Subrat Kumar, a middle-aged farmer from Gupti village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district, had high hopes when he invested close to INR 0.15 million for paddy cultivation at the beginning of the Kharif season in 2021. He hoped that a good monsoon season would give his rain-fed paddy fields the irrigation required.

However, the months that followed did not go as planned for Kumar and scores of other farmers in the region — erratic monsoon followed the water-scarce summer months. Heavy rains left the farms inundated by the time of harvest in October.

“I had cultivated five acres of land and spent INR.0.15 million. But the flood destroyed everything,” Subrat says. “The rainy season began in August as usual, but it rained continuously for a week and then stopped for a week,” he adds. The rainfall which came after the lull period flooded the fields.

According to a 2020 analysis by the Government of Odisha, over 0.2 million hectares of agriculture and cropland suffered more than 33 per cent damage during the 2019 floods.

Ajay Kumar Sahu, 62, who cultivates paddy in a plot adjacent to Subrat, faced similar consequences. “Summers are not how they used to be. When the temperature starts rising, it becomes stiflingly hot. The rain is also unseasonal and late,’’ Ajay says about his observations on recent climatic change.

As per a CEEW analysis, Kendrapara district has recorded a 3X increase in the frequency and intensity of floods since 2000.

However, to overcome the crisis, the Belpada farmers have decided to return to certain traditional agricultural practices. Adjacent to his hybrid paddy crops, Ajay had also planted a paddy variety called ‘Pottiya’, which was cultivated by his forefathers. The traditional variety was not damaged in the flooding.

“The traditional crops can withstand floods for up to two months,’’ says Ajay, adding that the hybrid varieties get destroyed in 15 days.

Even though cultivated by their forefathers for generations, the farmers had shifted from varieties like ‘Pottiya’ and ‘Chatori’ to hybrid rice varieties over the years as they promised higher monetary returns. But, with monsoons becoming more unpredictable because of climate change, the high input cost of hybrid varieties has made them a risky venture. Realising the same, the farmers have decided to cultivate more traditional varieties.

“We will grow fewer hybrid varieties because the floods have been destroying our crops, and we are suffering huge losses,” Subrat says.

Recurring floods have clearly incurred substantial economic losses for the farmers. However, the resolve to adapt and cultivate more traditional crop varieties highlights their resilience to mend ways in the face of climate change.

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