Buffalo-included farming strategy for sustainable livelihoods of farmers in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh

The present research aims to study the role of buffalo farming in providing secured livelihood. It was obtained by comparing between livelihoods of only-agriculture and buffalo-included rearing as their primary occupation or as their livelihood in highest buffalo populated district of Andhra Pradesh in India. The data was collected by using a pretested interview schedule through direct questioning. A multistage random sampling technique was followed. A total of 120 buffalo farmers and 30 agriculture farmers from three mandals and six villages of Prakasam district were selected. A composite of livelihood security index was developed for the study and the index values were further analyzed. The comparison was achieved through performing Z- test at various levels of significance. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in the livelihood security of the buffalo-included (Mean=0.609) and only-agriculture practices (Mean=0.513) and its economic, farming, social and institutional security dimensions at 1% level of significance between the two categories. So, the buffalo-included rearing was significantly contributing towards increasing overall livelihood security of the respondents when compared to only-agriculture practicing farmers indicating sustainable livelihoods.