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espectively, to farmers’ income. Land-use intensity is almost 100% during the rabiseason in both villages with farmers growing several cash crops such as wheat, sugarcane,vegetables, and pulses. The availability of tubewell irrigation has facilitatedrabi-season cropping in this part of eastern India. Proximity to the town of Faizabadand the city of Lucknow has also led to an expansion of nonfarm income opportunitiesin these villages. These villages thus do not agree with the stereotype of an easternIndian village where rice production is the major economic activity. A diversifiedincome portfolio that is less dependent on rice production has evolved over time as aresult of commercialization of production systems. Naturally, variability in rice productionwill have a small effect on the variability of total household income of farmersin such systems, even though farmers continue to grow rice for their food security.Seasonal adjustmentsIn this section, we analyze the responses over time in terms of rice area planted,method of crop establishment, and changes in rice varieties (Table 7). In bothMungeshpur and Itgaon, rice area decreased in 1995 and 1996 in comparison with1994 and 1997, with the reduction being greater in Itgaon. Delayed rainfall in 1995forced many farmers in Itgaon to forego rice completely, whereas farmers inMungeshpur were able to maintain the rice area by using irrigation. Large fluctuationsin area planted to rice in rainfed environments can be a major source of variabilityin rice production unless there are offsetting movements in yields. A variancedecomposition analysis indicated that in Itgaon the variability in area sown accountedfor about half the total production variation (Pandey et al 1998).Temporal variations in area under each of the crop establishment methods arehigher in Itgaon than in Mungeshpur. Similarly, the proportionate area planted tomodern varieties also shows some temporal variations. Open-ended interviews withthe farmers indicated that they adjust area under modern varieties and crop establishmentmethods from year to year to cope with climatic risk. When rains were insufficientor delayed at the time of land preparation and crop establishment, transplantingwas not possible in fields without supplemental irrigation due to inability to growseedlings and prepare land. In this situation, farmers preferred to establish rice by dryseeding even though the anticipated yields were lower. Similarly, the use of traditionalvarieties was more common in such years. These temporal adjustments aremanifestations of flexible decision-making through which farmers attempt to reduceproduction and income losses in adverse years.Table 7. Tactical adjustments to weather uncertainty.ItemMungeshpurItgaon1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998% area transplanted 78 76 86 88 96 27 39 50 54 68% area under modern varieties 89 93 94 91 97 67 64 54 61 68% area under rice 60 53 54 60 63 33 10 23 36 28% area fallowed 16 20 14 15 14 33 48 33 26 28330 Singh et al