Drought-tolerant rice, weather index insurance, and comprehensive risk management for smallholders: evidence from a multi-year field experiment in India.

ABSTRACT: In rainfed production systems throughout India, agricultural activities are dependent upon the summer monsoon, and any aberration in monsoon rainfall patterns can have severe consequences for rice production. There is considerable policy interest in designing programs to lower small-scale farmers' exposure to these types of risk given the regularity with which adverse monsoon events occur. This paper introduces a field experiment conducted with two risk management options in the state of Odisha: a drought-tolerant rice cultivar; and a weather index insurance product designed to complement the performance of the cultivar. Uptake rates for the cultivar itself and for the joint product are compared across two years alongside an analysis of factors that predict uptake. Results indicate high le

SUBMITTER: Ward PS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7188305 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature