An economic analysis of risk in rice cultivation in UBVZ of Assam

The study was taken up in Upper Brahmaputra Valley Zone of Assam with the objective of analyzing the effect of risk arising from chronically flood hazards in the State. The perceived risk inherent with the occurrence of flood is the main hindrance in using the inputs and low productivity in the study region. Rice is the dominant crop in the region with little scope for other crops due to hydrological condition. The area is dominant with marginal and small farms with low literacy percentage. The farmers are primarily dependent on the farming and off farm income is very less. Labor showed significant effect under high intensity flood situation, depicting labor as one of the most important factors in risky situations and its effect on the variance showed that labor is also a risk reducing factor under uncertainty condition in high intensity flood condition. A number of risk management strategies viz. ex-ante, ex-post have been suggested which may be useful to small and marginal farmers. It is expected that the book will be useful to planners, extension personnel, field functionaries, research scholars and academician.