 3
development of persistent weeds and pests. Major adaptation options in agricultural sectors
in SA are summarized in the following subsections.
3.1 Soil management
As soil upholds all the minerals that are required for crop growth, soil management is one
of the most crucial measures for climate change adaptation (Bhattacharyya et al. 2015;
Bedano et al. 2016; Chen et al. 2017; Cui et al. 2017; He et al. 2018). Increasing climatic
variability and extreme climate events such as heavy rainfall and strong winds can accelerate the process of soil erosion. To prevent wind-induced soil erosion, tree planting and
hedgerow planting are used in semiarid areas, while vegetation cover, contour plowing,
and contour hedgerows are common in humid and coastal areas. In mountains mini-irrigation facilities, water harvesting and terrace gardening helps control soil erosion. Changing
tillage practice and shifting to zero tillage with residue retention help cropping system to
adapt to water stress, excess water due to untimely rainfall and high temperature. Sapkota
et al. (2015) found that the change in tillage practices moderates the efect of high temperature (reduced canopy temperature by 1–4 °C) and increased irrigation water productivity
by 66–100% compared to traditional production systems, thus well adapting to water and
heat stress situations. Sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC) is one of the important
strategies not only to mitigate climate change but also to improve soil quality.
Even a small increase in SOC can have positive efects on a range of soil physical properties and thus potentially improve the resilience of soil to stress and contribute to climate
change adaptation (Chakraborty et al. 2014; Powlson et al. 2016). Sapkota et al. (2017)
found that zero tillage and retention of crop residues increased the soil organic carbon content by 4.66 tons per hectare over 7 years. These practices are also reported to increase
water content in the soil. Therefore, such practices act as shields for the farmer from the
destructions caused by drought and minimize the risk of crop loss. Better soil management
increases water-use efciency and maintains soil quality that eventually adds to sustainable
agriculture.
3.2 Crop diversifcation, cropping system optimization, and management
Climate change threatens the sustainability of agriculture through its efect on biotic (pest,
pathogens outbreaks) as well as abiotic factors (variation in solar radiation, water, temperature). Crop diversifcation in space (substituting one crop for another) and time (changing crop rotation or cropping system) can be a rational and cost-efective way to build the
resilience of agricultural system under climate change (Lin 2011). The more diverse the
production systems are, the more resilient they are in enhancing food and nutritional security in the face of climate change. In addition, diverse production systems are important
for providing regulatory ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration,
soil erosion control, reduction in GHG emissions, and control of hydrological processes
(Chivenge et al. 2015). Crop diversifcation improves resilience to climate change by promoting the ability to suppress pest outbreaks while reducing the chances of pathogen transmission that may occur due to increased climatic variability and hence bufering crop production under climatic stress. For instance, disease-susceptible rice varieties, when planted
in mixtures with resistant varieties over large tracts of land, had 89% greater yield and 94%
reduced fungal blast occurrence than when planted in monoculture (Lin 2011). This also
5054 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
helps the cropping system adapted to increased water stress. For example, the rice–wheat
system in SA is water resource-intensive system requiring 1.9 m3 of water per kg of output (Pimentel et al. 1997; Akanda 2011) and consequently more vulnerable to rising temperature as irrigation water requirement could increase with temperature. Replacing this
cropping system with less water-intensive cropping systems (e.g., maize–wheat system)
can enhance the adaptation of the production system to water stress. Similarly, diversifcation of production systems through the promotion of ‘neglected and underutilized species’
ofers adaptation opportunities to climate change, particularly in the mountains (Adhikari
et al. 2015, 2018).
The increase in temperature can afect agriculture through its impact on cropping seasons, increase in evapotranspiration, increase in irrigation water requirements, and increase
in heat stress. The introduction of short duration crop varieties and planting early/late
maturing varieties may help curtail the adverse impacts of climate risk (Lasco et al. 2011).
For instance, the introduction of short duration and improved varieties in pigeon pea, soybean, wheat, and sorghum in India helped to improve yield by 75%, 15%, 27%, and 91%,
respectively (Sonune and Mane 2018). Similarly, adopting heat-/moisture-tolerant seed
varieties can address the problem of excess heat or moisture. A large proportion of ricegrowing areas in India such as Uttar Pradesh (8%), Bihar and West Bengal (40%), and Odisha (27%) sufer from submergence due to food. Almost 80% of the rice-growing areas in
Eastern India are rain-fed and thus sufer either from excess water or from drought depending upon rainfall pattern. Nearly 2.7 million ha land in Bangladesh is vulnerable to drought
(Paul 1998; Habiba and Shaw 2014).
Flood-resistant rice variety named Scuba rice can withstand 17 days of complete water
submergence and yield up to 3 tons ha-1 under fash food conditions (Singh et al. 2009),
thereby adapting to these excess water stresses. Similarly, planting drought-tolerant rice
varieties such as Sahbhagi Dhan and Sushk Samrat can help farmers in Eastern India
to cope with drought. These varieties have approximately 1 ton ha-1 yield advantage in
drought years over other varieties under similar condition (Reyes 2009). Drought-tolerant
rice variety can provide yield gains between 2 and 9% in SA (Mottaleb et al. 2017).
Increasing soil salinity, especially in the agricultural land in the coastal regions, is
another impact of climate change. This is a serious concern in Bangladesh where the
coastal areas cover more than 30% of the total cultivable land. As a result, saline-tolerant
varieties of rice—CSR 26 and CSR 43—are bred to combat austerities posed by the climate in Bangladesh. Table 3 presents the major stress-tolerant rice varieties in SA.
Efect of drought and food is equally severe also in maize and wheat in this region.
Drought is responsible for 15–20% yield loss in maize in SA. Drought-tolerant maize
varieties developed by CIMMYT yield 2–3 tons ha-1 under drought conditions in which
other varieties yield less than 1 tons ha-1 (Zaidi et al. 2004). Similarly, several hybrids of
maize have been released in order to address the issue of heat, cold, or frost. For example,
HQPM-1 and HHM-1 are tolerant to both cold and frost, while HM-1 is tolerant to frost
only. In Pakistan, YH-1898, KJ Surabhi, FH-793 ND-6339, and NK-64017 showed reasonable heat tolerance and produced higher grain yield per unit area as compared to other
maize hybrids under high-temperature condition (Rahman et al. 2013). The International
Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which is collaborating with several
national agricultural institutions and private sectors in South Asian countries in developing
and deploying improved climate-resilient maize varieties, has achieved signifcant progress
in developing and deploying elite heat-tolerant maize varieties (Cairns and Prasanna 2018).
These heat-tolerant varieties help minimize yield loss due to heat stress, helping farmers to
adapt to climate change (Tesfaye et al. 2017) (Table 4).
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5055
1 3
Table 3 Major stress-tolerant rice varieties in South Asia. Source: Compiled by authors from IRRI and CSSRI (http://www.cssri.org/index.php?option=com_conte
nt&view=article&id=135&Itemid=139) websites, Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (http://pib.nic.in/newsite/
PrintRelease.aspx?relid=123999)
Tolerant against Variety of rice Country
Drought Sahabhagi Dhan, Sushk Samrat, Swarna, IR64, Vandana, Anjali, Satyabhama, DRR Dhan 42 (IR64 Drt 1), DRR Dhan
43, Birsa Vikas Dhan 203, Birsa Vikas Dhan 111, Rajendra Bhagwati, Jaldi Dhan 6, Sookha Dhan
India
Nepal
Submergence, deep water, waterlogging
SUB
1A, Swarna Sub1, Varshadhan, Gayatri, JalaMani, CR Dhan 505, CR Dhan 502, Jalnidhi, Jaladhi 1, Jaladhi 2,
Sambha Mahsuri, IR64-Sub1
India
Bangladesh
Heat O. glaberrima, Oryza eichingeri, O. ofcinalis, O. minuta, O. longistaminata Subtropical Asia
Salinity BRRI Dhan 11, BRRI Dhan 28, BRRI Dhan 29, CSR 26 Bangladesh
CSR 43, CR Dhan 405, CSR-49, CSR 36, CSR 30 (basmati type), CSR 27, CSR 23, CSR 13 and CSR 10 India
Bacterial blight Xa1 to Xa33 India
5056 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
Changing the cropping pattern, introducing new crops or replacing existing crops,
or changing crop sequence can be a way to climate change adaptation (Lasco et al.
2011). In drought-prone areas of India, farmers use drought-adapted crops such as sorghum and also adjust their production practices as a mechanism to spread risk such as
staggered planting (Satapathy et al. 2011). Farmers use leguminous crops, mostly red
grams, mung bean, and peanuts, to supplement nitrogen to the soil which is lost due to
soil erosion or excess fooding. In the regions with cool and humid climate, legumes
are planted/mixed with the main crop, to protect the fallow land (Satapathy et al. 2011)
(Table 5).
