Understanding drought impacts and strategies: Orange growers in Vidarbha

Drought, a climatic phenomenon marked by insufficient rainfall over an extended period, severely impacts livelihoods by causing water shortages for essential activities like farming. This leads to reduced agricultural income, livestock mortality, food insecurity, and health issues. Climate change exacerbates droughts, affecting global agricultural production and food security. India, a major agricultural powerhouse, faces significant challenges due to rising temperatures and erratic rainfall, particularly in regions like Vidarbha in Maharashtra.

Vidarbha, known for its Nagpur Orange, suffers from recurrent droughts, with conditions worsening since the 1990s. The region's heavy reliance on rainfed agriculture makes it vulnerable. Due to the lack of water, it is becoming difficult for the Vidarbha's orange growers to manage their yields, resulting in distressed situations. Due to these drought conditions, the production of oranges in the Vidarbha region has declined by approximately 50%–70% between 2017 and 2019, which has resulted in substantial economic loss to the orange growers.

In 2019, the never-seen-before drought in Vidarbha resulted in the failure of around 60% of the orange orchards that cost over INR15 million. The orange growers try to cope with these climatic droughts and maintain their orchards. Some growers expect financial aid from the government. However, from the trend of orange production in Vidarbha, it is evident that the efforts are not producing the desired results.

Existing literature primarily focuses on constraints for orange farming but lacks insight into farm-level challenges and growers' perceptions of drought impacts. This study by Dohale et al. ‘Orange grower's perception of drought impacts and strategies for mitigation and adaptation: A study of the Vidarbha region in India’ aims to fill these gaps by examining orange growers' perceptions and strategies to mitigate drought impacts. Key research questions include understanding growers' perceptions of drought impact and identifying adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Research method and data collection

The study adopts a field research approach in Vidarbha, initially identifying drought challenges through literature review and expert validation. Employing a three-stage approach, it validated challenges through the Delphi method, prioritized them via the Best-Worst Method with five growers, and assessed growers' perceptions through descriptive statistics with 50 respondents. Most respondents were young farmers, with average landholdings of 10.775 acres. Key challenges that emerged were: inadequate water bodies, lack of capital, and high drip irrigation costs for Vidarbha's orange growers during droughts.

Results and discussion

Descriptive statistical analysis of orange growers’ perceptions

The study evaluated the perception of Vidarbha's orange growers regarding drought challenges and their mitigation and adaptation strategies. The findings are:

Orange grower's perception of drought: Orange growers perceive droughts as a natural phenomenon resulting from weather changes, insufficient rainfall, lack of water availability for farming, and excessive temperature increase. Most growers believe that droughts significantly reduce their household income. While a majority of growers are aware of forthcoming weather changes and droughts, they are generally unprepared to manage their effects, leading to various impacts such as fungi attack, rotting of oranges, crop failure, or loss of yield and income.

Analysis of adaptation strategies

The study analysed the applicability of adaptation strategies based on orange growers’ landholdings. The responses regarding various adaptation strategies are:

• Rainwater harvesting: Most farmers disagreed or strongly disagreed with rainwater harvesting as an adaptation strategy due to the sporadic nature of rainfall in the Vidarbha region.
• Soil mulching: Soil mulching is not commonly practiced for orange cultivation due to its potential negative effects on oxygen exchange to feeder roots.
• Pest control measures: Orange growers typically use pesticides as a safety precaution against pest and fungi attacks during drought conditions.
• Installing an efficient irrigation system: Drip irrigation is considered the most efficient way to manage the impact of drought on orange production in Vidarbha. Most growers have at least one borewell in their fields for irrigation purposes.

Analysis of mitigation strategies

The study also analysed the applicability of mitigation strategies for tackling drought situations among orange growers. The responses regarding various mitigation strategies are:

• Diversification of income: Most farmers disagreed with income diversification as a mitigation strategy, favouring an efficient irrigation system instead.
• Weather forecast: Despite the uncertainty associated with weather predictions, orange growers generally follow forecasts to understand forthcoming weather conditions.
• Seeking guidance from agriculture department: Seeking guidance from agriculture departments, particularly through Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), is a common mitigation strategy practiced by orange growers in Vidarbha.
• Purchasing insurance: While some orange growers have purchased insurance for drought distress, many are hesitant due to insufficient coverage or eligibility issues.

Contributions and policy implications

This study contributes theoretically to the literature on climatic changes, drought adaptation, and mitigation strategies, particularly in perishable food supply chains like Vidarbha's oranges. It addresses the severe impacts of droughts on horticulture crops, such as oranges, which have a long plantation lifespan. Through a three-stage approach, it identifies and analyses the challenges faced by orange growers in Vidarbha due to droughts, offering a bottom-up perspective for policymakers.

The study identifies lack of water bodies, lack of capital, and high cost of drip irrigation as critical challenges using the Best-Worst Method (BWM). Additionally, it consolidates the most sought-after risk mitigation and adaptation strategies perceived by orange growers in Vidarbha, providing a foundation for future research. Furthermore, the study illustrates the application of judiciously chosen mixed methods, including Delphi, BWM, and descriptive analysis, which can be extended to other exploratory research domains.

Implications for policymakers

This study provides significant implications for policymakers to develop a strategic roadmap for orange growers in Vidarbha. Policymakers can use empirical inputs, such as BWM results, to design and support crop-specific disaster risk reduction and mitigation interventions. The study suggests increasing land under irrigation through the development of water bodies and canal irrigation systems to reduce vulnerability to rainfall variability and droughts.

Policymakers could also advocate for supporting the capital cost of installing suitable drip irrigation systems. Additionally, the study highlights the need for affordable insurance schemes with lenient terms and appropriate communication strategies to help orange growers secure their orchards from crop failure and receive aid based on losses rather than income.

Furthermore, policymakers, retailers, and stakeholders in the supply chain need to provide a price advantage for GI products like Nagpur Santra to benefit Vidarbha's orange farmers and enhance their economic resilience. These policy interventions aim to reduce vulnerability and build resilience among orange growers in Vidarbha.