Climate Change Disrupts Generations of Farming Knowledge in India
Farmers in western India are facing significant challenges due to climate change, leading to crop failures and economic hardships. In October 2025, Satgonda Patil, an 80-year-old from Jambhali village in Maharashtra, suffered losses from a fungal infection and pests after investing 50,000 rupees ($527) in pesticides. Similarly, Yallappa Naik, 68, from Nandani village, lost his sugarcane crop in June 2023 due to flooding, which also affected his sorghum and other crops amid severe weather conditions. Research shows that the Indian monsoon is increasingly unpredictable, as highlighted by researcher Hamza Varikoden. Furthermore, adaptation strategies may only alleviate 23% of anticipated global crop losses by 2050, with a potential decline of 120 calories per person per day for each 1°C temperature increase.
Key facts
- Satgonda Patil, 80, from Jambhali village, Maharashtra, has seen his traditional farming knowledge fail over the past five years.
- In October 2025, Patil's cauliflower crop wilted due to a soilborne fungal disease from warmer temperatures.
- In November 2025, Patil's cabbage crop was lost to pests despite spending 50,000 rupees ($527) on pesticides.
- Yallappa Naik, 68, from Nandani village, lost his sugarcane crop in June 2023 after heavy rainfall flooded his field for over 10 days.
- Naik lost $316 in October 2024 after sorghum failed due to weeds and pests.
- Hamza Varikoden of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology states the Indian summer monsoon has become far less predictable.
- Catherine George of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt says seasonal cues farmers rely on are becoming less predictable.
- A study projects adaptations can alleviate only about 23% of projected global crop losses by 2050.
Entities
Institutions
- Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology
- Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
- University of California, Irvine
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- University of Canterbury
- Cochin University of Science and Technology
- Yale Climate Connections
- MIT Technology Review
- Devex
- Wired
- Telegraph
- Thomson Reuters Foundation
- The Nation
- British Medical Journal
- Verge
- USA Today
- Progressive Magazine
Locations
- Jambhali
- Maharashtra
- India
- Nandani
- Western India
- Amazonia
- South Asia
- Germany
- United States
- New Zealand