Climate change is a major threat to mankind due to its potentially harmful consequences to sustainable development. As the cultivation of crops is highly dependent on climate and water availability, the variations in climate adversely affect the agricultural production to a larger extent. Even though agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, when done sustainably, can also be an option for adaptation and mitigation. There are many reports stating that organic farming has the potential for adapting as well as mitigating to climate change. So a study had been conducted to analyze the Integrated Adaptive Capacity (IAC) Index of the organic farming in comparison with conventional farming. The comparison of the mean scores of IAC Index of organic (81.05) and conventional farmers (46.35) clearly indicated that there exist a significant difference between the two groups and the organic farmers were better adapters. Also the organic farmers were found to be more adaptable with respect to the biophysical, agricultural, ecological, socio-economic, technological and managerial factors of IAC index over that of the conventional farmers. Thus, the results of the study revealed that compared to conventional farmers, the organic farmers have better adaptive capacity for coping up with climate change.

Keyword: Climate change; Sustainable development; Adaptation; Mitigation; Integrated Adaptive Capacity Index;