Impact of Climate Change in the Area of Cultivation and Cropping Pattern in Tamil Nadu – A Micro Analysis

India is a developing nation with majority of agricultural population and high cultivation area when compared to the other developing countries. According to 2011 census 71 percent of the Indian people are living in rural areas and mostly they are employed in agriculture and related activities. It is a primary source available for generation of income and employment in rural area. The growth rate of agriculture has come down to 1.1 percent from 4.69 percent in contrast to the 6 percent growth rate of Indian economy for the last ten years. Around 93 percent of the farmers are small farmers having land holdings of less than 4 hectare but the average farm size is only 1.57 hectares and they cultivate nearly 55 percent of the available land and the reasons are as follows, due to Industrial growth in India more number of industrial units was started in the past decades. In recent years, the climate changes have been a complex issue due to foreign climate policy. The climate changes affect the existing cultivating areas due to unscheduled rainfall, high temperature, and high tensed cyclones and so on. This micro level study made on attempt to make an assessment about the level of changes occurred in the cultivation area, temperature and rainfall and its effects on the area of cultivation and cropping pattern in study region.