Impact of Climate Variability on Maize Production in Central Nepal

The survey research was conducted to study the impacts of climate variability on maize production in central Nepal in Dhading and Chitwan districts. Sixty farmers from each site were selected randomly for the study. Descriptive statistics along with trend analysis and logit regression model were used for analysis of the data. Majority of farmer (79.17%) perceived changes in climate variability in the recent years. 86.67% of total household perceived that monsoon rainfall was shifted later, 90% of farmers perceived pest dynamics, 92.59% felt increased pest population in compare to 10 years back, 76.85% experienced emergence of new pest and 34.26% experienced pest resurgence. In Chitwan, annual average temperature and maximum temperature are decreasing but minimum temperature is increasing by 0.001 degree celsius whereas in Dhading maximum temperature is increasing in contrast to decreasing annual average and minimum temperature. The trend analysis strongly support farmer perception that summer was hotter and winter was less cold as compared to the past in Dhading which is found contrasting in Chitwan.