**Abstract**

Climate is most important factor affecting agriculture, and issues related to climate and its implications have attracted attention of policy makers globally. The farm sector, particularly marginal ecosystems in mountains are vulnerable because of unpredictable variation and severe sink limitations. Efforts to impart resilience to farm and its allied sector are an urgent need. The climatic parameters play very important role to determine type of crops, cattle rearing and the life style adopted by the people. Moreover, weather has a significant impact on crop growth and development. Weather plays a vital role and affects the production and productivity of the crops. According to an estimate, weather contributes 67% variation in productivity and rest of the factors (soil, nutrient and management practices etc.) accounts for 33%. Therefore, there is a need of in-depth analysis of each meteorological parameters and identification of their trend over the years in order to identify and adapt suitable agriculture practices, better adaptable crops, varieties and their duration, time of field preparation, sowing time and irrigation as per the climatic conditions of the region. This will lead farming community to plan strategies of agriculture operation to obtain optimum yield. The climatic data from the meteorological observatory of ICAR-VPKAS, Hawalbagh located at mid hill condition (1250 m amsl) were analyzed for different periods (annual, seasonal, monthly, weekly). It was revealed that rainfall is decreasing over the years but significant (P < 0.05) decrease was recorded at mid hills. The maximum temperature is increasing significantly (P < 0.05) during post-monsoon and winter season however decreasing in monsoon season whereas minimum temperature is decreasing round the year. These changes in rainfall and temperatures are affecting production and productivity of the crops, as hills are largely rainfed. In terms of crop water demand, there is no need to apply irrigation during the rainy season except the transplanted rice. However, during the winter season as there is more than 60% of water deficit to irrigate the crops. The proper understanding of climate is necessary to bring sustainability in hill agriculture by adjusting crop sowing window and other operations as per suitability of the climate.

**Keywords:** agroforestry, climate change, Himalaya, meteorological data, productivity, sustainability

[3]. Crop production is a complex phenomenon and depends on abiotic (soil, weather, plant etc.) and biotic factors (insect, pest diseases etc.). Sudden change and frequent variation of these factors during different crop growth stages can bring drastic change in crop production and productivity. Warming trends were reported in Indian climate [4]. The decline in production in rice and wheat due to climate variation was reported [5, 6] though received rainfall higher than the mean rainfall of rice and wheat. This chapter deals with the impact of climatic variation

*Climatic Variation and Its Impacts on Yield and Water Requirement of Crops in Indian Central…*

In the welfare of our nation and its economy, value of forests and trees is foremost. The indirect benefits are more than direct benefits to us through the trees [7, 8]. It is true that if the tree is present on the earth, the water will be available; if water is there, food will be available and due to food, we will exist. Our resources were first developed in the shadows of the trees because the trees give us food, fuel, fodder, shade and timber and improve fertility of land as well as increase water availability, prevent soil erosion and help maintain environmental balance [8, 9]. At present, due to burgeoning population and dwindling resources, importance of agroforestry has increased [10]. Due to the development of new systems, in modern

agriculture such as agro-forestry is need of the hour in place of traditional

To meet the needs of growing population conflict between forest and agricultural land has also increased; industrialization has generated pressure on land for many other demands [13]. Therefore, it is necessary to produce both agricultural and forestry products on the same piece of land to meet out the increasing demand of different products [14]. For this, plantations should be done on the agricultural land. Agroforestry helps in removal of carbon and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere to mitigate climate change, reducing the impact of climate change and reduces the vulnerability [8, 11, 12, 15]. The different options to mitigate climate change include increasing carbon reducing activities such as carbon sequestration, to reduce emissions of bio-energy and biofuels in productive activities. Agroforestry is not only a large and low cost opportunity to mitigate climate change but also provides other services to the community [16]. Tree collects carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and converts it into carbon molecules through photosynthesis in leaves, which is responsible for growth of tree. One kilogram of dry wood

contains 0.5 kg carbon. According to IPCC [17] tropical wet forest have carbon in

