Risk, Vulnerability and Farmers' Coping Mechanisms in Rainfed Agriculture: A Study in Karnataka

Paucity and uncertainty of rainfall is a continuous phenomenon in rainfed agriculture, which plays an important role in India. Due to increased pressure on land and ground water resources, risk and vulnerability are on the increase. Against this scenario, there is a necessity to sensitize the policy makers to incorporate risk and vulnerability reducing measures into their planning. Thus, the present study aims to examine the risk and vulnerability in rainfed agriculture, and the coping mechanisms adopted by the farmers in rainfed agriculture to sustain or improve their farm income. From the results it is evident that for small farmers, the production risk of crops like maize, sunflower, groundnut and red gram is more than the area risk. But for medium and large farmers, the production risk is more in the case of oilseed crops like groundnut and castor. The financial risk in terms of decrease in marketed surplus is also observed in the case of all crops. Land leasing proved to be an important instrument to augment the production base and enhance the income level for the small and medium farmers. Further, the diversification index shows that small farmers' cropping pattern is more diversified, followed by medium and large farmers, in the developed villages during normal as well as drought years.