A recent study in Ludhiana of India shows that shifting planting date of wheat and
transplanting date of rice to 15 days earlier than the usual date could minimize yield
loss by more than 4% (Jalota et al. 2013). Likewise, Mall et al. (2004) stated that delaying the sowing dates would be favorable for reducing the yield loss of soybean at all
locations in India. A study by Hussain and Mudasser (2007) in the mountain region
Table 4 Major stress-tolerant maize varieties in South Asia. Source: Compiled by authors from CIMMYT
website and also with personal communications with CIMMYT maize scientists, Press Information Bureau,
Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelea
se.aspx?relid=123999), and Rahman et al. (2013)
Tolerant against Variety of maize Country
Drought Pusa Hybrid Makka 1, HM 4, Pusa Hybrid Makka 5, DHM
121, Buland, MIMH1 and MIMH2
India
Sri Lanka
Submergence, deep water,
waterlogging
HM-5, Seed Tech-2324, HM-10, PMH-2, TA-5084 India
Heat YH-1898, KJ Surabhi, FH-793 ND-6339, NK-64017 Pakistan
BHM14, BHM15 Bangladesh
RCRMH2, Lall-454 India
Rampur Hybrid-8, Rampur Hybrid-10 Nepal
Cold and frost HQPM-1, HHM-1, and HM-1 India
Table 5 Major stress-tolerant wheat varieties in South Asia. Source: Compiled by authors from CIMMYT
and CSSRI (http://www.cssri.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=135&Itemid=139)
websites, Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
(http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=123999), and Climate Resilient Wheat Innovation Lab, a
project under US government’s global hunger and food security initiatives (https://www.agrilinks.org/activ
ities/climate-resilient-wheat-innovation-lab). ICAR—Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal
Tolerant against Variety of wheat Country
Drought PBW 527, HI 1531, HI 8627, HD 2888, HPW 349, PBW 644,
WH 1080, HD 3043, PBW 396, K 9465, K 8962, MP 3288, HD
4672, NIAW 1415, HD 2987
India
Dharabi, Ihsan, FSD-08, Khirman Pakistan
Heat Jauhar, Gold, AAS, Ujala, Galaxy Pakistan
K1114, NIAW1994, DBW107 India
Salinity KRL 213, KRL 210, KRL 19 and KRL 1–4 India
Pasban, Uqab, Sehr Pakistan
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5057
1 3
of Pakistan reports that short duration varieties could help adapt agriculture to climate
change in mountainous regions.
3.3 Water management
Integrated water management, which promotes an alternative use of waste and marginal
water for agriculture, can be an important approach to adapt agriculture to water stress.
Water harvesting, an age-old practice of collecting rainwater in India, is another potential
way to manage irrigation water defcit across seasons (Satapathy et al. 2011). It is also
practiced in rural Bangladesh by approximately 35% of the households in coastal areas
(Ferdausi and Bolkland 2000). This also reduces runof and supplement groundwater table.
In the irrigated rice–wheat systems of India, laser land leveling has become a popular
method for enhancing water-use efciency (Jat et al. 2014; Aryal et al. 2015a). For example, laser land leveling in rice felds reduced irrigation time by 47–69 h ha-1 season-1 and
in wheat felds by 10–12 h ha-1 season-1 (Aryal et al. 2015a). A signifcant amount of
water saving was also observed in rice (26–30%), wheat (26–33%), maize (22–33%), and
cotton (26–43%) in laser land levelled felds (Jat et al. 2014). Similarly, the application
of a micro-irrigation system (sprinkler and drip) can help to save water from 12 to 84%,
depending on location and crops under micro-irrigation (Kumar 2016) (Table 6). System
of rice intensifcation (SRI) is a set of crop, soil and water management practices in which
8–15 days old seedlings are transplanted singly and irrigated intermittently to keep rice
felds only moist, but aerated. Compared to fooded system, SRI is reported to increase
crop yield by more than 10% with less water consumption (i.e. 25–47% less water) in India
(Barah 2009), China (Wu et al. 2015) and Nepal (Reeves et al. 2016). Both by reducing
cost of production and by increasing yield, SRI helps increase the farmers’ income thereby
enhancing their adaptive capacity. Further, SRI crop matures earlier thereby reducing the
risk of crop losses and make land available for other crops. In addition, rice plants grown
with SRI practices, by having stronger tillers and root systems and tougher leaves, are more
resistant to the biotic and abiotic stresses that accompany climate change such as heat
stress, drought stress, fooding, storm, and disease damage (Wu et al. 2015)
India has initiated several programs to address water paucity regionwise. Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (2001), Desert Development Programme
(1973–1974) and Drought-Prone Area Programme (1977–1978) were started to mitigate
causalities of desertifcation and drought-afected areas, promote dryland farming, create
employment opportunities, bring wasteland under cultivation to improve agricultural productivity due to increased demand for grains, and utilize rainwater for irrigation.
3.4 Sustainable land management
Sustainable land management practices such as agroforestry, conservation agriculture, sustainable intensifcation, and cropping system optimization all contribute to climate change
adaptation. Recently, sustainable intensifcation has received more international attention (Godfray 2015). Sustainable intensifcation acknowledges that enhanced productivity
needs to be accompanied by the maintenance of other ecosystem services and enhanced
resilience to shocks (Vanlauwe et al. 2014a, b). Sustainable intensifcation may be achieved
through a wide variety of means. For example, improved nutrient- and water-use efciency
and integrated soil fertility and pest management practices can be part of sustainable
5058 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
Table 6 Water management practices for climate change adaptation
Practices Adaptation to water stress References
Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) Reduces almost 30% water use in rice production as compared to a conventional fooding system without
reducing rice yield
Gathala et al. (2013)
and Ye et al.
(2013)
Direct seeding of rice (DSR) Saves water and help adapt to water stress Pathak et al. (2013)
Improved irrigation methods Micro-irrigation system (sprinkler and drip) saves 12–84% of water Kumar (2016)
Laser land leveling Reduced irrigation time in rice by 47–69 h ha-1 season-1 and wheat by 10–12 h ha-1 season-1 Aryal et al. (2015a)
Water saving in rice (26–30%), wheat (26–33%), maize (22–33%), and cotton (26–43%) Jat et al. (2015)
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5059
1 3
intensifcation (Benton et al. 2018). Farmers in Haryana and Punjab states of India have
adjusted their agricultural practices to rainfall variability and declining groundwater table
by using laser land leveling and practicing conservation agriculture. Laser land leveling
can substantially increase water- and nutrient-use efciency, thereby adapting agriculture
to water stress condition. Using zero till on wheat production system yields both economic
and environmental benefts. A study by Aryal et al. (2015b) in Haryana shows that farmers
can save approximately USD 79 ha-1 in input costs and increase net revenue of approximately USD 97.5 ha-1 under zero tillage-based wheat production compared with conventional tillage. They also showed that zero tillage-based wheat production reduces GHG
emission by 1.5 Mg CO2-eq ha-1 wheat-season-1.
Agroforestry (i.e., cultivation of woody perennials with agricultural crops on the same
unit of land) enables not only to sequester carbon but also to adapt agriculture to droughts,
foods, and other natural disturbances (Waldron et al. 2017). Similarly, Silvopastoral systems, which combine the grazing of livestock and forestry, are particularly useful in reducing land degradation, where soil erosion risk is high (Murgueitio et al. 2011). Under the
agroforestry system, leaf litter gets decomposed when mixed with an aerobic and anaerobic microorganism. Such a process improves soil fertility, reduces water runof, and controls soil erosion, which eventually increases resilience to climatic variability. In India, it is
common to plant trees like Eucalyptus and Populous in the agricultural felds, particularly
on farm boundaries (Murthy et al. 2013). This provides a win–win situation for rural farmers as they obtain double income: one from trees—producing fruits, timber, fowers, and
medicines—and the other from the crops grown. With an objective of enhancing carbon
sinks and empowering local communities with appropriate adaptation measures, the Green
India mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) targets 1.5
Mha of degraded agricultural land and fallows to be brought under agroforestry; about 0.8
Mha under improved agroforestry practices on existing lands; and 0.7 Mha of additional
lands under agroforestry (MoEF 2010).
3.5 Crop pest and disease management
Crop pest and disease management is crucial for adapting agriculture to climate change.
Increasing climatic variability may create favorable conditions for pests and diseases. With
the rising temperature, range of crop pests and diseases are projected to expand to higher
latitudes (Rosenzweig et al. 2001). Global yield losses due to insect pests of three staple
grains (i.e., rice, wheat, and maize) are projected to increase by 10–25% per degree of
global mean surface warming, and such losses will be more acute in temperate regions
(Deutsch et al. 2018). Governments in South Asian countries emphasize on integrated pest
management to tackle the increasing emergence of pests and diseases and have provided
training to farmers (Gautam et al. 2017).
3.6 Risk management
Risk management is an important concept in climate change adaptation of the agricultural
system. Risk sharing (co-investment, community engagement), risk transfer (crop/livestock
insurance, index-based insurance for scaling up climate-smart agriculture, etc.), improved
forecasting and agro-advisory and institutional measures at the local, national, and global
5060 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
levels are mechanisms for bufering climate change risk. The details of each of these types
are as follows:
3.6.1 Crop insurance
Farming is very risky as it is highly dependent on agroecological and climatic condition.
Hence, the provision for insurance is an important mechanism to reduce risk. However, in
SA, the insurance market in general and particularly the crop and livestock insurance market are underdeveloped. The major limitation of for the expansion of agricultural insurance
is that the cost of the insurance product is quite high, which makes it unafordable for the
poor smallholder farmers. Lack of awareness among farmers, lack of legal and regulatory
framework, lack of fnancial capability of the providers, limited range of agricultural product, lack of technical expertise, high cost of the insurance products, and afordability of
the farmers and the high administration cost of the micro-insurance are major hurdles for
provision of insurance in developing countries.
To secure poor farmers’ livelihood during climate extremes, crop insurance scheme
based on an area index is introduced as an adaptation strategy in some of the South Asian
countries. In 2002, India launched the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme called
Agricultural Insurance Corporation for Farmers. Under this scheme, almost 59,000 farmers
were insured in 23 states and 2 Union Territories for winter crops from 1990 to 2000. The
premium rates of food crops and oilseeds range from 1.5 to 3.5% and are determined on the
basis of fat rates or actuarial rates (Hoda and Gulati 2013).
