Social vulnerability as perceived by peasants in regularly flooded agroecosystem

Flood is the most commonly occurring among all the natural disaster. India is a highly flood prone country. The present empirical study estimates perception of farmers on social vulnerability in a regularly flash flood area of Bihar in general and district Purnea in particular. Various socioeconomic, agro-economic predictors’ association and contribution to the farmers’ perception on social vulnerability have been measured with sample size 10 per cent of population size. Data were collected with the help of pre-structured interview schedule and analyzed with statistical software SPSS 23. Descriptive statistics, coefficient of correlation and linear regression were the statistical tools used in the analysis process. It has been found that Social participation (x_u), Irrigation Index (x₁₅) and Gender ratio (x₇) were positively and significantly correlated with Perception on social vulnerability (Y). It has also been found that predictors viz., Vulnerable members (x₉), Age (x), Divyang (x_s) and Family size (x_s) were negatively but significantly correlated with Perception on social vulnerability (Y) of the farmers in regularly flooded agroecosystem of Purnea district of Bihar. Age (x), Family size (x₆), Gender ratio (x₇), Divyang (x_s), Vulnerable members (x₉), Social participation (x_u) and Irrigation index (x₁₅) have contributed cumulatively in causing Perception on social vulnerability (Y) explaining 21.4 perception of variability embedded in predicted variable Perception on social vulnerability. All the identified predictors can used to modify the perception on social vulnerability of farmers living in flash flood agroecosystem. Bringing modification in the contributor of predicted variable perception on social vulnerability, farmers’ resilience can be enhanced against the annually occurring natural disaster flash flood.