Tapi Rilung’s scientific contributions

Under global warming and climate change (CC), the vulnerable piece of land is India’s Eastern-Himalayan-Region (EHR), where millions’ livelihood activities are at risk. Quantifying the degree of CC-induced vulnerability over the highly climate-sensitive mountain zone is challenging due to data inadequacy. This paper attempted to assess the CC perception of kiwifruit growers under EHR and the impact of CC on its cultivation. Perceived and scientific data were used for accurate decision-support information. The climatic variables of two locations were analyzed for trend using Mann–Kendall’s test. Results suggested that the rainfall trend was found non-significant for both locations, but there was a negative trend during winter for Pasighat and during all seasons for Itanagar. Maximum temperature exhibited an increasing trend for annual, and minimum temperature showed an increasing trend across seasons for the Pasighat region. For the Itanagar region, the maximum temperature was found to have a significantly increasing trend in all seasons, while the minimum temperature showed an increasing trend during winter and annual seasons. Morning relative humidity showed an increasing trend for annual data for Pasighat, while annual evening relative humidity was significantly increased for Itanagar. The study shows that the indigenous farming communities were following shifting cultivation and diversifying their traditional agriculture to kiwifruit cultivation as an adaptation strategy. The community had a clear perception of CC trends and an inadequate perception of the impact on agriculture, therefore, engaging indigenous communities and other stakeholders to postulate a comprehensive adaptation and mitigation strategy for CC. Graphical Abstract

Under global warming and climate change, the vulnerable piece of land is India’s Eastern Himalayan region (EHR), where millions’ livelihood activities are at risk. Quantifying the degree of climate change-induced vulnerability over the highly climate-sensitive mountain zone is challenging because of the inadequacy of meteorological data. Therefore, what alternative should mitigate the scientific data inadequacy for mitigation adaptation policy to climate change in EHR? The study's main objective is to assess the climate change perception of kiwifruit growers under EHR and the impact of climate change on its cultivation. Perceived and scientific data were used for accurate decision-support information creation. Descriptive statistics and trend analysis analyzed meteorological data. Study shows that indigenous mountain/farming communities are following shifting cultivation and diversifying their traditional agriculture (apple cultivation) to Kiwifruit cultivation as an alternative adaptation option to climate change. They have a clear perception of the patterns and trends of climate change and a relatively inadequate perception of the impact on agriculture. It can be concluded that using perceived and scientific data to assess and map climate change scenarios is a unique approach to avoid data inadequacy. The study has revealed that indigenous/mountain people clearly perceive climate change. Therefore, engaging indigenous communities and other stakeholders to postulate a comprehensive adaptation and mitigation strategy for climate change is a befitting strategy. The study's approach may be appropriate for depicting climate change scenarios elsewhere. The results will help to make appropriate climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies for the Himalayan, other mountain and plane regions.