In Nepal, crop insurance is introduced in 2013 by the National Insurance Board. The
government of Nepal has allocated NRs. 135 million in the budget to support agriculture
insurance program in 2013–2014 and continuously allocating budget to the program. There
are also micro-level initiatives to insure farmers through local cooperatives. For example,
in Rupendehi district of Nepal, where CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has been working for the past few years, local farmers
established a cooperative that provides insurance schemes to small farmers (holdings up
to 1.33 ha) producing paddy and wheat (Shakya et al. 2013). To insure their crops, farmers need to pay 15% of their estimated production, and in the case of crop failure, they are
compensated up to 80% of their loss.
In Bangladesh, crop insurance was introduced through the state-owned insurance company, Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC) in 1977, and discontinued in 1996 (Climate
Change Cell 2009). The major objective of the insurance program was to indemnify farmers against the crop loss due to food, cyclone, hailstorm, windstorm, drought, plant disease, and pest and insects. Paddy, wheat, and jute crops are insured against variation in
yield, and thus, insurance covers 80% of the expected value of production. However, this
program was not successful in Bangladesh. Of the several weaknesses, difculty in estimating crop loss due to defned climatic events and moral hazards are the major issues.
Although agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, it is vulnerable to the climate-induced disasters which threaten the livelihood of the smallholder farmers who have
little or no resilience capacity; hence, agriculture insurance is critical for Pakistan (Siyal
2018). Livestock farmers who adopt insurance to cope up with the climate risk are found
to have better well-being (Rahut and Ali 2018). However, agricultural insurance is still in
its nascent stage of development, and it started with livestock insurance in 2008 (Arifeen
2017).
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5061
1 3
3.6.2 Index insurance
Insurance based on a weather index such as rainfall, temperature, or drought rather than
actual crop loss due to climatic events is useful to promote climate-smart agricultural practices. A weather index such as food or drought, which is highly correlated with production
loss, is determined, and a threshold level is set based on the recorded level of the specifc
weather variable at a local weather station. When the weather index crosses the predetermined threshold level, the farmer will get paid. However, the weather index insurance does
not cover the actual crop loss incurred to an individual farmer. Unlike crop insurance, the
transaction cost of weather index insurance is low because the insurance company does
not need to visit the farmers’ feld to verify the amount of crop loss. As the payout is not
associated with the crop loss, farmers’ incentive to make eforts for crop survival is high in
this case, and thus, unlike other insurance schemes, moral hazards are less associated with
this type of insurance. Thus, index insurance shifts more benefts to farmers rather than to
intermediaries.
In India, index insurance was frst implemented in Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
in 2003 with the assistance of the World Bank. This project covered 1500 small farmers in
Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and was scaled up in 2007 with coverage of more than
10,000 farmers. State agricultural insurance company along with other local insurers in
India started replicating the index insurance and reached to more than 25,000 farmers in
2004. Index insurance was also used as a development program in 2007 when PepsiCo provided insurance to 4575 potato farmers against late blight disease germinated due to high
temperature and humidity (Hellmuth et al. 2009). Another successful insurance project
was carried out by Agricultural Insurance Company, India (AICI), which introduced a new
rainfall-based insurance product called Varsha Bima (rainfall insurance) in 4 states of India
(Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh) covering 21 rain gauge stations
in 2004 (Nair 2010). The scaling up has gained momentum, and in 2008, about 675,000
farmers in Rajasthan alone participated in this insurance. Aforesaid, for any index insurance to be successful appropriate index, it has to be identifed, and adequate data should be
available to act upon it. The weather-based crop insurance scheme is publicly subsidized
in India, and thus, over 9 million farmers held this scheme policy by the end of 2011 with
a premium volume of over USD 258 million and total sum insured over USD 3 billion.
These policies covered more than 40 types of crops and 9.5 million hectares (Rao 2011).
Although crop insurance can compensate to farmer’s losses from climatic risks, yet it
has been beset with several problems such as lack of transparency, high premium, delay in
conducting crop cutting experiments, and non-payment/delayed payment of claims to farmers. There is an urgent need to increase farmers’ understanding of agriculture insurance
program, better design the insurance scheme, and generate site-specifc data for loss assessment (Matsuda and Kurosaki 2019).
3.6.3 Social networking and community‑based adaptation
Technological solutions alone cannot achieve the adaptation of agriculture to climate
change. Adaptation to climate change also has social, economic, and political dimensions
which infuence how climate change impacts diferent groups within society and measures
to respond to them. Community-based adaptation, which involves the mobilization of community members to assess their situation and to act in accordance with their local needs,
5062 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
knowledge, capacities, and priorities, is another approach to climate change adaptation.
Community-based adaptation needs to start with communities’ expressed needs and perceptions, and to address poverty reduction and livelihood benefts besides reducing vulnerability to climate change. This approach needs to incorporate information on climate
change, its impacts, and potential coping strategies in the planning process (Reid et al.
2009). This gives an insight into the problems of the vulnerable and suferers and encourages them to search for solutions based on their knowledge and skills. This enhances the
resilience of farm community through strengthened social networks, social capital, and
collaboration.
Community Forestry Program in Nepal is commonly known as a community-based
climate change adaptation mechanism. It is a self-regulatory and autonomous body in
managing the rural forest, which covers almost 2.2 million households in rural Nepal
(Bishokarma 2012). In addition to improving the agricultural land, these eforts have led
to the diversifcation of their income by selling timber, fruits, and vegetables (Pande and
Akermann 2009).
Smallholder farmers in food-prone areas of Bangladesh have adapted to water logging
by growing vegetable in foating gardens called Baira (Lasco et al. 2011). This practice
has become a source of vegetable production. Extreme climate events like erratic rainfall
and declining water resources also forced the community to take measures such as the construction of check dams and hedge against the river fow, shift to cash crops, and installation of water boring pumps for irrigation. In Kodikitunda of Odisha state of India, where
the majority of farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihood, farmers sufer from
declining crop yields due to lack of irrigation water and soil erosion. In this situation,
village communities in conjunction with Agragamee, a local NGO, are able to construct
dams, feld ponds, and wells, and gully plugging (Satapathy et al. 2011).
Local farmers cooperatives is an institutional mechanism for climate change adaptation in agriculture as this provides an opportunity to implement climate-smart agricultural
practices and increase crop yields under changing climate (Shakya et al. 2013). Annapurna
Seed Producers Cooperatives Organization Limited (ASPCOL) established in 2007 in
Rupendehi district of Nepal stands as an example of such cooperative which was set up by
the collective eforts of local farmers. Many members of this cooperative are now shifting
from traditional methods of farming to climate-smart farming such as laser land leveling,
direct seeded rice, system of sustainable rice intensifcation, covering the feld with green
manure, and adopting stress-tolerant varieties of rice and wheat. By adopting DSR, the
farmers were able to double their farm income and at the same time contribute to GHG
mitigation through reduced methane emission and resource conservation in terms of water
saving (Shakya et al. 2013). Some farmers of this cooperative have recently leveled their
land using laser land leveling, which help them grow crops with less water (Shakya et al.
2013). Youth farmers’ cooperatives in the Haryana state of India are promoting several
climate-smart agricultural practices.
3.6.4 Collective international action
There is increasing evidence of the impact of climate change on glaciers of the Himalayas
resulting in a rapid meltdown. Receding glaciers will have a signifcant implication for the
rivers system in SA as the rivers Ganges, Indus, Meghna, and the Brahmaputra originate
from glacial melt and sustain the lives of millions downstream (Lal 2010). There is a need
for international collective action to build synergies with multiple stakeholders at diferent
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5063
1 3
levels and a regional vision to address this problem as it afects the entire South Asian
region rather than an individual country (Ahmed et al. 2019). For example, glacier melting in Nepal will not only afect agriculture in Nepal but also in India, Pakistan, Bhutan,
and Bangladesh as rivers Ganges, Indus, and Brahmaputra are perennial rivers emerging
out from the Himalayas. Therefore, regional integration of climate change policies under a
suitable institutional framework can help achieve the required level of mutual cooperation
to address the future climate risks (Mirza et al. 2019). Regional cooperation is thus essential to lessen the intensity of foods owing to the rise in sea levels which considerably afect
fsheries in the coastal areas of India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
3.6.5 Integrated agro‑meteorological advisory services
In 2007, India launched a project to provide agro-meteorological information to farmers
with the help of multi-institutional framework, which includes agricultural universities,
research units, NGOs, and media institutions. This provides four types of services to farmers: (1) a meteorological information, i.e., weather observation and weather forecasting for
the next 5 days; (2) an agricultural component, which reports ‘weather sensitive stresses’
and advises farmers how weather forecasts can be useful for protecting crops from adverse
weather conditions; (3) an extension component, a system for two-way communication
between farmers and agricultural scientists; and (4) an information dissemination component by employing mass media. This project currently provides services to over 2.5 million
farmers in India and has an estimated economic impact of about USD 10 billion. It is a
three-tier project at national, state, and district levels. At the national level, it is prepared
for agricultural planning and management requiring cooperation from Crop Weather Watch
Group (CWWG), NGOs and State and District Agromet Advisory Service Council. State
Agromet works for the fertilizer industry, pesticide industry, irrigation, and seed department. The lowest level District Agromet works with the farmers from the basic step of
sowing to harvesting the crop, managing livestock, and disseminating information on agriculture-related aspects to farmers (MoES 2013).
