Farmers’ Distress Index: An Approach for an Action Plan to Reduce Vulnerability in the Drylands of India

Artikel

Farmer distress is a widely recognized problem in India induced by multiple causes ranging from climate variability to price volatility and the low risk-bearing ability of farmers. Tracking farmers’ distress in a localized context is a prerequisite for timely action to provide sustainable livelihood options. Therefore, a field survey was conducted with 640 dryland farmers of 10 sub-district units from two states in India with the aim to identify the major indicators based on seven dimensions of distress and to construct a multidimensional Farmers’ Distress Index (FDI) at the farmer and sub-district levels. The FDI was built with seven dimensions of distress: exposure to risk, adaptive capacity, sensitivity, mitigation and adaptation strategies, triggers, psychological factors, and impacts. The study developed a broad-based FDI which can be used as a planning tool that can address the causes of farmers’ distress and also evolve measures to tackle those causes. Based on the result, the study recommends a location-specific distress management package based on various dimensions of the FDI. The paper also suggests an upscaling strategy to identify and prioritize the highly distressed farmers as well as sub-district geographical units by tracking a few sets of variables.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: Land ; ISSN: 2073-445X ; Volume: 10 ; Year: 2021 ; Issue: 11 ; Pages: -- ; Basel: MDPI AG

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Agricultural Finance ; Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment ; Agricultural Policy; Food Policy ; Agriculture in International Trade
• Subject: distress indicators ; farmers ; risk ; income shoks

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Reddy, A. Amarender ; Bhattacharya, Anindita ; Reddy, S. Venku ; Ricart, Sandra
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): MDPI AG
• (where): Basel
• (when): 2021

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.3390/land10111236
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/273430
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET