Estratégias de adaptação à seca: um estudo de caso em Tabuleiro de Russas-CE

Abstract

The region of Northeast in Brazil went through one of its worst droughts ever recorded, from 2012 to 2018, leading to devastating widespread impacts on water storage, agriculture, livestock and industry. The characteristics inherent in the semiarid region (strong seasonality combined with the high variability of rainfall and discharges), shallow soils and high rates of evapotranspiration increase the impacts related to drought in the Northeast. Faced with the adversities that drought proposes in the routine of farmers and in the economy as a whole, the purpose of this study is to analyze the perception of irrigators of the irrigated perimeter of “Tabuleiro de Russas” against drought from 2012 to 2018, before the application of a semi-structured questionnaire. In addition, it is intended to evaluate the impacts of drought and adaptation measures in the face of adversity, in addition to measuring the actions and strategies of the Government to mitigate the effects of drought. Faced with the adaptation measures adopted, most of the 30 irrigators questioned reported that they reduced the planting area, while 14 answered that they changed crops. Already 8 reported that they modified the irrigation methods and only 2 reported that they changed the source of supply. Regarding the perception of irrigators in the face of the impacts of drought, 96.6% answered that there was a reduction in profit and a drop in the harvest, while 23.3% reported an increase in prices. Also, 16.6% report that there was migration of the population, while 3.3% report that there was loss of cattle.