India also established an institution called Kisan Sanchar Samuha, which provides
weather information to farmers through mobile phones. Under this scheme, farmers receive
farm-specifc solutions instead of generalized weather information. This also intensifed
their connectivity with markets outside their local area. Farmers in several states of India
are benefted immensely due to timely and appropriate information on the application of
inputs like fertilizer, pesticides, and so forth. Overall, uncertainty regarding the impacts
of climate change in agriculture is one of the main reasons behind inaction by farmers as
well as governments. However, recent studies indicate that no-regrets adaptation, i.e., the
actions that beneft farmers regardless of how and when climate change impacts farmers,
can be a useful approach to address the issue of inaction (Vermeulen et al. 2013). Such
actions support households in building capacity and resilience to risks and uncertainties
arising from climate change. For this, local government can play an important role in promoting and educating farmers on climate change adaptation strategies, skill development
for mitigating risks, and constructing protective infrastructure.
5064 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
3.7 Specifcity and economic efciency of adaption options
Given the site-specifc nature of climate change efect on agriculture together with wide
variation in agro-ecosystems types and management, and socioeconomic conditions, it is
essential that adaptation strategies must be developed according to environmental and cultural contexts at the regional and local levels. For example, smallholder farmers in lowincome countries such as Nepal, India, and Bangladesh are severely afected by climate
change because of poor infrastructure, limited access to the global market, physical isolation, low productivity, and lack of access to formal safety nets. So the overall ambition of
agricultural adaptation in these countries is to have systems that are highly climate-resilient while supporting increasing yield to feed the growing population. Even within SA,
mechanization and commercialization could be adaptation options in some parts of India,
whereas in the mountainous areas of India and Nepal with limited access to the global
market and formal safety nets, diversifcation of production systems through the promotion
of neglected and underutilized species (NUS) ofers adaptation opportunities to climate
change (Adhikari et al. 2017). NUS has the potential to improve food security and at the
same time help protect and conserve traditional knowledge and biodiversity.
However, economic efciency of such incremental adaptation (i.e., adaptation without
changing the essence and integrity of a system) should also be considered while making
such adaptation decision. For example, South Asian farmers are changing sowing and harvesting timing, cultivating short duration varieties, intercropping, changing cropping patterns, investing in irrigation, and establishing agroforestry in response to various climatic
stimuli (Tripathi and Mishra 2017). However, when economic efciency of such adaptation decreases over time, farmers opt for transformative adaptation (i.e., seeking alternative
livelihood or land management measures). For example, rain-fed rice farmers in Eastern
India and Nepal replace rice with upland crops such as maize or millet in drought year
(authors’ personal observation). Similarly, cultural dimensions are important in understanding how societies established food production systems and respond to climate change,
since they help to explain diferences in responses across populations to the same environmental risks (Adger et al. 2013). Local food systems are embedded in culture, beliefs,
and values, and indigenous and local knowledge can contribute to enhancing food system
resilience to climate change.
4 Future prospects and challenges to climate change adaptation
in South Asian agriculture
Although farmers are continuously adjusting to farm risks, they are more likely to respond
to short-term risks which have direct impacts on their farm operations and livelihood rather
than the long-term risk of climate change. Therefore, proper assessments of climate risks
and their impacts on livelihood are essential. Improved institutional support is required for
the efective design and implementation of adaptation measures. South Asian countries
have recently devised climate change policies at multiple levels and addressing the problem of several sectors, including agriculture. They initiated a national-level adaptation plan
for climate change, though in diferent nomenclatures. The expertise and costs required to
design and implementation of adaptation plans in these countries were mostly done United
Nations Development Programs (UNDP) or United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) or other international institutions. Climate change adaptation
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5065
1 3
costs in all sectors, including agriculture, are one of the crucial issues for sustainable adaptation programs (Amjath-Babu et al. 2018). In view of these matters, the future prospects
and challenges to climate change adaptation in South Asian agriculture can be discussed as
follows:
4.1 Climate policies at diferent levels and institutional setups to implement
the policies
Enabling the policy and institutional mechanisms are essential to facilitate the scaling up of
adaptation throughout the agricultural system. All South Asian countries have signed the
international agreements and showed their commitments to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) following the Paris Agreement. Agriculture is considered as a priority sector for adaptation given its vulnerability to climate change and contribution to livelihoods
of the majority of the people in this region (Amjath-Babu et al. 2018; Totin et al. 2018).
Climate policies at national and sub-national levels were designed in these countries.
For instance, India released National Action Plans on Climate change (NAPCC) in 2008
with the assistance of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC). The NAPCC consists of seven national missions, including sustainable agriculture, green India, and climate change (GoI 2008).
National mission on sustainable agriculture aims to promote crop breeding for developing abiotic stress-tolerant varieties and to create better insurance mechanisms and other
innovative agricultural practices. Policies to adapt agriculture to climate change also relate
to the other policies concerning with the use of natural resources such as water, forest,
and land. National Water Mission under NAPCC focuses on ensuring least water wastage,
proper recycling of water, and encouraging environmental-friendly methods of water harvesting and conservation practices. Similarly, the National Mission for Green India aims
to preserve forests and maintain ecological balance. National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change primarily aimed at supporting research on climate change in academics by establishing universities and disciplines in institutions and to enhance private
sector initiatives to develop adaptation and mitigation technologies (Ofoegbu et al. 2018).
Analogously, other countries in SA also introduced a national adaptation plan for action,
recognizing that agriculture is highly vulnerable to climate change. Nepal commenced the
National Adaptation Plan for Action (NAPA) in 2010 promoting community-based adaptation. Nepal also developed a Local Adaptation Plan of Action (LAPA) which contributes to
bridging the gap between macro policies like NAPA and local realities. Climate resilience
and poverty alleviation are some of the priorities of these adaptation programs.
In Bangladesh, the Ministry of Environment and Forest took the lead for preparing
NAPA. NAPA follows a holistic approach by bringing together government, local NGOs,
and communities to work for climate change adaptation and to achieve sustainable development. Adaptation measures in Bangladesh also focus on promoting adaptation to coastal
crop agriculture to combat increased salinity and adaptation to agriculture systems in areas
food-prone areas. Hence, this also prioritizes maize production with no-tillage methods in
food-prone areas. Fisheries are also one of the priority sectors under agriculture in Bangladesh. Therefore, adaptive and diversifed fsh culture practices are given priority in foodprone northeast and central regions in the northeast, and culture of salt-tolerant fsh species
is promoted in coastal areas. In natural disaster-prone areas, coastal aforestation with community participation’ was launched to strengthen the adaptive capacity to address situations arising after the disaster has occurred and to enhance carbon sink to control GHG
5066 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
emissions. These programs and plans have already been initiated in Bangladesh at the community level to increase the resilience of individuals and communities, with the cooperation of CARE international alongside educating local NGOs about climate change adaptation, in the food-prone areas.
Institutional change and fexibility to enable adaptation are a key challenge as the adaptive management approaches are new to the existing bureaucratic systems in these counties
(Ford et al. 2015; Nightingale 2017; Vij et al. 2017, 2018). However, there are limited studies to assess the overall efectiveness of adaptation actions taken at local, sub-national, and
national levels (Ford et al. 2015; Rahman et al. 2018). In some cases, synergies between
national- and sub-national-level policies are not strong enough to bring the desired efects
(Dhanapal 2014; Aryal et al. 2016). For example, Pakistan launched the frst national climate change policy in 2012. Despite having diferent levels of policy for climate change
adaptation, there is no clear linkage between national-level and local-level adaptation plans
in Pakistan (Chaudhury et al. 2014).
4.2 Financing the climate change adaptation in agriculture
Development of national adaptation plans in SA comes under diferent provisions of
UNFCCC. In the case of least developed countries, ‘Least Developed Countries Fund
(LDCF)’ supports the funding for preparation and implementation of national adaptation plan of action (NAPA). For example, Bhutan received a grant to fnance a project
to reduce climate-induced risks and vulnerabilities from glacial lake outbursts. Being
a lower middle-income country, Pakistan developed NAPA under UNFCCC guidelines
rather than support from LDCF (UNFCCC 2012). Although international fnancing of
adaptation goes to countries which are more susceptible to climate change risks, it is
challenging to collect adequate fund to meet the increasing cost of adaptation (Betzold
and Weiler 2017). Climate change adaptation in agriculture requires large investment
(Table 7), which is often beyond the capacity of smallholders in SA.
As farmers in SA have an average farm size of 0.5 ha, their economic viability can
be severely threatened by climate change. In most cases, farms under 2 ha are economically not proftable, and thus, proper design of policy to fnance adaptation program in
agriculture is very crucial (Dev 2012). Given that several agricultural practices have
both greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change adaptation benefts, prioritizing
those practices can help reduce the overall cost of climate change adaptation programs
in agriculture sector (Aryal et al. 2019a).
Table 7 Estimated fnancial
needs of agricultural adaptation
in South Asia (2015–2030).
Source: Adapted from AmjathBabu et al. (2018)
Countries Estimated cost (in
USD billion)
Estimated cost including
adaptation to disasters (in USD
billion)
Bangladesh 18 42
Bhutan 0.22 1.22
India 206 332
Nepal 4.24 10.1
Pakistan 40.74 97
Sri Lanka 4.8 9.99
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5067
1 3
4.3 Understanding of farmer adaptation behavior
Adaptation behavior is complex and dynamic. It depends on several climatic and nonclimatic factors (Goodrich et al. 2019). Besides, few studies in SA focus on the determinants of adaptation to climate change with a focus on farmer behavior (Feola et al.
