How does climatic variability in Eastern Uttar Pradesh influence the frequency, intensity, and duration of drought, and what are its direct and indirect impacts on crop productivity and farmer livelihoods?
Climatic variability in eastern Uttar Pradesh — characterized by shifting monsoon onset, more erratic rainfall and rising temperatures — increases the frequency, intensity and sometimes the duration of drought episodes by creating longer dry spells and more extreme heat events during sensitive crop stages, thereby amplifying agricultural vulnerability unless adaptive measures (water management, resilient varieties) are scaled up.