Farmers’ Perception on Risks in Fruits and Vegetables Production: An Empirical Study of Uttar Pradesh

The perceptions of farmers about risks in production of fruits and vegetables have been analysed using structured survey method. The study is based on the survey of a total of 634 farmers, comprising 188 fruit farmers and 446 vegetable farmers, covering six districts of Uttar Pradesh, namely, Lucknow, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Moradabad, Jhansi and Agra. The perceived priorities of farmers about major sources of risks in production of fruits and vegetables have been reported under ‘investment risks’, ‘socio-economic risks’, ‘environmental risks’, ‘production risks’ and ‘market risks’. In general, the price and production risks have been perceived as the most important sources of risk in production of fruits and vegetables in the area. The study has argued that public intervention can facilitate better risk management through improved information system, development of financial markets and promotion of market-based price and yield insurance schemes, thus ensuring that the marginal farmers are able to benefit from these interventions as well as participate in the emerging systems.