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Adaptation of the Activities of the Population of the Mountain Territories of Dagestan to Climate Change: Trends in Agriculture

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Abstract

The article summarizes the results of the first stage of research into adaptation measures taken by the rural population of mountain areas and the administration of Dagestan in response to climate change. An assessment of climate change over the past 20 years in the Eastern Caucasus, with special attention to the mountain areas of Dagestan, was carried out based on reanalysis data. It has been revealed that in the last decade in the midlands and highlands, annual and seasonal temperatures have increased significantly, and the amount of annual and summer precipitation has begun to decrease; in general, the mountains of the Eastern Caucasus and Dagestan, in particular, are becoming warmer and drier. Actions of mountain residents in the crop production in response to warming and increasing moisture deficit are mainly aimed, as in many other mountain rural regions of the world, at changing varieties and crops, growing intensive orchards that are more tolerant to climate change, and expanding the range of terraced fruit crops. The unpredictability of weather events has spurred the active growth of the greenhouse industry. New processes have intensified related industries and breeding science in Dagestan. The population’s initiatives are supported by the Program for the Socioeconomic Development of Mountain Areas of the Republic of Dagestan for 2020–2025, which provides subsidies and grants, primarily for small farms and personal subsidiary plots. The aim of the Program is not adaptation to climate change, but these measures are objectively manifested as support for the adaptation measures of the population. The mountain agricultural terraces of Dagestan are considered a potential resource for development of agriculture in the face of climate change, as well as possible tourism sites, representing elements of historical and cultural heritage and identity of local landscapes.

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Notes

  1. UNFCC 2023. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. https://unfccc.int/topics/adaptation-and-resilience/the-big-picture/introduction.

  2. Adaptation to Climate Change: Principles, Requirements and Guidelines. GOST R ISO 14090–2019. https://cc.voeikovmgo.ru/images/dokumenty/2020/gost_r_iso_14090-2019.pdf.

  3. Order of the Russian Federation Government no. 559-r On Approval of the National Action Plan for the Second Stage of Adaptation to Climate Change of March 11, 2023. http://static.government.ru/media/files/DzVPGlI7JgT7QYRoogphpW69KKQREGTB.pdf.

  4. Law of the Republic of Dagestan no. 72 of December 16, 2010, On the Mountain Territories of the Republic of Dagestan. https://docs.cntd.ru/document/895279692.

  5. See also: Program for the Socioeconomic Development of Mountain Areas of the Republic of Dagestan for 2020–2025: http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0500202002260001?index=1.

  6. Program for the Socioeconomic Development of Mountain Areas of the Republic of Dagestan for 2020–2025: http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0500202002260001?index=1.

  7. Levashinsky district of Dagestan ranks 35th in the world in cabbage production. https://midag.ru/2020/09/24/levashinskiy_rayon_dagestana.

  8. Cabbage cultivation: The experience of farmers in Dagestan (https://www.agbz.ru/articles/vyiraschivanie-kapustyi–opyit-fermerov-dagestana/);Levashinsky district of Dagestan ranks 35th in the world in cabbage production (https://midag.ru/ 2020/09/24/levashinskiy_rayon_dagestana).

  9. Order of the Russian Federation Government no. 559-r of March 11, 2023, On approval of the National Action Plan for the Second Stage of Adaptation to Climate Change. http://static.government.ru/media/files/DzVPGlI7JgT7QYRoogphpW69KKQREGTB.pdf.

  10. Regional Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change. Order of the Government of the Republic of Dagestan no. 459 of October 11, 2022. http://pravo.e-dag.ru/document/05002009756/.

  11. Copernicus. https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/ search?type=dataset.

  12. White cabbage seed production revived in Dagestan (https://riadagestan.ru/news/the_government_of_the/ v_dagestane_vozrozhdaetsya_semenovodstvo_belokochannoy_kapusty/); Dagestan will establish a center for the development of regional seed production (https://rg.ru/2021/10/26/ reg-skfo/v-dagestane-sozdadut-centr-dlia-razvitiia-regionalnogo-semenovodstva.html).

  13. Opening of the area under glass. https://dagpravda.ru/ekonomika/otkrytie-zakrytogo-grunta-3/.

  14. A greenhouse complex for growing tomatoes was opened in Dagestan. https://www.agroinvestor.ru/regions/news/37683-v-dagestane-otkrylsya-teplichnyy-kompleks-po-vyrashchivaniyu-tomatov/.

  15. Regional Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change. Order of the Government of the Republic of Dagestan no. 459-r of October 11, 2022. http://pravo.e-dag.ru/document/05002009756/.

  16. Order of the Russian Federation Government no. 3183-r of December 25, 2019 On Approval of the National Action Plan for the First Stage of Adaptation to Climate Change for the Period until 2022. https://docs.cntd.ru/document/564102934.

  17. Horticulture is developing intensively in Dagestan. https://www.fertilizerdaily.ru/20220531-v-dagestane-intensivno-razvivaetsya-sadovodstvo/.

  18. White cabbage seed production revived in Dagestan. https://r iadagestan.ru/news/the_government_of_the/v_dagestane_vozrozhdaetsya_semenovodstvo_belokochannoy_kapusty/; Dagestan will establish a center for the development of regional seed production. https://rg.ru/2021/10/26/reg-skfo/v-dagestane-sozdadut-centr-dlia-razvitiia-regionalnogo-semenovodstva.html.

  19. Akhmedagaev, A.M., Current State of Soil Fertility in Dagestan, 2022. https://lezgigazet.ru/archives/306013.

  20. Order of the Russian Federation Government On Approval of the National Action Plan for the Second Stage of Adaptation to Climate Change no. 559-r of March 11, 2023. http://static.government.ru/media/files/DzVPGlI7JgT7QYRoogphpW69KKQREGTB.pdf.

  21. Results of the activity of the Ministry of Tourism and Folk Art of the Republic of Dagestan. https://mintourismrd.ru/dejatelnost/itogi-dejatelnosti/.

  22. Results of the activity of the Ministry of Tourism and Folk Art of the Republic of Dagestan. https://mintourismrd.ru/dejatelnost/itogi-dejatelnosti/.

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Funding

The article was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant ID: 075-15-2022-325).

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  1. Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    R. G. Gracheva & V. V. Vinogradova

  2. National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

    R. G. Gracheva & V. V. Vinogradova

  3. Research Institute of Administration, Economics, Politics, and Sociology, Dagestan State University of Economics, Makhachkala, Russia

    Sh. S. Muduev

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Gracheva, R.G., Vinogradova, V.V. & Muduev, S.S. Adaptation of the Activities of the Population of the Mountain Territories of Dagestan to Climate Change: Trends in Agriculture. Reg. Res. Russ. 13 (Suppl 1), S127–S140 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970523600191

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