Coping strategies pertaining to marketing and insurance adopted for dairy animals during the 2018 floods in Kerala, India

This study focuses on the marketing and insurance-related coping strategies adopted by dairy farmers in the three most affected districts of Kerala—Thrissur, Idukki, and Ernakulam—following the catastrophic 2018 monsoonal floods. The research collected data from a sample of 180 dairy farmers, assessing the adoption level of eight coping mechanisms using a three-point scale to derive index scores and subsequent rankings. The results indicate a high reliance on institutional support and cooperative structures. Specifically, Facilitation of marketing of milk during the disaster and Knowing the procedure for applying government compensation were consistently ranked as the top two most important and widely adopted strategies across all regions, demonstrating the critical role of government and cooperative interventions. Insurance of the animals for death and physical disabilities also showed high adoption, being consistently ranked third. Conversely, preparatory and proactive financial measures such as Facilitation of Farmer’s producers organisation and Value addition of milk were the least utilised strategies.