2015). Education and interaction among farmers are found to change their adaptation
behavior. Therefore, rather than a top-down approach to the extension, focusing on the
farmer-to-farmer communication can help to improve adaptation in agriculture (Aryal
et al. 2018b). Changing gender roles and social norms, rising level of education and
awareness about climate change among farmers may shift their focus on climate change
adaptation, particularly in the use of climate-smart agriculture for climate change adaptation (Aryal et al. 2014, 2018a, b, c). Recent studies show that economic benefts alone
may not explain farmer’s adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices in India. For
example, although laser land leveling is found to be one of the climate-smart agricultural practices that help adaptation to some climate stresses, many farmers in India have
adopted it partially (Aryal et al. 2018a). Multiple factors such as gender of the household head, education, and market access are found to have afected adaptation behavior, and thus, policies focusing on adaptation require fexibility to address these factors
adequately.
5 Conclusion
Climate change adaptation is essential for agricultural sustainability. Building adaptation in the agricultural system requires simultaneous attention to increasing production
by adopting varieties of technologies, adopting sustainable land management practices,
building on and use of local knowledge/culture, and formulating enabling policy and
institutional setups. Though several adaptations options are available in agriculture, not
all of them can be applied to all location, as they are mostly location-specifc. All countries in SA have devised national-level policies to climate change adaptation. However,
their fnancing and proper implementations remain critical as most of them are fnanced
through international institutions, and thus, any change in donor priorities can constrain
their sustainability. Therefore, institutions at the international and national levels need
to work in cooperation to deal with the challenge of climate change.
Alternative adaptation measures in agriculture are continuously being developed.
For instance, there are several researches on new varieties that can tolerate climatic
stresses. Similarly, policies and institutions in SA are increasingly becoming responsive
to climatic risks. Insurance mechanisms and other community-based approaches are
also evolving and improved continuously to address the challenges. Although all South
Asian countries have come up with national, state, and local policies to address climate
challenges, they are not at the same level. Still, there is a need to enhance coordination
at diferent levels of institutions implementing climate change adaptation policies.
Despite the availability of options for climate change adaptation in agriculture, ineffcient institution and fnancing might hinder South Asian agriculture to tackle climate
challenges in the future. Several technical measures along with the local knowledge contribute to adapting agriculture to climatic variability. However, the researches related
to the magnitude of impacts of climate change on specifc crops vary over ecological
zones, and this largely depends on the resources that are available to the farmers for
5068 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
adapting to climate change. As a result, generalizing the impact of climate change and
its severity in agriculture is very difcult and seems impractical. Of the impact studies,
the assessment of the impact of other climate variables except for temperature on crop
yield is limited and thus an area for future research.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the support of the CGIAR research programs (CRPs) on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and Wheat Agri-Food Systems (CRP WHEAT) for
this study. CCAFS is supported from CGIAR fund donors and bilateral funding agreements (for details visit,
https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors). The CRP WHEAT receives W1&W2 support from the Governments of Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, India, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden,
Switzerland, U.K., U.S.A., and the World Bank. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do
not necessarily refect the views of the funders or associated institutions. The usual disclaimer applies, and
the authors are responsible for any remaining errors and inferences.
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the
source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
References
Abbas, G., Ahmad, S., Ahmad, A., Nasim, W., Fatima, Z., Hussain, S., et al. (2017). Quantifcation the
impacts of climate change and crop management on phenology of maize-based cropping system in
Punjab, Pakistan. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 247, 42–55.
Adger, W. N., Barnett, J., Brown, K., Marshall, N., & O’brien, K. (2013). Cultural dimensions of climate
change impacts and adaptation. Nature Climate Change, 3, 112.
Adhikari, S., Baral, H., & Nitschke, C. (2018). Adaptation to climate change in Panchase Mountain ecological regions of Nepal. Environments, 5, 42.
Adhikari, L., Hussain, A., & Rasul, G. (2017). Tapping the potential of neglected and underutilized food
crops for sustainable nutrition security in the mountains of Pakistan and Nepal. Sustainability, 9,
291.
Adhikari, U., Nejadhashemi, A. P., & Woznicki, S. A. (2015). Climate change and eastern Africa: A review
of impact on major crops. Food and Energy Security, 4, 110–132.
Aggarwal, P. K., & Sinha, S. K. (1993). Efect of probable increase in carbon dioxide and temperature on
wheat yields in India. Journal of Agricultural Meteorology, 48, 811–814.
Aggarwal, P. K., & Sivakumar, M. V. (2010). Global climate change and food security in South Asia: An
adaptation and mitigation framework. In Climate change and food security in South Asia. (pp. 253–
275). Berlin: Springer.
Ahmad, M., Siftain, H., & Iqbal, M. (2014). Impact of climate change on wheat productivity in Pakistan:
A district level analysis, MRPA 72859, Climate Change Working Paper No 1, Pakistan Institute of
Development Economics, Islamabad, Pakistan. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/72859/.
Ahmed, A. U., Appadurai, A. N., & Neelormi, S. (2019). Status of climate change adaptation in South Asia
region. In M. Alam, J. Lee, & P. Sawhney (Eds.), Status of climate change adaptation in Asia and the
Pacifc (pp. 125–152). Berlin: Springer.
Ahmed, M., & Suphachalasai, S. (2014). Assessing the costs of climate change and adaptation in South
Asia. Metro Manila: Asian Development Bank.
Akanda, A. I. (2011). Rethinking crop diversifcation under changing climate, hydrology and food habit in
Bangladesh. Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development (JAEID), 104,
3–23.
Ali, A., Rahut, D. B., Mottaleb, K. A., & Erenstein, O. (2017). Impacts of changing weather patterns on
smallholder well-being: Evidence from the Himalayan region of northern Pakistan. International
Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 9, 225–240.
Altieri, M. A., & Koohafkan, P. (2008). Enduring farms: Climate change, smallholders and traditional
farming communities. Third World Network (TWN) Penang.
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5069
1 3
Amjath-Babu, T., Aggarwal, P. K., & Vermeulen, S. (2018). Climate action for food security in South Asia?
Analyzing the role of agriculture in nationally determined contributions to the Paris agreement. Climate Policy, 19, 1–16.
Arifeen, M. (2017). Efective execution of crop insurance policy required. Pakistan and Gulf Economist.
http://www.pakistaneconomist.com/2017/01/16/efective-execution-crop-insurance-policy-required/.
Arshad, M., Amjath-Babu, T., Krupnik, T. J., Aravindakshan, S., Abbas, A., Kächele, H., et al. (2017). Climate variability and yield risk in South Asia’s rice–wheat systems: Emerging evidence from Pakistan.
Paddy and Water Environment, 15, 249–261.
Aryal, J. P., Farnworth, C. R., Khurana, R., Ray, S., & Sapkota, T. (2014). Gender dimensions of climate
change adaptation through climate smart agricultural practices in India. New Delhi: Innovation in
Indian Agriculture: Ways Forward.
Aryal, J. P., Jat, M. L., Sapkota, T. B., Khatri-Chhetri, A., Kassie, M., Rahut, D. B., et al. (2018a). Adoption
of multiple climate-smart agricultural practices in the Gangetic plains of Bihar, India. International
Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 10, 407–427.
Aryal, J. P., Jat, M. L., Singh, R., Gehlawat, S., & Agarwal, T. (2016). Framework, guidelines and governance for designing local adaptation plan of action to mainstream climate smart villages in India (p.
38). [fle:///C:/Users/DRAHUT/Downloads/LAPA.pdf]. Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT.
Aryal, J. P., Mehrotra, M. B., Jat, M. L., & Sidhu, H. S. (2015a). Impacts of laser land leveling in rice–wheat
systems of the north–western indo-gangetic plains of India. Food Security, 7, 725–738.
Aryal, J. P., Rahut, D. B., Jat, M. L., Maharjan, S., & Erenstein, O. (2018b). Factors determining the adoption of laser land leveling in the irrigated rice–wheat system in Haryana, India. Journal of Crop
Improvement, 32, 477–492.
Aryal, J. P., Rahut, D. B., Maharjan, S., & Erenstein, O. (2018c). Factors afecting the adoption of multiple
climate-smart agricultural practices in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. Natural Resources Forum,
42, 141–158.
Aryal, J. P., Rahut, D. B., Sapkota, T. B., Khurana, R., & Khatri-Chhetri, A. (2019a). Climate change mitigation options among farmers in South Asia. Environment, Development and Sustainability. https://
doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00345-0.
Aryal, J. P., Sapkota, T. B., Jat, M. L., & Bishnoi, D. K. (2015b). On-farm economic and environmental
impact of zero-tillage wheat: A case of north-west India. Experimental Agriculture, 51, 1–16.
Aryal, J. P., Sapkota, T. B., Rahut, D. B., & Jat, M. L. (2019b). Agricultural Sustainability under emerging
climatic variability: Role of climate smart agriculture and relevant policies in India. International
Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJISD.2019.10020869.
Aufhammer, M., Ramanathan, V., & Vincent, J. R. (2012). Climate change, the monsoon, and rice yield in
India. Climatic Change, 111, 411–424.
Bandara, J. S., & Cai, Y. (2014). The impact of climate change on food crop productivity, food prices and
food security in South Asia. Economic Analysis and Policy, 44, 451–465.
Barah, B. C. (2009). Economic and ecological benefts of System of Rice Intensifcation (SRI) in Tamil
Nadu. Agricultural Economics Research Review, 22, 209–214.
Basak, J. K., Ali, M. A., Islam, M. N., & Alam, M. J. B. (2009). Assessment of the efect of climate change
on boro rice production in Bangladesh using CERES-Rice model. In Proceedings of the international
conference on climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for Bangladesh (pp. 103–113).
Bedano, J. C., Domínguez, A., Arolfo, R., & Wall, L. G. (2016). Efect of good agricultural practices under
no-till on litter and soil invertebrates in areas with diferent soil types. Soil and Tillage Research, 158,
100–109.
