Agricultural Labour Households Research Articles

Pattern and Drivers of Agricultural Labour Migration in Karnataka, India

The agricultural sector in India facing apparent shortage of labour is observed in rural farms, a phenomenon is due to migration. The study was based on primary data collected from 120 agricultural labour households of irrigated and rainfed situations. Education, land holding variables in irrigated and wage rate in rainfed situation, discriminates the migration and non-migration samples. The regression results also shown that, wage rate and land holding were significantly influence the migration. The frequency of migration outside the district was comparatively higher in rainfed. Majority of labourers migrated seasonally and the rate was high in rainfed situation.

Parental involvement in sharing childcare activities among agricultural labourer households

HIND INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ABSTRACT : In the Indian family setting, the sharing of childcare responsibilities between husband and wife is not widely accepted. Parental role and their involvement in childcare are very important for the overall development of the child. For the first time, an attempt has been made to quantify the percentage of involvement of both mother and father in childcare activities separately. A study was conducted on 160 agricultural labourer households having at least one child in the age group of 1-5 years from 8 villages randomly selected from four blocks, which were purposively selected from four districts of Orissa. Majority (78.05 %) of mothers were found to be involved in cleaning baby’s mouth whereas least (3.65 %) in getting play materials for the child. As high as 44.27 per cent fathers were involved in giving moral teaching to the child and a minimum (1.04 %) in introducing pre lacteal feed. The percentage of share of fathers, mothers and other relatives in childcare was 19.92, 52.84 and 27.24, respectively indicating that mothers took care of their children more than two times than that of fathers and even members other than parents has more involvement than the fathers.

Factors affecting involvement of gender in childcare activities of agricultural labourers

Parental role and their involvement in childcare are very important for the overall development of the child. Here attempt has been made to quantify the percentage of involvement of both mother and father in childcare separately. Further to find out the correlation of parental involvement with different independent variables a study was conducted on 160 agricultural labourer households having at least one child in the age group of 1-5 years from 8 villages randomly selected from four blocks, which were purposively selected from four districts of Orissa. The percentage of share of fathers, mothers and other relatives in childcare was 19.92, 52.84 and 27.24, respectively indicating that mothers took care of their children more than two times than that of fathers and even members other than parents has more involvement than the fathers. The parental involvement was found to be positively correlated with their attitude, knowledge, skill and education whereas negatively correlated with number of children, family type and family size. Except family size, all the independent variables under the study were significantly correlated with parental involvement in case of both men and women. Regression analysis showed that the independent variables like attitude, skill, number of children and family type contributed significantly for the involvement of the women agricultural labourers in childcare.

Measurement of employment, unemployment and underemployment of agricultural labour in tarai regions of Uttaranchal State and Uttar Pradesh

In rural areas, both unemployment and underemployment exist side by side, the distinction between them is by no means sharp. The various sophistications and refinements brought about in the concepts and measurement of employment and unemployment, have not fully succeeded even in properly quantifying the above problems. Therefore, in the present study, an attempt has been made to measures the unemployment and under employment of agricultural labour in Tarai regions of uttaranchal state and Uttar Pradesh according to time and income criterion. In each state one district was selected randomly viz. Sidharth Nagar in Uttar Pradesh and U.S. Nagar in Uttaranchal state. From each of these two selected district, the Birdpur block in Sidharth Nagar district and Rudrapur block in U.S. Nagar district was selected randomly. The study is based on the 55 households in Birdpur block and 66 households in Rudrapur block. Thus, total sample consists of 121 agricultural labour households. The study pertained to the year 1999–2000. In order to achieve the objective simple averages and percentages were used. The findings of the study reveals that the unemployment and under employment measured by time and income criteria for agricultural labour household as well as agricultural labour was higher in Uttar Pradesh as compared to Uttaranchal state. It is, therefore, suggested that more avenues of employment must be provided at the village level, including provision of loans for the purchase of inputs, cross bred cattle, and land distribution among agricultural labourers.

