Weather variability trends in Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh, India: influence on cropping systems and adaptation strategies.

Weather variability over the long run exhibits the trends of change in climate and forewarns for development and deployment of adaptation measures. Gangetic plain of Uttar Pradesh in India is an agriculturally important geographical region of South East Asia. The region is vulnerable to weather variability led glacier melting, climate change impacts and increased competition for land. In addition, changes in rainfall, groundwater and weather patterns are deteriorating the agricultural and water systems that are bound to affect the food production and throw the poor populace into chaotic conditions. As weather variability trends are being increasingly used for sustaining the food production in climate-sensitive regions, the present study was taken up in Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh. Daily meteorological datasets of temperature, rainfall, rainy days, evaporation, wind speed, relative humidity and bright sunshine hours during the past 63 years (1956–2018) were analysed for long-term trends. The study indicated conspicuous long-term trends of reduction in annual rainfall (− 28.97 mm decade⁻¹), rising level of daily Tmin (0.09 °C a decade) and RH (1.08% decade⁻¹) coupled with significant declining trends in evaporation (− 0.31 mm day⁻¹), wind speed (− 0.29 km h⁻¹) and bright sunshine hours (− 0.19 h day⁻¹), that poignantly elucidates a clear warming trend over the period in the region. Multi-pronged adaptation strategies comprising of development of water efficient crop varieties, cropping system diversification with less water requiring crops, adoption of water efficient irrigation techniques, surface water harvesting and copious ground water recharge have been proposed for coping up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]