Benton, T., Bailey, R., Froggatt, A., King, R., Lee, B., & Wellesley, L. (2018). Designing sustainable landuse in a 1.5 C world: The complexities of projecting multiple ecosystem services from land. Current
Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 31, 88–95.
Betzold, C., & Weiler, F. (2017). Allocation of aid for adaptation to climate change: Do vulnerable countries
receive more support? International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 17,
17–36.
Bhandari, G. (2013). Efect of rainfall on the yield of major cereals in Darchula district of Nepal. International Journal of Environment, 3, 205–213.
Bhatta, G. D., Ojha, H. R., Aggarwal, P. K., Sulaiman, V. R., Sultana, P., Thapa, D., et al. (2017). Agricultural innovation and adaptation to climate change: Empirical evidence from diverse agro-ecologies in
South Asia. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 19, 497–525.
Bhattacharyya, R., Das, T., Sudhishri, S., Dudwal, B., Sharma, A., Bhatia, A., et al. (2015). Conservation
agriculture efects on soil organic carbon accumulation and crop productivity under a rice–wheat
cropping system in the western Indo-Gangetic Plains. European Journal of Agronomy, 70, 11–21.
5070 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
Bishokarma, M. (2012). Assessing “dependency”: Food security and the impact of food aid on livelihoods
in Mugu. Kathmandu: Vajra Publications.
Brown, P. R., Afroz, S., Chialue, L., Chiranjeevi, T., El, S., Grünbühel, C. M., et al. (2018). Constraints to
the capacity of smallholder farming households to adapt to climate change in South and Southeast
Asia. Climate and Development, 2018, 1–18.
Cairns, J. E., & Prasanna, B. (2018). Developing and deploying climate-resilient maize varieties in the
developing world. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 45, 226–230.
Carleton, T. A. (2017). Crop-damaging temperatures increase suicide rates in India. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 114, 8746–8751.
Chakraborty, D., Watts, C. W., Powlson, D. S., Macdonald, A. J., Ashton, R. W., White, R. P., et al. (2014).
Triaxial testing to determine the efect of soil type and organic carbon content on soil consolidation
and shear deformation characteristics. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 78, 1192–1200.
Chaudhury, A., Sova, C., Rasheed, T., Thornton, T. F., Baral, P., & Zeb, A. (2014). Deconstructing
local adaptation plans for actions (LAPAs): Analysis of Nepal and Pakistan LAPA initiatives (No.
67). CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS),
Copenhagen.
Chen, Z., Wang, H., Liu, X., Zhao, X., Lu, D., Zhou, J., et al. (2017). Changes in soil microbial community
and organic carbon fractions under short-term straw return in a rice–wheat cropping system. Soil and
Tillage Research, 165, 121–127.
Chhogyel, N., & Kumar, L. (2018). Climate change and potential impacts on agriculture in Bhutan: A discussion of pertinent issues. Agriculture and Food Security, 7, 79.
Chivenge, P., Mabhaudhi, T., Modi, A. T., & Mafongoya, P. (2015). The potential role of neglected and
underutilised crop species as future crops under water scarce conditions in sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12, 5685–5711.
Climate Change Cell. (2009). Crop insurance as a risk management strategy in Bangladesh. Dhaka: Department of Environment. Ministry of Environment and Forests. Government of the People’s Republic of
Bangladesh.
Cui, Y.-F., Meng, J., Wang, Q.-X., Zhang, W.-M., Cheng, X.-Y., & Chen, W.-F. (2017). Efects of straw
and biochar addition on soil nitrogen, carbon, and super rice yield in cold waterlogged paddy soils of
North China. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 16, 1064–1074.
Deutsch, C. A., Tewksbury, J. J., Tigchelaar, M., Battisti, D. S., Merrill, S. C., Huey, R. B., et al. (2018).
Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate. Science, 361, 916.
Dev, M. S. (2012). Small farmers in India: Challenges and opportunities. Mumbai: Indira Gandhi Institute
of Development Research.
Dhanapal, G. (2014). Climate adaptation in India. Nature Climate Change, 4, 232.
Feola, G., Lerner, A. M., Jain, M., Montefrio, M. J. F., & Nicholas, K. A. (2015). Researching farmer behaviour in climate change adaptation and sustainable agriculture: Lessons learned from fve case studies.
Journal of Rural Studies, 39, 74–84.
Ferdausi, S., & Bolkland, M. (2000). Rainwater harvesting for application in rural Bangladesh. In WEDC
conference (pp. 16–19).
Fishman, R. (2018). Groundwater depletion limits the scope for adaptation to increased rainfall variability in
India. Climatic Change, 147, 195–209.
Fiwa, L., Vanuytrecht, E., Wiyo, K. A., & Raes, D. (2014). Efect of rainfall variability on the length of the
crop growing period over the past three decades in central Malawi. Climate Research, 62, 45–58.
Ford, J. D., Berrang-Ford, L., Bunce, A., McKay, C., Irwin, M., & Pearce, T. (2015). The status of climate
change adaptation in Africa and Asia. Regional Environmental Change, 15, 801–814.
Gathala, M. K., Kumar, V., Sharma, P. C., Saharawat, Y. S., Jat, H. S., Singh, M., et al. (2013). Optimizing
intensive cereal-based cropping systems addressing current and future drivers of agricultural change
in the northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 177,
85–97.
Gautam, S., Schreinemachers, P., Uddin, M. N., & Srinivasan, R. (2017). Impact of training vegetable farmers in Bangladesh in integrated pest management (IPM). Crop Protection, 102, 161–169.
Godfray, H. C. J. (2015). The debate over sustainable intensifcation. Food Security, 7, 199–208.
Godfray, H. C. J., & Garnett, T. (2014). Food security and sustainable intensifcation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369, 20120273.
GoI. (2008). India: National action plan on climate change (NAPCC). New Delhi: Government of India.
Goodrich, C. G., Prakash, A., & Udas, P. B. (2019). Gendered vulnerability and adaptation in Hindu-Kush
Himalayas: Research insights. Environmental Development, 31, 1–8.
GoSL. (2000). Initial National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Colombo: Government of Sri Lanka.
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5071
1 3
Gupta, R., Somanathan, E., & Dey, S. (2017). Global warming and local air pollution have reduced wheat
yields in India. Climatic Change, 140, 593–604.
Habiba, U., & Shaw, R. (2014). Farmers’ response to drought in Northwestern Bangladesh. Risks and
conficts: Local responses to natural disasters (pp. 131–161). Bradford: Emerald Group Publishing
Limited.
He, Y., He, X., Xu, M., Zhang, W., Yang, X., & Huang, S. (2018). Long-term fertilization increases soil
organic carbon and alters its chemical composition in three wheat–maize cropping sites across central
and south China. Soil and Tillage Research, 177, 79–87.
Hedhly, A., Hormaza, J. I., & Herrero, M. (2009). Global warming and sexual plant reproduction. Trends in
Plant Science, 14, 30–36.
Hellmuth, M. E., Osgood, D. E., Hess, U., Moorhead, A., & Bhojwani, H. (2009). Index insurance and
climate risk: Prospects for development and disaster management. Palisades: International Research
Institute for Climate and Society (IRI).
Hoda, A., & Gulati, A. (2013). India’s agricultural trade policy and sustainable development. ICTSD issue
paper 49.
Hussain, S. S., & Mudasser, M. (2007). Prospects for wheat production under changing climate in mountain
areas of Pakistan—An econometric analysis. Agricultural Systems, 94, 494–501.
IPCC. (2007a). Synthesis report-intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
IPCC. (2007b). Synthesis report, contributions of working groups I, II and III to the fourth assessment
report of the intergovernmental panel of climate change. Geneva.
Jalota, S., Kaur, H., Kaur, S., & Vashisht, B. (2013). Impact of climate change scenarios on yield, water and
nitrogen-balance and-use efciency of rice–wheat cropping system. Agricultural Water Management,
116, 29–38.
Jat, M. L., Singh, Y., Gill, G., Sidhu, H., Aryal, J. P., Stirling, C., et al. (2014). Laser assisted precision land
leveling: Impacts in irrigated intensive production systems of South Asia. Advances in Soil Science,
2014, 323–352.
Jat, L. K., Singh, Y., Meena, S. K., Meena, S. K., Parihar, M., Jatav, H., et al. (2015). Does integrated
nutrient management enhance agricultural productivity. Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology,
9, 1211–1221.
Kalra, N., Chander, S., Pathak, H., Aggarwal, P., Gupta, N., Sehgal, M., et al. (2007). Impacts of climate
change on agriculture. Outlook on Agriculture, 36, 109–118.
Karim, Z., Hussain, S. G., & Ahmed, M. (1996). Assessing impacts of climatic variations on foodgrain production in Bangladesh. In L. Erda, W. C. Bolhofer, S. Huq, S. Lenhart & S. K. Mukherjee (Eds.), Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in Asia and the Pacifc (pp. 53–62). Berlin: Springer.
Knox, J., Hess, T., Daccache, A., & Wheeler, T. (2012). Climate change impacts on crop productivity in
Africa and South Asia. Environmental Research Letters, 7, 034032.
Kumar, M. D. (2016). Water saving and yield enhancing micro irrigation technologies in India: Theory and
practice. In Micro irrigation systems in India (pp. 13–36). Berlin: Springer.
Kumar, K. K., Kumar, R. K., Ashrit, R., Deshpande, N., & Hansen, J. (2004). Climate impacts on Indian
agriculture. International Journal of Climatology: A Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 24,
1375–1393.
Lal, R. (2010). Soil degradation and food security in South Asia. In R. Lal, M. V. K. Sivakumar, S. M. A.