Development as Dignity: Dissensus, Equality and Contentious Politics in Bihar, India

This paper makes an analytical case for the understanding of development as a process that enables people to reclaim their dignity and interrogate inegalitarian social relations. It is motivated by the ongoing debate within development studies between those who propound a teleological view of development and those who adopt the opposing view that the process must not obliterate historical and cultural difference. The former view is informed by an assumption that the human condition can and should be improved, and the trajectory of such improvement is predetermined and predictable. The latter view is ambivalent, not only about the possibility of improvement, but also about its desirability. Against this dichotomy, this paper urges scholars of development to consider that people might envisage that the social inequalities they experience could be reduced, irrespective of “improvement”. The ethnography on which the paper draws cover show the way in which a group of agricultural labourer households stigmatised as “untouchable” — and alleged to be illegally squatting on public property—stand their ground violent opposition by local elites. While servility to and quiescence with elite opinion would allow them to “improve” their lives by relocating to a less contentious space, community members assert their ethical claims on the disputed property without flinching. They do this not because they like to live in squalid conditions, but because complying with elite diktats is an affront to their dignity.

Impact of Micro Finance on Income Generation and Livelihood of Members of Self Help Groups – A Case Study of Mandya District, India

Abstract The traditional Indian society functioned mainly on the basis of self-help and mutual aid. However, in recent years, they have been emerging as a major strategy for the promotion of informal credit to the poor. Self-help groups are expected to make a significant contribution to poverty alleviation and empower the members in economic, social and political spheres. These programmes are also expected to become increasingly self-reliant and independent of donor funds. In rural India, there is substantial degree of feminization of poverty on account of an increase in the net population growth rate among the landless agricultural labour households (including SC/ST and other backward classes women), low level of human skills, lack of availability of wage employment opportunities and inadequacy of institutional support to create wage as well as self employment opportunities. This list includes economic factors responsible for feminization of poverty which are much stronger in operation and which function along with socio-cultural barriers and discrimination against women in economic participation. The objectives of the self-help groups are to promote strong and independent women groups who exert control over their own development and that of the community. The women would be equipped with managerial and technical skills through enhanced participation in economic activities. In this context, it is desirable to generate information and analyse to what extent these micro finance programmes have been able to reduce poverty and vulnerability by; increasing capital/asset formation at the household level, improving household and enterprise incomes, enhancing the capacity of individuals and households to manage risk, increasing enterprise activity within households, expanding employment opportunities for the poor in non-farm enterprises, empowering women and improving the accessibility of other financial services at the community level.

Dimensions of Rural Poverty in Bihar: A Village Level Study

The measures of poverty involves a) the specification of the threshold income level below which a person is considered poor (the poverty line) and b) construction of an index to measure the intensity and severity of poverty suffered by those whose income is below the poverty line. Sen(1976) has proposed several criteria that a poverty measure must satisfy to be able to assess the changes in social welfare whereas Foster et al (1984) proposed a class of poverty measures that are additively decomposable and that satisfy all the criteria for an ideal poverty measure. For this study, we used a method known as FGT index to measure the incidence of poverty (headcount ratio), intensity of poverty (poverty gap ratio) and severity of poverty (squared poverty gap ratio). To find out the determinants of poverty, affecting the probability of an individual being poor, we estimated a Probit model using poverty as a dependent factor-a binary (poor-1 and non-poor-0) and a set of agricultural and socio-economic variables as explanatory variables. Despite annual growth of more than 10 per cent in Bihar’s economy, poverty remained the same during 2004-05-2009-10.Incidence of poverty was double among agricultural labours than that of farm households and the poverty gap between farm and agricultural labour households increased during last two decades. The decline in poverty has been also higher among farm households than the decline observed among agricultural labour households during last two decades however the decline in poverty was comparatively high among agricultural households than farm households during 2004-05-2009-10, mainly due to adverse weather at one hand and increase in wages of agricultural labour at another during the period. The comparatively high poverty incidence, gap and severity are observed in less developed village than developed villages in Bihar. Hence it may inferred that the level of development has direct influence on poverty alleviation that is; higher the development, lower the level of poverty in rural area. In villages, land is the main income generating asset hence the poverty incidence, gap and severity level are comparatively low in case of large households but the observation does not hold true in case of medium and small households because their land base is very low in Bihar. The highest poverty incidence, gap and severity are not found among labour households. It is only due to larger proportion of earning members and the majority of them are employed in non-farm activities on comparatively high wage whereas family member of households with even small piece of land do not prefer to work as labour, resulting less income flow and higher level of poverty among them. Various agro-economic and social factors are responsible for poverty. The three key determinants that help the household in keeping away from poverty are education, number of earning and family size. The education enhances the skill, chances of getting remunerative employment and increasing labour productivity which lead to higher income and decline in poverty. Larger proportion of earning members in the household also helps increasing income flow whereas smaller size of family leads to comparatively less expenses and more income to the household hence low level of poverty. These findings of poverty determinants call for establishment of effective educational and training infrastructure and streamlining of their functioning in rural area. The family welfare programme needs to be strengthened for population control since smaller family is likely to be away from poverty.

