About 77 per cent of the state’s cropped area is vulnerable to climate change, said a new study. Of the 36 districts in the state, 11 were found highly vulnerable to droughts and dwindling water security, it added.
 
These 11 at-risk districts account for almost 40 per cent of the cropped area across central Maharashtra. “In the same way, 37 per cent of the state’s agricultural area spread over 14 districts were moderately vulnerable, which takes the tally to three-fourths of Maharashtra’s cropped regions as high to moderate vulnerable to the prevailing climate crisis,” said the research titled ‘Socio-economic vulnerability to climate change—Index development and mapping for districts in Maharashtra’.

The study by Chaitanya Adhav at Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, under the guidance of Dr R Sendhil from ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research revealed that Nandurbar district is most vulnerable to cyclones, floods, droughts, changing rainfall patterns and extreme temperatures. “The other highly vulnerable districts are Buldhana, Beed, Jalna, Aurangabad, Hingoli, Parbhani, Nanded, Akola, Amravati, Washim,” said Adhav.