Assessing the contribution of drought to farmer-suicide occurrence in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, India Boken Vijendra K.* Department of Geography, University of Nabraska-Kearney, Kearney, Ne6889USA *e-mail: bokenvl@unk.edu
Online published on 30 May, 2021. Abstract The study was conducted for Yavatmal district in Maharshtra to examine the contribution of drought to suicide occurrence by farmers. Indices representing three main categories of drought (meteorological, agricultural, and agro-economic drought) were developed using the 2000–2014 data on precipitation, crop yields, and the costs of cultivating the main crops of Yavatmal district i.e., sorghum, soybean, pigeon-pea, and cotton. A correlation analysis was conducted between the farmer-suicide rate and the above indices. No drought category was found to be significantly correlated with the farmer-suicide rate. Drought accounted for less than 13% of the total variance in the farmer-suicide rate with the agricultural drought being most strongly related to the suicide rate. Such a finding will help disaster planners prioritize resources and focus on other factors in order to retard the farmer-suicide rate in the region. Top Key Words Agricultural Crisis, Agricultural Sustainability, Cotton, Drought Indices, Farming Stress and Yavatmal. Top |