Tree provides leaves as manure for agriculture, help in farming directly and indirectly and provide food and fodder for human and animal [7, 8]. This may benefit from the same piece of land that help in self-catering as well as can reduce the risk, also helps in providing appropriate environment for crops and the market for products. Although this technique is very simple, still it provides complementary employment and a very small technical and economic cooperation is required. The tree is a blessing because it is very useful to the poor and provides various benefits and windfall profits due to different timings of reaping at low cost variation. The greatest significance of agroforestry is that the farmer's family can adopt it as a good activity without changing his business and trees are very cooperative in the agro-forestry [18]. Trees convert poisonous gas CO2 into life saving oxygen (O2). This action purify the air as well as help in preventing elevated temperature because trees absorb atmospheric carbon in the process of photosynthesis. In agroforestry, we should choose trees with short life cycle and fast growing in nature. India has diversified climate, different agricultural conditions and abundant wasteland in

agricultural landscape without reducing food production [11, 12].

above ground biomass of 65–430 t ha<sup>1</sup> and 44–130 t ha<sup>1</sup> in soil.

**11**

and changes on natural resources and agricultural productivity.

**1.1 Agroforestry and climate change**

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94076*

## **1. Introduction**

Climate determines nature and productivity of farming systems' and allied farm enterprises. The climate over the Himalayan ranges varies from place to place due to complexities of the local relief features and type of weather systems. Weather is defined as the state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place. It defines the physical conditions of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature cloudiness, moisture, rainfall pressure and other parameters such as sunshine hour, evaporation etc. Climate pertaining to a region or a place can be defined as the sum of the weather conditions prevailing over a place over the years. In other words, climate represents average weather conditions over a long period. It comprises not only those conditions that can be obviously described as near average or normal, but also the extremes and all the variations. According to an estimate, weather contributes 67% of the variations in productivity and rest by the other factors viz., soil nutrient and management practices [1]. The climate affect the crop production, jeopardize the livelihood of people, and induced animal starvation. The recent severe drought of 2002 affected 300,000,000 people and monetary losses US \$910,721,000 [2]. It is well known fact that there is little control over the climate and there is a very little chance to manipulate the weather. Therefore, there is a need of identification and adaption of suitable crops and varieties, as per the climatic conditions of the region.

The potential of climate as an agricultural resource has not been fully utilized and realized. As a result, several crops are grown traditionally without any knowledge of their suitability. Thus, on one hand, poor production and on the other, much of the production potential of these vast resources go untapped. However, it is inevitable to make adjustment with weather to harness the maximum benefit from available climatic resources. Therefore, knowledge of agro climatology of a region is a valuable tool for crop planning. The knowledge of climatic conditions also helps in identification and selection of forest trees, species and grasses. The proper knowledge of climate and its relationship with severity of insects and pests, diseases will be helpful for managing them and minimizing the losses. Therefore, knowledge of the climate is necessary to utilize resources efficiently for maintaining the production and regeneration capacity. As we know that, there is little control over the climate and there is very little chance to manipulate the weather. Therefore, there is a need of in-depth analysis of each meteorological parameters and identification of their trend over the years in order to identify and adapt suitable agriculture practices, better adaptable crops, varieties and their duration, time of field preparation, sowing time and irrigation as per the climatic conditions of the region.

One of the major challenges of the 21st century is to ensure food security for the burgeoning population. It is more pertinent to India, where population growth rate is high and it may surpass the China's population in near future. Although consequent to green revolution India in general has made remarkable progress in production of food and fiber since 1970's. However, India has to progressively match the production with population growth rate still to ensure food security, it has to go for climate smart sustainable agriculture. Agriculture is even more important as a primary source of livelihood for majority of the world's workforce. However, livelihood systems that are based on agriculture may face growing risk of crop failure, frequent incidence of pest and diseases and loss of livestock due to climate change

*Climatic Variation and Its Impacts on Yield and Water Requirement of Crops in Indian Central… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94076*

[3]. Crop production is a complex phenomenon and depends on abiotic (soil, weather, plant etc.) and biotic factors (insect, pest diseases etc.). Sudden change and frequent variation of these factors during different crop growth stages can bring drastic change in crop production and productivity. Warming trends were reported in Indian climate [4]. The decline in production in rice and wheat due to climate variation was reported [5, 6] though received rainfall higher than the mean rainfall of rice and wheat. This chapter deals with the impact of climatic variation and changes on natural resources and agricultural productivity.

