Effect of Climate Variability on Yields of Major Crops Grown in Odisha, India

This paper examines the impact of climate variables such as temperature and rainfall on the yields of selected major crops in Odisha during the period 1980-81 to 2014-15. Rice, gram, groundnut, maize, potato and sugarcane are major crops included in the study along with total cereals, total foodgrains, total oilseeds and total pulses. The study has used the Random Effect Method, Panel Corrected Standard Error, and Arellano-Bond estimation to identify the crucial determinants of crop yields on panel data of 13 districts. The regression results have reinforced that crop yields of the selected crops are susceptible to climate change. The study has shown that almost all the principal crops grown in the state are highly sensitive to changes in rainfall and temperature. Both these variables have some effects (+/-) on the yield of all crops. It is also observed that the rainfall has significant positive effects on the yields of all the selected crops under study. In case of temperature, we observed mixed results for the selected crops under study. But the extent of increase in the temperature appears to be more harmful for the crop yields. Both irrigation intensity and time trend variable appear to have significant effect on crop y6ield across districts of Odisha. Thus, the findings of the study have important policy implications.