Yogya (KU) – Farmers currently represent the largest group getting negatively impacted by global climate change. In addition to economic losses and welfare, climate change is feared to also increase poverty rate and malnutrition in the villages.
"Climate change will reduce the productivity of the farmers, therefore, directly increase the poverty level and malnutrition cases in rural areas," said the Governor of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, in his speech which was read by Secretary of the Provincial Government, Ir. Tri Herjun Ismadji, M.Sc., in the opening of Agrometeorology and Sustainable Development Workshop. The workshop took place in Harjono Danoesastro Building, Faculty of Agriculture UGM, Monday (19/4).
The climate change phenomenon was supposed to get serious attention of all parties, particularly from research institutions and universities, to provide comprehensive information to the farmers. "Our farmers don’t know how to deal with the climate and climate change. However, research institutions and universities have not fully provided this information to farmers," he said.
The impacts of climate change on the productivity of farmers need to be taken seriously to avoid social problems in the future. Sri Sultan also expects universities to prepare full knowledge and qualified human resources to handle this problem.
Professor of Faculty of Agriculture UGM, Prof.. Dr. Kasumbogo Untung, M.Sc., said the majority of farmers do not know how to deal with extreme climatic and seasonal changes in crop cultivation and farming. Meanwhile, several weather and climate information services provided by government agencies, research institutes, and universities are still beyond the farmers’ capacity to utilize that information.
By empowering the farmers through the universities, farmers are expected to be able to deal with climate change of the typical location, adjusting their attitudes, behaviors and skills to the new climatic conditions so that they are not at disadvantage. "Changes in cropping pattern, cultivation, and water efficiency particularly in areas with low precipitation, are expected so that the impacts of climate change will not be too influential," he explained.
Prof. Ir. Triwibowo Yuwono, Ph.D., Dean of Faculty of Agriculture UGM, said the institute is now transferring knowledge to empower farmers in agrometeorology services to face the climate change. Knowledge transfer, according to one of UGM agricultural expert team members, Ir. Anie Anjal Asmara,M.Si, has been done in the past two years to the Wareng Village farmer groups, Wonosari district, Gunung Kidul Regency. "We teach the farmers to study adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation is done by preparing seed stocks. To minimize the impact, we invite them to build embung as a way to harvest water in the rainy season," explained Anjal.Â