Faiz, A. H. M. M. Rahman, & K. R. Islam (Eds.), Climate change and food security in South Asia
(pp. 137–152). Berlin: Springer.
Lal, M. (2011). Implications of climate change in sustained agricultural productivity in South Asia.
Regional Environmental Change, 11, 79–94.
Lasco, R. D., Habito, C. M. D., Delfno, R. J. P., Pulhin, F. B., & Concepcion, R. N. (2011). Climate change
adaptation for smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia (65 p). Philippines: World Agroforestry Centre.
Lemma, M., Alemie, A., Habtu, S., & Lemma, C. (2016). Analyzing the impacts of on onset, length of
growing period and dry spell length on chickpea production in Adaa District (East Showa Zone) of
Ethiopia. Journal of Earth Science and Climatic Change, 7, 349.
Lin, B. B. (2011). Resilience in agriculture through crop diversifcation: Adaptive management for environmental change. BioScience, 61, 183–193.
Lobell, D. B., Hammer, G. L., Chenu, K., Zheng, B., McLean, G., & Chapman, S. C. (2015). The shifting infuence of drought and heat stress for crops in northeast Australia. Global Change Biology, 21,
4115–4127.
Lobell, D. B., & Tebaldi, C. (2014). Getting caught with our plants down: The risks of a global crop yield
slowdown from climate trends in the next two decades. Environmental Research Letters, 9, 074003.
5072 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
Mall, R., Lal, M., Bhatia, V., Rathore, L., & Singh, R. (2004). Mitigating climate change impact on soybean
productivity in India: A simulation study. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 121, 113–125.
Malla, G. (2008). Climate change and its impact on Nepalese agriculture. Journal of Agriculture and Environment, 9, 62–71.
Mathauda, S., Mavi, H., Bhangoo, B., & Dhaliwal, B. (2000). Impact of projected climate change on rice
production in Punjab (India). Tropical Ecology, 41, 95–98.
Matiu, M., Ankerst, D. P., & Menzel, A. (2017). Interactions between temperature and drought in global and
regional crop yield variability during 1961–2014. PLoS ONE, 12, e0178339.
Matsuda, A., & Kurosaki, T. (2019). Demand for temperature and rainfall index insurance in India. Agricultural Economics, 50(3), 353–366.
Mirza, M. M. Q., Mandal, U. K., Rabbani, M. G., & Nishat, A. (2019). Integration of national policies
towards addressing the challenges of impacts of climate change in the GBM region. In H. S. Sen
(Ed.), The sundarbans: A disaster-prone eco-region: Increasing livelihood security (pp. 581–607).
Cham: Springer.
MoEF. (2010). National mission for green India (GIM): National consultations.
MoES. (2013). Indian Meterorlogoical Department (WWW Document). Agrometeorol. Advis. Serv.
Mohammad, A., & Mosharaf, H. (2001). Environment and agriculture in a developing economy-problems
and prospects for Bangladesh. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.
Morey, D., & Sadaphal, M. (1981). Efect of weather elements on yield of wheat at Delhi. PKV Research
Journal (Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth), 5, 3.
Mottaleb, K. A., Rejesus, R. M., Murty, M., Mohanty, S., & Li, T. (2017). Benefts of the development
and dissemination of climate-smart rice: Ex ante impact assessment of drought-tolerant rice in South
Asia. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 22, 879–901.
Murgueitio, E., Calle, Z., Uribe, F., Calle, A., & Solorio, B. (2011). Native trees and shrubs for the productive rehabilitation of tropical cattle ranching lands. Forest Ecology and Management, 261, 1654–1663.
Murthy, I. K., Gupta, M., Tomar, S., Munsi, M., Tiwari, R., Hegde, G., et al. (2013). Carbon sequestration
potential of agroforestry systems in India. Journal of Earth Science and Climatic Change, 4, 1–7.
Nair, R. (2010). Weather-based crop insurance in India: Towards a sustainable crop insurance regime? Economic and Political Weekly, 45, 73–81.
Nelson, G. C., Rosegrant, M. W., Koo, J., Robertson, R., Sulser, T., Zhu, T., et al. (2009). Climate change:
Impact on agriculture and costs of adaptation. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research
Institute.
Nie, Z., McLean, T., Clough, A., Tocker, J., Christy, B., Harris, R., et al. (2016). Benefts, challenges and
opportunities of integrated crop-livestock systems and their potential application in the high rainfall
zone of southern Australia: A review. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 235, 17–31.
Nightingale, A. J. (2017). Power and politics in climate change adaptation eforts: Struggles over authority
and recognition in the context of political instability. Geoforum, 84, 11–20.
Ofoegbu, C., New, M., Nyamwanza, A. M., & Spear, D. (2018). Understanding the current state of collaboration in the production and dissemination of adaptation knowledge in Namibia. Environment,
Development and Sustainability, 2018, 1–21.
Ojha, H. R., Sulaiman, V. R., Sultana, P., Dahal, K., Thapa, D., Mittal, N., et al. (2014). Is South Asian
agriculture adapting to climate change? Evidence from the indo-gangetic plains. Agroecology and
Sustainable Food Systems, 38, 505–531.
Ortiz, R., Sayre, K. D., Govaerts, B., Gupta, R., Subbarao, G., Ban, T., et al. (2008). Climate change: Can
wheat beat the heat? Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 126, 46–58.
Osborne, T. M., & Wheeler, T. R. (2013). Evidence for a climate signal in trends of global crop yield variability over the past 50 years. Environmental Research Letters, 8, 024001.
Panda, A., Sharma, U., Ninan, K. N., & Patt, A. (2013). Adaptive capacity contributing to improved
agricultural productivity at the household level: Empirical fndings highlighting the importance of
crop insurance. Global Environmental Change, 23, 782–790.
Pande, P., & Akermann, K. (2009). Adaptation of small scale farmers to climatic risks in India. New
Delhi: Sustainet India.
Parry, M. L., Rosenzweig, C., Iglesias, A., Livermore, M., & Fischer, G. (2004). Efects of climate
change on global food production under SRES emissions and socio-economic scenarios. Global
Environmental Change, 14, 53–67.
Pathak, P., Chourasia, A. K., Wani, S. P., & Sudi, R. (2013). Multiple impact of integrated watershed
management in low rainfall semi-arid region: A case study from eastern Rajasthan, India. Journal
of Water Resource and Protection, 5, 27–36.
Paul, B. K. (1998). Coping mechanisms practised by drought victims (1994/5) in North Bengal, Bangladesh. Applied Geography, 18, 355–373.
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5073
1 3
Pimentel, D., Houser, J., Preiss, E., White, O., Fang, H., Mesnick, L., et al. (1997). Water resources:
Agriculture, the environment, and society. BioScience, 47, 97–106.
Porter, J. R., & Semenov, M. A. (2005). Crop responses to climatic variation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 360, 2021–2035.
Powlson, D. S., Stirling, C. M., Thierfelder, C., White, R. P., & Jat, M. L. (2016). Does conservation
agriculture deliver climate change mitigation through soil carbon sequestration in tropical agroecosystems? Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 220, 164–174.
Prasai, B. K. (2010). National issue paper on agriculture sector (adaptation). Accessed 6 August 2013.
Prasanna, V. (2014). Impact of monsoon rainfall on the total foodgrain yield over India. Journal of Earth
System Science, 123, 1129–1145.
Rahman, A., Alam, M., Mainuddin, K., Ali, L., Alauddin, S., Rabbani, M., et al. (2009). The probale
impacts of climate change on proverty and economic growth and the options of coping with
adverse efect of climate change in Bangladesh, Support to Monitoring PRS and MDGs in Bangladesh. Planning Commission, Government of the Peoples’s Republic of Bangladesh & UNDP
Bangladesh.
Rahman, S. U., Arif, M., Hussain, K., Hussain, S., Mukhtar, T., Razaq, A., et al. (2013). Evaluation of
maize hybrids for tolerance to high temperature stress in central Punjab. Columbia International
Publishing American Journal of Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 1, 30–36.
Rahman, T. H. M., Hickey, G. M., Ford, J. D., & Egan, M. A. (2018). Climate change research in Bangladesh: Research gaps and implications for adaptation-related decision-making. Regional Environmental Change, 18, 1535–1553.
Rahut, D. B., & Ali, A. (2018). Impact of climate-change risk-coping strategies on livestock productivity
and household welfare: Empirical evidence from Pakistan. Heliyon, 4, e00797.
Rao, K. N. (2011). Weather index insurance: Is it the right model for providing insurance to crops? ASCI
Journal of Management, 41, 86–101.
Rasul, G., Saboor, A., Tiwari, P. C., Hussain, A., Ghosh, N., & Chettri, G. B. (2019). Food and nutrition
security in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Unique challenges and niche opportunities. In P. Wester, A.
Mishra, A. Mukherji, & A. B. Shrestha (Eds.), The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment: Mountains,
climate change, sustainability and people (pp. 301–338). Cham: Springer.
Ray, D. K., Gerber, J. S., MacDonald, G. K., & West, P. C. (2015). Climate variation explains a third of
global crop yield variability. Nature Communications, 6, 5989.
Reeves, T., Thomas, G., & Ramsay, G. (2016). Save and grow in practice: Maize, rice, wheat. A Guide to
Sustainable Cereal Production (FAO UN, 2016).
Reid, H., Alam, M., Berger, R., Cannon, T., & Milligan, A. (2009). Community-based adaptation to climate change, participatory learning and action. London: International Institute for Environment
and Development.
Reyes, L. (2009). Making rice less thirsty. Rice Today, 8, 12–15.
