ANALYSIS OF RAINFALL VARIABILITY IN THE KRISHNA RIVER BASIN OF KARNATAKA

R. CHOURAD¹*, R.S. PODDAR^2
1Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, 580 005, Karnataka, India
²Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, 580 005, Karnataka, India
* Corresponding Author : raghu0467@gmail.com

Received : 02-04-2019     Accepted : 27-04-2019     Published : 30-04-2019
Volume : 11     Issue : 8       Pages : 8290 - 8292
Int J Agr Sci 11.8 (2019):8290-8292

Keywords : Climate change, Rainfall, Krishna River basin
Academic Editor : Harpeet Sodhi
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, 580 005, Karnataka, India
Author Contribution : All author equally contributed

Climate change is one of the most significant challenges the world is facing today. The problems of human induced climate change drew consideration of researchers and policy makers Climate and agriculture are inextricably linked, while, the magnitude of climate change impact varies greatly by region. In this context, the present study was an attempt to analyze rainfall variability in the Krishna river basin. The secondary data related to monthly annual rainfall data for a period of (1987-2016) were collected from the Krishna River Basin. Data were collected from different sources of Government of Karnataka, Government of India, Department of Meteorology and Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES) Bengaluru for analysis for assessments and comparisons of rainfall. Descriptive analysis like means, percentages, coefficient of variation, mean deviation, correlation matrix and other descriptive statistics were used. The mean annual rainfall of this region was 100.44 cm spread with coefficient of variation of 25.29. The maximum rainfall was 145.78 cm during 1998. The normal range was between mean 100.44 cm annual rainfall was 80.75 to 109.00 cm. Out of 30 years, eight years viz., 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000 received excess of rainfall (+>10%). Whereas ten years viz., 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 received less than -10 to -49 percent rainfall than the normal range and these ten years are declared as moderate drought years. The study concluded that suitable cropping patterns for different rainfall situations have to be identified through research and recommended to the farmers. Research efforts to evolve drought resistant, short duration and high yielding varieties of crops need to be strengthened.

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