Determinants in the adoption of drought adaptation strategies of smallholder farmers in drought-prone areas of India

Owing to its sensitivity, the agriculture sector is vulnerable to climate change and experiences climate events such as droughts and flooding. Agriculture is the main pillar of the economy in rural areas. The objectives of this study are to describe socio-demographic and determinants of farmers' targeted adaptation measures for agricultural practices in response to drought challenges in semi-arid areas of India. The data were gathered using a pretested and structured questionnaire from 150 sampled farmers in Karnataka State on two distinct sets of farmers who were informed and without exposure (uninformed) to drought management. Approximately 83 and 89% of informed and uninformed respondents were from marginal and small landholdings (< 5 hectares), and 45.3 and 57.3% were illiterate in these two groups, respectively. The respondents from informed and uninformed clusters availed of loans from all lending sources (85.3 and 95%, respectively), indicating unsustainable income generation from farming. We recognized a total of 25 adaptive measures in the study areas within which growing tolerant varieties, intercropping, Construction of bunds, fodder storage, application of farm yard manure (FYM), and borrowing from credit cooperative societies were popular. These adaptation strategies can be classified as agriculture, water, livestock, and financial management. The T-test showed that agriculture and livestock enhanced respondents' adaptation to farming. Multiple regression analysis revealed that participants' socioeconomic status was a significant determinant of adaptation practices. Land size and household size were found to significantly influence adaptation levels. The results of this study have implications for policymakers in the agricultural sector and can help in the development of interventionist policies to improve rural development in response to environmental crises.