Building Climate Resilience through System of Crop Intensification: Contrasting and Similar Experiences from the Bundelkhand and Himalayan Regions of India

The Bundelkhand and Himalayan regions of India represent two stark contrasts in agroecological conditions and effects of climate change, but they bear similar characteristics of vulnerability in terms of fragility, marginality and accessibility. According to the classification of agro-climatic zones, most of Uttarakhand and Bundelkhand fall under the Western Himalayan Region and the Central plateau and hills agro-climatic zones respectively. The Himalayas, being the youngest mountain ranges in the world, are also among the most unstable, rendering Uttarakhand vulnerable to the slightest of weather extremities and making it one of the most climatically sensitive, fragile and vulnerable regions of the country that is frequently hit by floods, cloud bursts and landslides. The state is perhaps the most vulnerable to natural disasters and is classified in Zones IV and V of the earthquake intensity map of India. These disasters are as a result of anthropogenic, climatic and geological reasons. The last three decade have witnessed catastrophic disasters especially the 2013 Kedarnath Floods, the aftermath of which caused a loss of life and livelihoods to thousands of people in districts of Rudraprayag, Bageshwar, and Chamoli among others. In the recent times, years 2016 and 2018 were excessive and erratic rainfall years, during both the Kharif and Rabi seasons. .