Socio-economic Factors Involved for the Risk in Cotton Cultivation in Odisha

Abstract

Background: The cotton cultivation involves risks due to climatic variation, the most important being aberrant rainfall. Further, the farmers fetch poor returns to their produce due to quality maintenance of lint during harvesting and storage. The farmers face problem in marketing as the cotton trade is mostly done by local traders. Hence, the current study was carried to identify risks involved in cotton cultivation due to climatic variation, harvesting, storage and marketing of produce. Methods: A study was conducted by collecting information from 240 cotton growers of four blocks in Gajapati and Rayagada districts of Odisha. The opinion of cotton growing farmers on most important parameters of risk in cotton cultivation among climate, harvesting and post-harvest, marketing and socio economic was collected individually through a semi-structured schedule and analyzed. Result: The opinion of cotton growing farmers of South Odisha indicate that the initial heavy rainfall followed by insufficient pre-monsoon rain; the rat menace in storage; exploitation by the traders in marketing and lack of community organization for facilitation of cluster approach are the most important risk parameters that influence cotton cultivation.