Determinants of Farm Productivity in Flood Prone area: A Study in Dhemaji District of Assam

Abstract

Floods have threatened the agricultural productivity in Assam every year. Quality of soil, which is one of the important factors, that determines the production and income of farm, has been damaged by flood. Various study and secondary data reveal that deposition of sand due to flood has negative impact on farm productivity. This paper tries to investigate the impact of flood induced sand deposition and other factors on farm productivity in Dhemaji district, one of the mostly flood effected area of Assam. The study is based on primary survey which included 10 flood effected villages and 276 agricultural plots for testing the quality of soil. After testing the soil quality, the paper attempts to establish the relationship between quality of soil and paddy productivity. To identify the factors affecting the productivity of the paddy and estimate the damage due to flood induced sand deposition, the study used regression models by taking productivity of paddy as dependent variable. The regression model is estimated using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. In order to ensure the validity of OLS results, this study also tested a Tobit model. Results of the paper revealed that sand deposition created huge damage to the paddy fields and poor agricultural outcomes from the degraded lands were forcing people to look for other livelihood and opportunities.

Flood Threat on Cereal Crops Production in Irrigated and Rainfed Agriculture: A Study of Selected Indian States

“…Possible explanation of such result implies that an expansion in area affected by flood causes greater damage towards cultivation of crop thereby lowering the output level. Similar findings being arrived in the works of Younus (2014); Huang et al (2015); and Das and Bora (2020). The estimated coefficient of consumption of fertiliser in cultivation of crops like paddy, jowar, ragi, barley and total cereals seen to be statistically significant with positive elasticity.…”

How Do Vulnerable People in Bangladesh Experience Environmental Stress From Sedimentation in the Haor Wetlands? An Exploratory Study

“…For example, a study conducted in the low‐lying haor region showed that sedimentation had a negative impact on the cultivation of boro rice, the main cereal crop, and on the soil moisture and water holding capacity in the haor region (Chakraborty et al., 2021). Siltation has been reported as the primary cause of decreased cultivated land area and crop production in the neighboring countries of India and Nepal (Das, 2012; Kafle et al., 2017). The loss of water resources has sometimes resulted in the population having to drink contaminated water, thereby increasing various waterborne diseases (Buragohain & Bhuyan, 2014).…”

“…The hill region is prone to landslides, especially during the rainy season, and during the monsoon season, very heavy rains transport gravel, sand and silt from the upstream areas and deposit them both on the fans and in the floodplain regions further downstream in the haor. The soils on the alluvial fans are generally poorly to incompletely drained, brown, very mottled, loamy sand to clay loam, poorly textured and with a strong to extreme reaction to acid (Das, 2012; IUCN, 2015).…”