Vol. 12, Special Issue 8 (2023)

Author(s):
Lakshmi Muralikrishna, Jayasree Krishnankutty M and Ajitha TK

Abstract:
Agriculture is both a causative and victim of pollution. Therefore, farmers need to know about the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity levels of their farms to pollution. In the study, perceived vulnerability levels of the farms of 180 farmers who cultivated rice, banana and vegetables from Thrissur and Palakkad districts of Kerala, India was assessed. The exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity indices were computed, and the overall vulnerability index of each panchayat was computed using these indices. The study notably concluded that, exposure was the most important factor that determined the vulnerability of the farming system to pollution. Farmers possessed only moderate levels of awareness about the adverse effects of environmental pollutants on their farming system.