Enhancing resilience in costal agriculture through optimization of farm income: A farming system approach in Sunderbans region of West Bengal, India

The study was conducted in Sundarbans region of West Bengal, India with an objective of identifying and analyzing the economics of major farming systems and to suggest suitable farm plans for the study area. 180 sample farmers were chosen using multi-stage random sampling method from six villages of three from each Basanti and Kultali blocks. Fourteen major farming systems were identified among the various farming systems prevalent in the study area. Majority of the sample farmers were smallholders(84.53 %) who practiced cereal based farming system that is also limited to mono-cropping of kharif paddy (18.89%) followed by Cereal +Fish farming system (13.89 %) and subsequently Cereal + Dairy (12.78 %) farming system. A great transformation in the economic life of the farmers was possible through reallocation of their existing resources base and taking up alternative enterprises like vegetable farming, fishery, poultry farming and rearing dairy animals. At existing resource level, adoption of optimum plan M-I can increase net income by more than 25 per cent. The rearrangement of enterprise at enhanced resource level (optimum plan M-II) would increase the net income by more than 45 per cent than the existing plan with minimal risk. Acknowledgement : I duly acknowledge all the support that I got in Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, India-741252 to successfully complete my PhD Thesis and awarding me with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Agriculture) in Agricultural Economics.