Study of socioeconomic status of farmers in drought prone regions of Maharashtra, India- A Case Study

Background: Socioeconomic status of farmers plays a key role in agriculture. It is observed that eventually with time there has been a significant change in the overall life style of the farmers. Further the farmers are trying to increase their income level by investing more in agriculture activities. Purpose: The research work focuses on systematic assessment of socioeconomic status of the farmers from drought prone region of Maharashtra, India. Methodology: The area selected for the study was Khatav Taluka, a semi-arid region of Satara district of Maharashtra. Three villages were selected randomly from this area. The average annual rainfall varies from 250 to 300 mm and thus it is categorized as a drought affected region. Stratified random sampling method was employed for the collection of socio-economic data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for analysis of the data. Findings: A survey of 59 farmers was made from several villages of Satara district. Number of family members, debt, loan recovery capacity, number of animals, cultivated crops, source of income and source of irrigation were some of the common terms taken from the literature for the discussion on the socio-economic status of the farmers. Research Implications / Limitations: Similar studies can be carried out to all the other drought prone tehsils of Vidharba region of Maharashtra. Originality: The study may be useful to formulate the policies to improve upon the socio-economic status of the farmers in Maharashtra.