International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development
2025, Vol. 8, Issue 8, Part F
A methodological pathway to quantify subjective well-being of organic paddy farmers in Andhra Pradesh: An OECD based approach
Mallela Bandhavya, V Sailaja, P Ganesh Kumar, S Hemalatha and B Ramana Murthy
Subjective well-being (SWB) is a critical yet often under-measured aspect of agriculture, particularly among organic paddy farmers who navigate diverse livelihood and emotional stressors. Despite its significance, a standardized, context-specific tool to assess their psychological well-being has been lacking. This study developed and validated the Subjective Well-Being of Organic Paddy Farmers (SWBOPF) Scale, guided by the OECD well-being framework.
The research was conducted in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, selected purposively for its demographic diversity, active organic farming ecosystem, and field accessibility. Notably, Chittoor served as a non-sample area to minimize bias in future scale validation. Sixty organic paddy farmers listed on the PGS-India website were purposively selected, representing variations in age, gender, and landholding. An initial pool of 46 items was generated through literature review and expert consultations, refined to 32 using Edwards’ (1969) criteria. Responses were collected on a five-point Likert scale, and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was applied to extract dimensions.
The final SWBOPF Scale included 25 items grouped under seven dimensions: Occupational Outlook (0.219), Relationships (0.181), Depression-Ridden (0.137), Optimistic Outlook (0.127), Pessimistic Outlook (0.125), Anxiety-Ridden (0.119), and Life Satisfaction (0.092)with their respective weightage indicated in parentheses, explaining a cumulative variance of 81.849%, explaining a cumulative variance of 81.849%. The scale demonstrated strong content validity (S-CVI = 0.84), acceptable sampling adequacy (KMO = 0.738; Bartlett’s test significant), and high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.896; split-half reliability = 0.969).
The SWBOPF Scale offers a scientifically sound and contextually relevant tool for assessing farmer well-being, with potential applications in agricultural policy formulation, extension design, and rural mental health interventions.
Mallela Bandhavya, V Sailaja, P Ganesh Kumar, S Hemalatha, B Ramana Murthy. A methodological pathway to quantify subjective well-being of organic paddy farmers in Andhra Pradesh: An OECD based approach. Int J Agric Extension Social Dev 2025;8(8):369-376. DOI: 10.33545/26180723.2025.v8.i8f.2290
