Ahmednagar village adapts to climate change

Climate change was a far-off term for villagers of Sarole Pathar in Sangamner taluka of Ahmednagar district, till they realised that the whimsical rain, delayed seasons, frequent dry spells had disturbed their traditional cropping pattern. The water level in the village well was depleting and their yield had decreased considerably. 

But the villagers are now adapting to climate change, thanks to the climate change adaptation (CCA) project. 

About 130 km from Pune, Sarole Pathar is one of the 25 villages where the CCA project is being implemented by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) and the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR). 

As a process of adaptation and sustainable development, the village has banned digging of borewells, made changes in cropping pattern as per the changes in climate,
implemented extensive watershed development and water conservation methods and is using solar energy. 

Sarole Pathar, with a population of 1,351, receives an average rainfall of 412.06 mm. There are 636 females and 715 males in the village with a literacy rate of about 70%.  Nabard has
sanctioned Rs31 crore for the project in the village. 

Following visits to see how some other villages were adapting to climate change, the gram sabha decided to implement
climate change adaptation measures in the village. As a
result, digging of borewells was banned. There is only one borewell in the village. 

Under the watershed development, farm bunds have been constructed. Continuous contour trenches, stone bunds, trenches, gully plugs and four check dams have also been set up, said senior Nabard officer Kishor Padghan. 

As a result, the water level has gone up. Now the village has about 110 wells due to increased water level, while there was only one a few years ago. 

Vilas Pokharkar, a resident of the village, said, “It was in 1972 that the village experienced drought. When the water levels depleted drastically in the last couple of years, we realised the need to take urgent steps. Now we have changed our cropping pattern.” 

Chairman of village multipurpose society, CB Ghule, said that crops requiring less water were being cultivated, and the villagers were cutting down on water use with drip irrigation system and other modern
techniques. 

The villagers now cultivate soybean, jowar and gram
instead of bajra, wheat and rice as they used to do earlier. They are also cultivating vegetable and fruits. Many are planting pomegranates. 

Subhash Fatangde and his wife Manikarnika cultivate
vegetables in the backyard of their house by recycling water.  “We have planted teakwood, vegetables and fruits. We have been recycling used water for this purpose,” said Fatangde. 

To help the farmers, an automatic weather station has been set up. This facilitates regular information about weather and temperature in the village.

The data is compiled by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune. Twenty-nine such stations have been set up in 25 villages under the CCA project in Ahmednagar district.  To encourage the use of solar energy, a solar parabolic mirror has been installed at the village’s anganwadi to cook meals for students.