Farmers’ Distress Index: An Approach for an Action Plan to Reduce Vulnerability in the Drylands of India
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ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (ICAR-CRIDA), Hyderabad 500059, India
2
National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD & PR), Hyderabad 500030, India
3
Participatory Rural Development Society (PRDIS), Hyderabad 500048, India
4
Water and Territory Research Group, Interuniversity Institute of Geography, University of Alicante, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Francisco Manuel Parejo-Moruno, Antonio Miguel Linares Luján, José Francisco Rangel Preciado and Esteban Cruz Hidalgo
Land 2021, 10(11), 1236; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111236
Received: 23 October 2021
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Revised: 4 November 2021
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Accepted: 8 November 2021
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Published: 12 November 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic, Social and Demographic Challenges of Rural Areas: Contributions From the Analysis of the Economic Activity Location and the Study of Depopulation)
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.
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Keywords:
distress indicators; agrarian risks; resilience measure; distress management; India; intervention
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MDPI and ACS Style
Reddy, A.A.; Bhattacharya, A.; Reddy, S.V.; Ricart, S. Farmers’ Distress Index: An Approach for an Action Plan to Reduce Vulnerability in the Drylands of India. Land 2021, 10, 1236. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111236
AMA Style
Reddy AA, Bhattacharya A, Reddy SV, Ricart S. Farmers’ Distress Index: An Approach for an Action Plan to Reduce Vulnerability in the Drylands of India. Land. 2021; 10(11):1236. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111236
Chicago/Turabian StyleReddy, A. A., Anindita Bhattacharya, S. V. Reddy, and Sandra Ricart. 2021. "Farmers’ Distress Index: An Approach for an Action Plan to Reduce Vulnerability in the Drylands of India" Land 10, no. 11: 1236. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111236
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