Articles | Volume 25, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1013-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1013-2025
Research article
 | 
06 Mar 2025
Research article |  | 06 Mar 2025

Adaptive behavior of farmers under consecutive droughts results in more vulnerable farmers: a large-scale agent-based modeling analysis in the Bhima basin, India

Maurice W. M. L. Kalthof, Jens de Bruijn, Hans de Moel, Heidi Kreibich, and Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts

Related authors

HESS Opinions: Operationalizing sociohydrology from systems thinking to systems doing for sustainable and resilient water management
Fuqiang Tian, Murugesu Sivapalan, Sondoss El Sawah, Melissa Haeffner, Anthony Jakeman, Heidi Kreibich, Leyang Liu, Haoyang Lyu, Ana Mijic, Jiale Wang, Jing Wei, and Günter Blöschl
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1727,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1727, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Invited Perspectives: Science for Comprehensive Disaster and Climate Risk Management
Philip J. Ward, Marleen C. de Ruiter, Kees Boersma, Tomris Cesuroglu, Nathan Clark, Tina Comes, Ashok Dahal, Sonja Fransen, Jasper Verschuur, Carmen Anthonj, Srijith Balakrishnan, Jens de Bruijn, Eefje Hendriks, Rodrigo Mena Fluhmann, Goda Perlaviciute, Linda Steg, Marc van den Homberg, Cees van Westen, Funda Atun, Anja Schreijer, and Nicole van Maanen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1331,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1331, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS).
Short summary
Comparing flood forecasting and early warning systems in northwestern Europe
Tim Busker, Daniela Rodriguez Castro, Sergiy Vorogushyn, Jaap Kwadijk, Davide Zoccatelli, Rafaella G. L. Oliveira, Heather J. Murdock, Laurent Pfister, Benjamin Dewals, Kymo Slager, Annegret H. Thieken, Jan Verkade, Patrick Willems, and Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1457–1478, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1457-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1457-2026, 2026
Short summary
Flood damage functions for rice: synthesizing evidence and building data-driven models
Alina Bill-Weilandt, Nivedita Sairam, Dennis Wagenaar, Kasra Rafiezadeh Shahi, Heidi Kreibich, Perrine Hamel, and David Lallemant
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 925–942, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-925-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-925-2026, 2026
Short summary
Deciphering the drivers of direct and indirect damages to companies from an unprecedented flood event: A data-driven, multivariate probabilistic approach
Ravikumar Guntu, Guilherme Samprogna Mohor, Annegret H. Thieken, Meike Müller, and Heidi Kreibich
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 163–186, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-163-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-163-2026, 2026
Short summary

Cited articles

Aerts, J. C. J. H., Botzen, W. J., Clarke, K. C., Cutter, S. L., Hall, J. W., Merz, B., Michel-Kerjan, E., Mysiak, J., Surminski, S., and Kunreuther, H.: Integrating human behaviour dynamics into flood disaster risk assessment, Nat. Clim. Change, 8, 193–199, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0085-1, 2018. 
Agricultural Census India: https://agcensus.dacnet.nic.in/ (last access: 10 December 2023), 2023a. 
Agricultural Census India: http://agcensus1.da.gov.in (last access: 10 December 2023), 2023b. 
Anderegg, W. R. L., Trugman, A. T., Badgley, G., Konings, A. G., and Shaw, J.: Divergent forest sensitivity to repeated extreme droughts, Nat. Clim. Change, 10, 1091–1095, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-00919-1, 2020. 
Axtell, R. L. and Farmer, J. D.: Agent-based modeling in economics and finance: Past, present, and future, J. Econ. Lit., https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20221319, 1–101, 2022. 
Download
Short summary
Our study explores how farmers in India's Bhima basin respond to consecutive droughts. We simulated farmers' individual choices – like changing crops or digging wells – and their effects on profits, yields, and water resources. Results show these adaptations, while improving incomes, ultimately increase drought vulnerability and damage. Such insights emphasize the need for alternative adaptations and highlight the value of socio-hydrological models in shaping policies to lessen drought impacts.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint