Crashing, in waves

The Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka is fighting multiple climate woes simultaneously

- PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

HANUMANTHA THIMMAPPA Naik, 55, a farmer from Sanagunda in Honnavar, Karnataka, left his farmland and migrated to the nearest town in recent years. His two brothers continue to farm in their three-acre plot in the village—but with fears about unseasonal rains or seawater destroying their crops. “We are a joint family,” says Naik. “We cannot survive in the village, because saltwater is entering our paddy fields. We had sown salt-resistant paddy varieties like kagga and halaga, but failed to get a good yield. [My brothers] are now trying their luck with the saavira ondu variety, which can give up to 40 per cent yield. But if saltwater enters the fields, the yield will be zero.”

Vinayak Naik, another farmer from the region says: “As a child, I used to see several families growing paddy, peanuts and sugarcane. We used to get three crops in a year. But now, people are abandoning the lands as they cannot grow even a single crop. The soil texture has changed and become useless for agriculture.”

Honnavar is a port town in Uttara Kannada of Karnataka. It is here that the Sharavati river meets the Arabian Sea. Cyclones, coastal erosion, fish famines, destruction of paddy fields and wells yielding saltwater—the taluk had witnessed several climate disasters over the last few years. The region is witnessing a conflict between the land and the sea.

“Expansion of oceans and melting of glaciers due to global warming is causing a rise in sea level. This is causing saltwater ingression into agricultural fields and salination of groundwater,” says N.H. Ravindranath, professor, Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru.