Abstract
Drought has major consequences for agricultural activity, economy, and the environment. For improved drought management, it is necessary to assess drought severity, frequency, and the potential of drought occurrence. The purpose of this study is to use drought indices, standardized precipitation index (SPI), and vegetation condition index (VCI) to characterize the severity of drought and investigate the association between drought severity and subjective well-being among local farmers. The SPI was used to quantify precipitation deficits at various time scales, while the VCI was utilized to monitor crop and vegetation drought conditions. Throughout the period 2000–2017, satellite data were incorporated, as well as a household survey of rice farmers in the dry zone research region in northeastern Thailand. The findings suggest that extreme droughts occur more frequently in the central part of the northeastern region of Thailand than in the rest of the region. The influence of drought on farmers’ wellbeing was evaluated at various drought severity levels. Drought and overall wellbeing are strongly linked at the household level. Thai farmers in drought-prone areas are dissatisfied with their livelihoods more than farmers in less-affected area. It is intriguing that farmers who live in drought-prone areas are more content with their lives, their communities, and their occupations than farmers who live in less drought-prone areas. In this context, using proper drought indices could potentially improve the utility of governmental interventions and community-based programs targeted at assisting drought-affected people.
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Data availability
We declared that the datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This study was funded by Chiang Mai University and Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
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The conceptual framework of the study was created by Watinee and Voravee, who also drafted and edited the text. The drought evaluation is carried out by Watinee, who also makes maps and graphs. The household field survey is carried out by Voravee, who also calculates the subjective risk perception. David and Leisa review the manuscript and offer recommendations.
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Thavorntam, W., Saengavut, V., Armstrong, L.J. et al. Association of farmers’ wellbeing in a drought-prone area, Thailand: applications of SPI and VCI indices. Environ Monit Assess 195, 612 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11157-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11157-1