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Contents & Foreword, Characterizing And ... - IRRI books

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irrigation schemes in the study area, further investments are needed to make groundwatermore widely available. Access to groundwater among small farmers can also beimproved by encouraging the development of a more effective groundwater market.The development of varieties more suitable to lowland fields can similarly improvethe chance of adoption of modern varieties in these field types.Concluding remarksFarmers’ risk-coping mechanisms were reasonably efficient in preventing incomeshortfall in the study region. Crop and income diversification away from rice hasbeen the major strategy of farmers for dealing with risk. Because of the low importanceof rice in total household income, risk related to rice production is relativelyunimportant in constraining technology adoption. Accordingly, the trade-off that mayexist between yield gain and stability needs to be carefully considered in designingbreeding programs as farmers in the study villages have been able to reduce riskthrough income diversification.Although methods and tools for microeconomic analysis of risk are generallyavailable, a lack of temporal farm-level data covering enough periods remains a problemfor the analyst. While an ingenious use of cross-sectional data and weather-drivencrop growth models can help in this, temporal data such as the ones collected in thisstudy are essential for conducting a more complete analysis at the farm-householdlevel. Collection of such data would facilitate in-depth analysis of risk and farmers’coping mechanisms.References<strong>And</strong>erson JR. 1995. Confronting uncertainty in rainfed rice farming: research challenges. In:Fragile lives in fragile ecosystems. Proceedings of the International Rice Research Conference.Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. p 101-108.Ballabh V, Pandey S. 1999. Transitions in rice production systems in eastern India: evidencesfrom two villages in Uttar Pradesh. Econ. Polit. Wkly. March 27, 1999. p A11-A16.Feder G, Just RE, Zilberman D. 1985. Adoption of agricultural innovations in developing countries:a survey. Econ. Dev. Cult. Change 33:255-298.Greene WH. 1997. Econometric analysis. 3rd edition. Princeton, N.J. (USA): Prentice Hall.Jodha NS. 1978. Effectiveness of farmers’ adjustment to risk. Econ. Polit. Wkly. 13(25): A38-A48.Pandey S, Pal S. 2000. The nature and causes of changes in variability of rice production ineastern India: a district-level analysis. In: Pandey S, Barah BC, Villano RA, Pal S, editors.Risk analysis and management in rainfed rice systems. Limited Proceedings of theNCAP/<strong>IRRI</strong> Workshop on Risk Analysis and Management in Rainfed Rice Systems,21-23 September 1998, National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research,New Delhi, India. Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. p 73-96.Pandey S, Behura DD, Villano RA, Naik D. 2000. Economic cost of drought and farmers’coping mechanisms: a study of rainfed rice systems in eastern India. Discussion PaperSeries No. 39. Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 35 p.336 Singh et al

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