Comparative economic analysis of adopters & non-adopters of flood tolerant and normal rice varieties among farmers of Jorhat district of Assam

Assam is a state of Northeast India and rice is the staple crop produced in the state and frequently hit by floods due to flooding of Brahmaputra river causing severe damage to crops and livestock. As an adaptation mechanism, farmer in flood-affected areas are advised to cultivate flood tolerant varieties like Ranjit Sub1, Bahadur Sub1, Swarna Sub1 etc. The study was conducted in Jorhat, district of Assam with an aim to find the comparative advantages of flood tolerant rice varieties over normal rice varieties. The cost of growing flood tolerant rice varieties were found higher than the normal rice varieties due to high value of seed and labour. The Production of flood tolerant rice varieties was also higher than the normal rice varieties. Thus, farmer had a higher (return-to-cost ratio of 1.35) by adopting a flood tolerant rice variety than normal rice variety (return-to-cost ratio of 1.22). It can be seen that the adoption of flood tolerant varieties of rice in flood affected areas can be a very good survival mechanism and risk mitigating technique for farmer to avoid losses from flood damage.