Impact of the 2015 Drought on Rural Livelihood - A Case Study of Masurdi Village in Latur District of Maharashtra, India

Drought is a global phenomenon. It mainly affects on agriculture and allied sector activities. Agriculture plays a substantial role in the development ofrural economies in the least developed countries, where agriculture largely depends on rainfall. The present study examines the impact of the 2015 drought on rural livelihoods in a Masurdi village of Latur district of Marathwada region, Maharashtra state. This paper is based on both primary as well as secondary data sources. The multistage sampling method is used for primary data collection. The 100 households sample survey data has been collected from the village through a semi-structured questionnaire. The rainfall data were obtained from the Department of Revenue, Office of Divisional Commissioner, Aurangabad, from 1991 to 2018. The study also examines climate variables' impact on the Latur district's total food grain production from 2000 to 2018 for 19 years. A multiple regression model is used to analyze the relationship between climatic variables and the total food grain production. The study finds that, out of 100 households, 24 are landless, 41 are marginal cultivators, 30 are small cultivators, 4 are medium cultivators, and only one is large. In the OBCs category, out of 42 households, 8 (19.05 %) are landless, 18 (42.85 %) are marginal, 15 (35.51 %) are small, and only one is a medium cultivator household. In the open category, 9 (28.12 %) are small cultivators. 6 (18.75 %) are landless households, 15 (86.87 %) are marginal cultivators, and only two households are large and medium cultivators. In the SCs category, out of 26 households, 8 (30.76 %) are marginal, 6 (23.07 %) are small cultivators, 10 (38.86 %) households are landless, which is more proportion than other categories, and only two are medium cultivators. The study has recorded a significant deficiencyin rainfall in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2009, 2014, 2015, and 2018, whereasin 1988, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2010, and 2016, there was recorded excess rainfall. The 2016 was the most excess rainfall year reported over the years from 1991 to 2018, where there was 1110.92 mm rainfall recorded, and in the year 2015 found a significant deficit in the rainfall where there was 413.48 mm rainfall recorded. The study found a significant depletion in livestock assets; farmers sold their livestock due to severe water scarcity and fodder problems; before the drought, the total number of livestock of the sample households was 85 (including goat, bullock, buffalo, etc cows). It is reduced tremendously in the drought year 2015, which was only 25. Crop production decreased tremendously due to inadequate rainfall in the drought year 2015. Approximately 27.43 % of the workforce migrated from rural to urban areas to searchfor jobs. About 48 % of the households' children faced education difficulties; they were not going to school during the drought. . Many households benefited from state government schemes, like drought subsidies, crop insurance, and bank loans. Out of 100 households, about 50 (50 %) have obtained financial support from the state government's subsidy scheme, 58 (58 %) have got crop insurance, and 41 (41 %) irrigated households have got bank loans from National banks; besides that, only two families have obtained loans from their relatives and moneylenders.