#### **1.1 Agroforestry and climate change**

**Keywords:** agroforestry, climate change, Himalaya, meteorological data,

Climate determines nature and productivity of farming systems' and allied farm enterprises. The climate over the Himalayan ranges varies from place to place due to complexities of the local relief features and type of weather systems. Weather is defined as the state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place. It defines the physical conditions of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature cloudiness, moisture, rainfall pressure and other parameters such as sunshine hour, evaporation etc. Climate pertaining to a region or a place can be defined as the sum of the weather conditions prevailing over a place over the years. In other words, climate represents average weather conditions over a long period. It comprises not only those conditions that can be obviously described as near average or normal, but also the extremes and all the variations. According to an estimate, weather contributes 67% of the variations in productivity and rest by the other factors viz., soil nutrient and management practices [1]. The climate affect the crop production, jeopardize the livelihood of people, and induced animal starvation. The recent severe drought of 2002 affected 300,000,000 people and monetary losses US \$910,721,000 [2]. It is well known fact that there is little control over the climate and there is a very little chance to manipulate the weather. Therefore, there is a need of identification and adaption of suitable crops and varieties, as per the cli-

The potential of climate as an agricultural resource has not been fully utilized and realized. As a result, several crops are grown traditionally without any knowledge of their suitability. Thus, on one hand, poor production and on the other, much of the production potential of these vast resources go untapped. However, it is inevitable to make adjustment with weather to harness the maximum benefit from available climatic resources. Therefore, knowledge of agro climatology of a region is a valuable tool for crop planning. The knowledge of climatic conditions also helps in identification and selection of forest trees, species and grasses. The proper knowledge of climate and its relationship with severity of insects and pests, diseases will be helpful for managing them and minimizing the losses. Therefore, knowledge of the climate is necessary to utilize resources efficiently for maintaining the production and regeneration capacity. As we know that, there is little control over the climate and there is very little chance to manipulate the weather. Therefore, there is a need of in-depth analysis of each meteorological parameters and identification of their trend over the years in order to identify and adapt suitable agriculture practices, better adaptable crops, varieties and their duration, time of field preparation, sowing time and irrigation as per the climatic conditions of the

One of the major challenges of the 21st century is to ensure food security for the burgeoning population. It is more pertinent to India, where population growth rate is high and it may surpass the China's population in near future. Although consequent to green revolution India in general has made remarkable progress in production of food and fiber since 1970's. However, India has to progressively match the production with population growth rate still to ensure food security, it has to go for climate smart sustainable agriculture. Agriculture is even more important as a primary source of livelihood for majority of the world's workforce. However, livelihood systems that are based on agriculture may face growing risk of crop failure, frequent incidence of pest and diseases and loss of livestock due to climate change

productivity, sustainability

matic conditions of the region.

region.

**10**

**1. Introduction**

*Agrometeorology*

In the welfare of our nation and its economy, value of forests and trees is foremost. The indirect benefits are more than direct benefits to us through the trees [7, 8]. It is true that if the tree is present on the earth, the water will be available; if water is there, food will be available and due to food, we will exist. Our resources were first developed in the shadows of the trees because the trees give us food, fuel, fodder, shade and timber and improve fertility of land as well as increase water availability, prevent soil erosion and help maintain environmental balance [8, 9]. At present, due to burgeoning population and dwindling resources, importance of agroforestry has increased [10]. Due to the development of new systems, in modern agriculture such as agro-forestry is need of the hour in place of traditional agricultural landscape without reducing food production [11, 12].

To meet the needs of growing population conflict between forest and agricultural land has also increased; industrialization has generated pressure on land for many other demands [13]. Therefore, it is necessary to produce both agricultural and forestry products on the same piece of land to meet out the increasing demand of different products [14]. For this, plantations should be done on the agricultural land. Agroforestry helps in removal of carbon and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere to mitigate climate change, reducing the impact of climate change and reduces the vulnerability [8, 11, 12, 15]. The different options to mitigate climate change include increasing carbon reducing activities such as carbon sequestration, to reduce emissions of bio-energy and biofuels in productive activities. Agroforestry is not only a large and low cost opportunity to mitigate climate change but also provides other services to the community [16]. Tree collects carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and converts it into carbon molecules through photosynthesis in leaves, which is responsible for growth of tree. One kilogram of dry wood contains 0.5 kg carbon. According to IPCC [17] tropical wet forest have carbon in above ground biomass of 65–430 t ha<sup>1</sup> and 44–130 t ha<sup>1</sup> in soil.

