The book examines why Indian agriculture and rural livelihoods so often operate “on the edge” between order and chaos—and what can be done about it. Drawing on social entropy, game-theoretic intuition, and social-ecological systems thinking, the book maps how climate volatility, market swings, technological change, policy flux, and ecological stressors co-produce risk for farmers. It blends theory, a rich review of literature, and an empirically grounded study (with a rural Bengal focus) to identify the key determinants of perceived uncertainty across market, meteorological, technological, economic, and ecological domains. Methodologically, it pairs classical tools with modern analytics (ANN, FCM, AHP, ARIMA) to quantify uncertainty tolerance, trace inter- and intra-variable interactions, and translate findings into micro-level policy cues for real communities. The eight chapters move from concepts and methods to “social ecology and setting,” empirical revelation, and actionable conclusions, engaging with solutions such as crop insurance, FPOs, contract farming, livelihood diversification, and climate-resilient practices. This is a practical framework for scholars, policymakers, and extension professionals seeking resilient, pro-poor agricultural transformation in the face of rising entropy.

Key features

• Integrates social entropy and chaos insights with agricultural risk management.

• Identifies and measures multi-domain uncertainty drivers affecting farmers.

• Uses ANN/FCM/AHP/ARIMA to quantify perceptions and predict interactions.

• Presents a clear, eight-chapter architecture from theory to field evidence.

• Distills micro-policy recommendations for local social ecologies.

• Anchors solutions in Indian contexts: FPOs, price stabilization, insurance, and climate-smart practices.

Prof. (Dr.) Sankar Kr Acharya, presently, Dean, Post Graduate Studies; former Head, Dept. of Agril Extension and Director, Extension Education, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, WB, born on 6th October, 1960, started his career as Assistant Professor at BCKV in 1988 and has been in teaching, research and extension more than 36years. An erudite teacher as well as an elegant speaker, is internationally acclaimed for his unique research domain of Social Entropy and Energy Metabolism, Social Ecology and Environmental Sociology, Enterprise Ecology Framework, Conservation Stewardships: Research Publication: 255 in National and International Journals. Book Publication: 127 books authored. So far, he has delivered 49 keynote addresses and chaired 57 sessions in National and International congresses. Expert Member, Agriculture Commission; Marketing and Extension Sub Committee, Govt. of West Bengal; Expert member WWF projects in BTR (Buxa Tiger Reserve Project); Expert member; DFID project on Primary Education (DPEP); Rapid Environment Impact Analysis. Co-PI of ICAR, NAHEP and World Bank funded project on Conservation Agriculture. So, far he has successfully guided 23 Ph.D scholars and 97 M.Sc. scholars. He is the Fellow of ISEE, IARI, New Delhi, Fellow, BIOVED, Allahabad; Fellow, Society of community mobilization, IARI, New Delhi. He is now acting as editor, reviewer of several national and international journals Awards and Distinctions: Distinguish Scholar Award, Krishisanskriti, New Delhi; Certificate of Merit for standing First class first at M.Sc. (Ag.) in Agricultural Extension, 1986; Honorary Appointment to the Research Board of Advisors, The American Biographic Institute, USA (2003); He has been honored to be selected as the Convener of Panel (PE-32) entitled the hunger, poverty and silence, of World Congress, IUAES, University of Manchester, UK, 2013; He has been honoured to be selected as the Convener of Panel (P-102) entitled’ Uncertainties, Unpredictability and Marginalization: The impact and mitigation for survival of agriculture and humanity, of the 19th World Congress, IUAES-WAU, 14-20 October, 2023, New Delhi, India, 2023 ;Honoured to be nominated as Expert Member, Working group on Agricultural Extension, West Bengal State Agriculture Commission (2007); Honoured to be nominated by the Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, BCKV to Act as an Expert Member, DPEP, A DFID, UK, project for planning and revamping primary education through POA of GOVT of India (1995). Expert Member, Buxa Tiger Reserve Project funded by WWF (World Wide Wild Life Funding), 1998; Dr Daulat Singh Memorial Award, Society of Extension Education, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Award, Brainware University and CRIJAF, ICAR; Distinguished Professor and Academician Award, Research Education Solution (RES), M.S. Swaminathan School of Agriculture, Centurion University (2022); Eminent Scientist Award, EIABT, Citwan Nepal. He is also the Expert Member, Research Council, Vidyasagar University, WB. Prof Acharya is the Achievers of German patent (Utility model no. 20202310273): Novel LOT based inventory management system with radio controlled pallet racking for storage solution. He is the Fellow, West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology (WAST), 2024. He is also the fellow of ISEE, New Delhi, Fellow, BIOVED, Allahabad, Fellow, Mobilization, New Delhi. On academic missions, he visited Italy, France, Germany, China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Malaysia He has a rich profile of editorial and reviewers’ contributions a different national and international Journals. Now, he has been invited to Zurich, Switzerland to deliver the Keynote address in International conference on Conservation Agriculture, June 22-23, 2025.

Abhishek Roy is an agricultural professional with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Palli-Siksha-Bhavana, Visva Bharati (2022) and a Master of Science in Agricultural Extension from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (2024). Born in Surul, near Sriniketan, he is deeply interested in the region's unique cultural and historical context, particularly the Tagore’s Sriniketan Experiment, which integrates education, agriculture, and community development. Committed to enhancing agricultural practices and rural livelihoods through effective extension methods, he aims to make a meaningful impact in the field.

 1 Introduction

 2 Literature Citations

 3 Theory and Concepts

 4 Research Methodology

 5 Social Ecology and Setting

 6 Empirical Revelation

 7 Limitations and Future Scope

 8 Summary and Conclusion

 Bibliography