Odisha is one of the states most vulnerable to natural calamities in India. Over the years, they have affected the economy of the state, especially its agriculture, very seriously. This paper attempts to estimate the production losses in rice due to three common types of natural calamities such as drought, flood and cyclone in Odisha over a period of 45 years (1965-66 to 2008-09) using secondary data, and also analyzes the coping strategies adopted by farmers on the basis of primary data collected from 100 affected sample farmers. The findings show heavy rice production losses in calamity years. Migration and shifting to wage work in the construction sector have been the major coping strategies to earn additional income and smoothen consumption spending in the calamity years. Given the impossibility of preventing the occurrence of natural calamities, it is possible to argue that a greater allocation of funds for rice research for developing rice varieties tolerant to various calamity situations and generation of more non-farm income opportunities in the rural areas will help in lessening the stress on the farmers.

Odisha is one of the most natural calamity-prone states in India. Its unique geographical position with six big and innumerable small rivers, 480 km long coastal belt along the Bay of Bengal, and the irregular and unpredictable behavior of monsoons make it highly susceptible to natural calamities, causing colossal damage to life, property and livelihood systems. Among the natural calamities frequenting the state, the more common are drought, flood and cyclone. Over the years, both the frequency and severity of these calamities have increased considerably and they are striking new areas every year. Droughts and floods have become an annual affair and cyclones a more or less regular occurrence in the state. These three calamities affect the state economy, and more particularly its agriculture, extensively.

There is no gainsaying that agriculture is the backbone of the Odisha economy in terms of its share in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) (25.2%) and total employment (57.7%), and rice is the staple food of the people of Odisha. On account of the subsistence nature of the crop and the typical agro-climatic conditions in the state, almost all farmers in the state grow rice. On the average, it is grown on an area of 44.5 lakh ha in the state, though there are fluctuations in area from year to year due to natural calamities. The rice area, on the average, accounts for 91% of the total area under cereals and 49% of the gross cropped area in the state. Kharif rice covers 93% of the total area under rice and contributes 89% to total rice production. Two-thirds of kharif rice is grown under rainfed conditions. During kharif season, the crop is grown under a variety of unfavorable situations resulting in low yield (Venkateswarlu et al., 1994). Studies have recorded that droughts and floods occur almost every alternate year in Odisha (Reserve Bank of India, 1984; and Samal, 2004). Needless to say rice production is the greatest casualty of the natural calamities in the state. They not only impose direct loss by destroying the standing crops, but also entail loss of production in many other indirect ways. From the analysis of 123 years of rainfall data, Sivasamy (2000) concluded that the present knowledge of the causes of drought does not permit extrapolation of these events into the future. As the rainfall distribution is highly uncertain, the present knowledge and existing methodology have limited applicability to predict the exact distribution of rainfall. Hence, the predictability of rainfall in a particular year and occurrence of natural calamities like drought, flood and cyclone is very poor. The effects of climate change in recent years have further exacerbated the occurrence of natural calamities (Johl, 2006; and Bouman et al., 2007).

Agricultural Economics Journal, Rubber Production, Nontraditional Areas, Capital Investment, Government Agencies, Community Processing Centers, Rubber Plantation, Government Forest Lands, Goalpara District, Economic Empowerment.