Rosenzweig, C., & Hillel, D. (2015). Handbook of climate change and agroecosystems: The agricultural
model intercomparison and improvement project (AgMIP) integrated crop and economic assessments. World Scientifc: Joint Publication with American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science
Society of America, and Soil S.
Rosenzweig, C., Iglesias, A., Yang, X., Epstein, P. R., & Chivian, E. (2001). Climate change and extreme
weather events; implications for food production, plant diseases, and pests. Global Change and
Human Health, 2, 90–104.
Saadi, S., Todorovic, M., Tanasijevic, L., Pereira, L. S., Pizzigalli, C., & Lionello, P. (2015). Climate
change and Mediterranean agriculture: Impacts on winter wheat and tomato crop evapotranspiration, irrigation requirements and yield. Agricultural Water Management, 147, 103–115.
Sapkota, T. B., Jat, M., Aryal, J. P., Jat, R., & Khatri-Chhetri, A. (2015). Climate change adaptation,
greenhouse gas mitigation and economic proftability of conservation agriculture: Some examples
from cereal systems of Indo-Gangetic Plains. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 14, 1524–1533.
Sapkota, T. B., Jat, R., Singh, R. G., Jat, M., Stirling, C., Jat, M., et al. (2017). Soil organic carbon
changes after seven years of conservation agriculture in a rice–wheat system of the eastern IndoGangetic Plains. Soil Use and Management, 33, 81–89.
Sarker, M. A. R., Alam, K., & Gow, J. (2012). Exploring the relationship between climate change and
rice yield in Bangladesh: An analysis of time series data. Agricultural Systems, 112, 11–16.
Saseendran, S., Singh, K., Rathore, L., Singh, S., & Sinha, S. (2000). Efects of climate change on rice
production in the tropical humid climate of Kerala, India. Climatic Change, 44, 495–514.
Satapathy, S., Porsche, I., Kunkel, N., Manasf, N., & Kalisch, A. (2011). Adaptation to climate change
with a focus on rural areas and India. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
(GIZ) GmbH, India Project on Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Areas of India. GIZ and GoI.
5074 J. P. Aryal et al.
1 3
Schauberger, B., Archontoulis, S., Arneth, A., Balkovic, J., Ciais, P., Deryng, D., et al. (2017). Consistent negative response of US crops to high temperatures in observations and crop models. Nature
Communications, 8, 13931.
Schmidhuber, J., & Tubiello, F. N. (2007). Global food security under climate change. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, 104, 19703–19708.
Shakya, S., Gyawali, D. R., Gurung, J. K., & Regmi, P. P. (2013). A trailblazer in adopting climate
smart practices: One cooperative’s success story. In: CCAFS (Ed.). https://ccafs.cgiar.org/es/blog/
trailblazer-adopting-climate-smart-practices-one-cooperative%E2%80%99s-success-story#.XBBGVxKhPY].
Shankar, K. R., Nagasree, K., Nirmala, G., Prasad, M., Venkateswarlu, B., & Rao, C. S. (2015). Climate
change and agricultural adaptation in South Asia. In L. Filho (Ed.), Handbook of climate change
adaptation (pp. 1657–1671). Berlin: Springer.
Siderius, C., Hellegers, P., Mishra, A., van Ierland, E., & Kabat, P. (2014). Sensitivity of the agroecosystem in the Ganges basin to inter-annual rainfall variability and associated changes in land use.
International Journal of Climatology, 34, 3066–3077.
Singh, S., Mackill, D. J., & Ismail, A. M. (2009). Responses of SUB1 rice introgression lines to submergence in the feld: Yield and grain quality. Field Crops Research, 113, 12–23.
Sinha, S., & Swaminathan, M. (1991). Deforestation, climate change and sustainable nutrition security: A case study of India. In N. Myers (Ed.), Tropical forests and climate (pp. 201–209). Cham:
Springer.
Siyal, G.-E.-A. (2018). Farmers see room for improvement in crop loan insurance scheme. The Express
Tribune, Pakistan. https://tribune.com.pk/story/1657400/2-farmers-see-room-improvement-croploan-insurance-scheme/.
Smit, B., & Skinner, M. W. (2002). Adaptation options in agriculture to climate change: A typology.
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 7, 85–114.
Sonune, S. V., & Mane, S. (2018). Impact of climate resilient varieties on crop productivity in
NICRA village. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. https://doi.org/10.30954
/0424-2513.3.2018.9.
Sultana, H., & Ali, N. (2006). Vulnerability of wheat production in diferent climatic zones of Pakistan
under climate change scenarios using CSM-CERES-Wheat Model. In 2nd international young scientists’ global change conference (pp. 7–9). Beijing.
Sultana, H., Ali, N., Iqbal, M. M., & Khan, A. M. (2009). Vulnerability and adaptability of wheat production in diferent climatic zones of Pakistan under climate change scenarios. Climatic Change,
94, 123–142.
Tesfaye, K., Zaidi, P., Gbegbelegbe, S., Boeber, C., Getaneh, F., Seetharam, K., et al. (2017). Climate
change impacts and potential benefts of heat-tolerant maize in South Asia. Theoretical and
Applied Climatology, 130, 959–970.
Thornton, P. K., Kristjanson, P., Förch, W., Barahona, C., Cramer, L., & Pradhan, S. (2018). Is agricultural adaptation to global change in lower-income countries on track to meet the future food
production challenge? Global Environmental Change, 52, 37–48.
Totin, E., Segnon, C. A., Schut, M., Afognon, H., Zougmoré, B. R., Rosenstock, T., et al. (2018). Institutional perspectives of climate-smart agriculture: A systematic literature review. Sustainability,
10, 1990.
Tripathi, A., & Mishra, A. K. (2017). Knowledge and passive adaptation to climate change: An example
from Indian farmers. Climate Risk Management, 16, 195–207.
UNFCCC. (2012). National adaptation plans: Technical guidelines for the national adaptation plan process. Bonn: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
UN-Water. (2013). Climate change (WWW document).
Vanlauwe, B., Coyne, D., Gockowski, J., Hauser, S., Huising, J., Masso, C., et al. (2014a). Sustainable
intensifcation and the African smallholder farmer. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 8, 15–22.
Vanlauwe, B., Wendt, J., Giller, K. E., Corbeels, M., Gerard, B., & Nolte, C. (2014b). A fourth principle is
required to defne conservation agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: The appropriate use of fertilizer to
enhance crop productivity. Field Crops Research, 155, 10–13.
Vermeulen, S. J., Aggarwal, P. K., Ainslie, A., Angelone, C., Campbell, B. M., Challinor, A. J., et al. (2012).
Options for support to agriculture and food security under climate change. Environmental Science
and Policy, 15, 136–144.
Vermeulen, S. J., Challinor, A. J., Thornton, P. K., Campbell, B. M., Eriyagama, N., Vervoort, J. M., et al.
(2013). Addressing uncertainty in adaptation planning for agriculture. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 110, 8357–8362.
Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options… 5075
1 3
Vidanage, S., & Abeygunawardane, P. (1994). An economic assessment of global warming on agriculture:
The case of paddy production in Sri Lanka. Marga, 13, 33–44.
Vij, S., Biesbroek, R., Groot, A., Termeer, K., & Parajuli, B. P. (2018). Power interplay between actors:
Using material and ideational resources to shape local adaptation plans of action (LAPAs) in Nepal.
Climate Policy, 19, 1–14.
Vij, S., Moors, E., Ahmad, B., Md, A., Bhadwal, S., Biesbroek, R., et al. (2017). Climate adaptation
approaches and key policy characteristics: Cases from South Asia. Environmental Science and Policy,
78, 58–65.
Vinke, K., Martin, M. A., Adams, S., Baarsch, F., Bondeau, A., Coumou, D., et al. (2017). Climatic risks
and impacts in South Asia: Extremes of water scarcity and excess. Regional Environmental Change,
17, 1569–1583.
Vogel, E., & Meyer, R. (2018). Chapter 3 – Climate change, climate extremes, and global food production—
Adaptation in the agricultural sector. In Z. Zommers & K. Alverson (Eds.), Resilience (pp. 31–49).
Elsevier.
Waldron, A., Miller, D. C., Redding, D., Mooers, A., Kuhn, T. S., Nibbelink, N., et al. (2017). Reductions in
global biodiversity loss predicted from conservation spending. Nature, 551, 364.
Wang, S. W., Lee, W.-K., & Son, Y. (2017). An assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation in
South Asian agriculture. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 9,
517–534.
Wang, Z., Li, J., Lai, C., Wang, R. Y., Chen, X., & Lian, Y. (2018). Drying tendency dominating the global
grain production area. Global Food Security, 16, 138–149.
Wu, W., Ma, B., & Uphof, N. (2015). A review of the system of rice intensifcation in China. Plant and
Soil, 393(1–2), 361–381.
Ye, Y., Liang, X., Chen, Y., Liu, J., Gu, J., Guo, R., et al. (2013). Alternate wetting and drying irrigation and
controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer in late-season rice. Efects on dry matter accumulation, yield,
water and nitrogen use. Field Crops Research, 144, 212–224.
Zaidi, P. H., Srinivasan, G., Cordova, H., & Sanchez, C. (2004). Gains from improvement for mid-season
drought tolerance in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). Field Crops Research, 89, 135–152.
Zhao, J., Yang, X., Dai, S., Lv, S., & Wang, J. (2015). Increased utilization of lengthening growing season
and warming temperatures by adjusting sowing dates and cultivar selection for spring maize in Northeast China. European Journal of Agronomy, 67, 12–19.
Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional afliations.