Antifragility: Ability to 'bounce back better' after a disturbance. The disturbance triggers reconfiguration of the system .Cropping pattern: Sequence of crops grown on a plot in subsequent seasons (e.g. wheat-mung bean-rice in rabi, kharif (monsoon) and zaid)Farm system: A decision making unit consisting of farm components (e.g. soil, crop, animals, manure, household) that transforms resources into products that can be consumed or sold (Fresco and Westphal, 1988) Farming system: A population of individual farm systems that may have widely differing resource bases, enterprise patterns, household livelihoods and constraints (Giller, 2013).Fragility: Being prone to collapse in case of a disturbance .Optionality: Having multiple options and the flexibility to change practice when the opportunity arises, not being locked-in .Positive deviant: An individual who positively deviates from the average despite operating in a similar context .Resilience: Ability to 'bounce back' (i.e. recover) after a disturbance (Van Der Werf et al., 2014).Robustness: Withstanding disturbances and maintaining system functioning (Urruty et al., 2016). Vulnerability:The degree to which a system is likely to experience harm due to exposure to a undesirable situation (disturbance, shock, stress) (Turner II et al., 2003).Typology: A categorization of farm diversity in terms of their resources and livelihood activities, as well as agricultural management practices (Lopez-Ridaura et al., 2002). Window of opportunities:Set of potential farm configurations that differ from each other in performance in terms of selected objectives. The configurations are possibilities that are not currently enacted. In literature also referred to as outcome space or opportunity space . Study AreaThis thesis focuses on northern India, with an emphasis on a the IGP. The area hosts a population of 375 million (36% of the total population of India) on a surface area of 518.000 km2 (16% of India) . The area is characterized by a high degree of socio-economic diversity. The North-Western plains are associated with higher levels of assets and livelihood outcomes (i.e. more wealth) compared to the Eastern plains. Punjab and Haryana are referred to as the 'granary' of India, and are associated with larger herds of bovines and farm sizes, and better access to irrigation water. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West-Bengal are among the most populous states of the country. Bihar, in the Eastern plains, is one of General IntroductionReferences