Tree provides leaves as manure for agriculture, help in farming directly and indirectly and provide food and fodder for human and animal [7, 8]. This may benefit from the same piece of land that help in self-catering as well as can reduce the risk, also helps in providing appropriate environment for crops and the market for products. Although this technique is very simple, still it provides complementary employment and a very small technical and economic cooperation is required. The tree is a blessing because it is very useful to the poor and provides various benefits and windfall profits due to different timings of reaping at low cost variation. The greatest significance of agroforestry is that the farmer's family can adopt it as a good activity without changing his business and trees are very cooperative in the agro-forestry [18]. Trees convert poisonous gas CO2 into life saving oxygen (O2). This action purify the air as well as help in preventing elevated temperature because trees absorb atmospheric carbon in the process of photosynthesis. In agroforestry, we should choose trees with short life cycle and fast growing in nature. India has diversified climate, different agricultural conditions and abundant wasteland in

villages need to be considered while implementing various methods of forestry. Various agroforestry practices can be used based on climate of the place and utility, benefits and on need basis [7, 9, 19].

highest rainy days (90) received 1088 mm rainfall in 1977, respectively. Annual

*Climatic Variation and Its Impacts on Yield and Water Requirement of Crops in Indian Central…*

The mean monthly rainfall (1964 to 2018) is presented in **Table 1**. It is evident from table that each month received more than 130 mm rainfall during June to September. The highest rainfall (240.2-mm) with highest 14 rainy day was recorded in July followed by August with mean rainfall (210.0 mm) with average 13 rainy days. The monsoon months (June to September) regarded as effective months of rainfall or wettest months of the year. The average rainfall during October, November and December was 22.8, 6.2 and 20.3 mm respectively. The average rainfall during January, February and March months was 39.9, 50.7 and 42.4 mm with rainy days 3.0, 4.0 each for later two months 4.0 respectively. The rainfall of pre monsoon months *i.e.* the April and May was recorded 32.0 mm and 61.7 mm

The annual rainfall showed decreasing trend (**Figure 1**). It was recorded that mean annual rainfall was 994.8 mm, highest annual rainfall (1496.0 mm) in the year 1971, lowest annual rainfall (650.8 mm) in the year 1974 and highest rainfall in single day (167.0) on 18th September 2010. Whereas, mean annual rainy days (68 days), highest rainy days in year (90 days) in the year 1977, lowest rainy days (49 days) in the year 1964 and 1966. The highest rainfall 72.3% occurred in monsoon season followed by summer (13.6%) winter (11.1%) and least in post

**Month Mean lowest Highest Percent annual rainfall CV (%) Rainy days\* (rainfall**

*Mean, monthly rainfall characterization (mm) of month along with rainy days and CV (1964–2018).*

January 39.9 0 113.3 4.0 79.7 3 February 50.7 0 153.4 5.1 76.0 4 March 42.4 0 195.4 4.3 89.1 4 April 32.0 0 153.2 3.2 88.7 3 May 61.7 0 179.2 6.2 72.8 5 June 134.8 7.5 342.5 13.6 56.9 9 July 240.2 96.5 493.2 24.1 39.1 14 August 210.0 65 374.5 21.1 34.0 13 September 133.7 8.8 463.5 13.4 73.4 8 October 22.8 0 210.4 2.3 162.9 2 November 6.2 0 66 0.6 202.5 1 December 20.3 0 107.7 2.0 127.8 1

**more than 2.4 mm)**

rainfall showed decreasing trend over the years.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94076*

with rainy days 3.0 and 5.0 days respectively (**Table 1**).

*2.1.3 Annual and seasonal rainfall and its variability*

*2.1.2 Monthly rainfall*

monsoon (3%).

*\**

**13**

**Table 1.**

*Rainy days were rounded.*

The provision of agro-forestry-based industries in National Agroforestry Policy (2014), will give a major boost to the agroforestry [20]. In 1981, our country's population was 236.7 million, which increased to 1.21 billion in 2011. However, there has been no increase in the country's geographical area. If population growth continues at this pace, by 2020 the population of our country will be more than 1.30 billion. Thus, the effects of increasing population and urbanization have impact on loss of forests, increased soil erosion and atmospheric pollution. Therefore, at present the agro-forestry tree planted portion will not only prevent soil erosion but also increase its productive power and will help to maintain environmental balance. Planting trees with crops will increase the returns from per unit land [19].