Direct and indirect economic impacts of the Bhakra multipurpose dam, India

AbstractThis paper presents results of a study on the direct and indirect economic impacts of the Bhakra multipurpose dam system in the northern part of India that has provided direct benefits in terms of hydropower, irrigated agriculture, water supply, flood control and drought prevention. These direct outputs from the Bhakra dam system have, in turn, generated (i) inter‐industry linkage impacts, both backward and forward linkages, resulting in increase in the demand for outputs of other sectors, and (ii) consumption‐induced impacts arising out of increases in income and wages generated by the direct outputs of the dam. Such indirect economic impacts, quantified by using a fixed‐price multiplier model based on a social accounting matrix (SAM) for Punjab, give a multiplier value of 1.90, indicating that for every rupee (Rs = 100 paise)1 of additional value added directly by the project in the agricultural and electricity sectors, another Rs 0.90 (90 paise) is generated in the form of downstream or indirect effects. The results on income distribution show that the gains to agricultural labour households from the dam have been higher than the gains to other rural households and to urban households. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Livelihood Pattern of Agricultural Labour Households in Rural India

Using primarily different published secondary data, the article analyses employment generation, income of different categories of labour and the extent of indebtedness and earning prevalent among rural landless labourers and agricultural house-holds in rural Orissa, with a view to understanding their livelihood patterns. In this state—where more than 85 per cent of the population is rural—a third of rural households constitute landless labour households which depend completely on wage employment. Another 60 per cent of rural households is comprised of marginal farmers and small farmers who do not generate sufficient income from their land. Even small farmers with up to five acres supplement their agriculture with outside jobs or wage employment. The evidence relating to rural labour households and agricultural labour households shows an explicit overall decline in employment both for male and female labour. There is also a decline in the average number of earning members per household. Clearly, the rural labour households and agricultural labour households in this state are characterised by low earning, decline in income, low consumption and high debt, and remedies will have to be found to generate more employment and income.

The Declining Rice-Fish Farming: A Case Study from North Kerala

In the coastal regionns of India, a complex and ecologically responsive farming system has evolved over centuries. In this system, rice an fish cultivation alternates trough a mechanism of water control. This paper discusses the evolution of the socio-political and institutional arrangements in such and integrated farming system (Know as kaipad cultivation) in Ezhome Panchayat in Kerala that emerged out of collective action, and documents how they could not be sustained. The decline of kaipad cultivation has been adversely affecting the livehoods of a segment of agricultural labour households, especially the women and the elderly. They are several constraints to the revival of this cultivation. Nevertheless, reviving this is vital for ecorestoration and to ensure justice to the disadvantaged people

Indebtedness of the Scheduled Castes Agricultural Labour Households: A State-Wise Analysis

Studies focusing on the indebtedness of agricultural labour households belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCLHs) are seldom seen. In this paper, therefore, an attempt is made to study the incidence as well as extent of indebtedness of agricultural lobour households belonging to the Scheduled Castes. State wise cross section data pertaining to five time points (1974-75, 1977-78. 1983, 1987-88 and 1991-94) available through Rural Labour Enquiry reports have been used for the analysis. It Is found that the share of institutional debt in the total debt of SCLHs has increased from 5.76 per cent in 1974-75 to 30.10 per cent in 1993-94. Similarly, the share of productive purpose debt to the total debt of the same group has also increased from 8.81 per cent to 21.63 per cent daring the same period. While the incidence of indebtedness of the Scheduled Castes labour househalds has deClined between 1974-75 and 1993-94 inmost of the states, the same is found to be higher than the national level average among the agriculturally advanced states at all time points. The average amount of debt (in real value) of the Scheduled Castes lobour. households has increased between 1974-75 and 1993-94 in almost all the states, but the value of debt is found to be smaller among the agriculturally less developed status. It appears from the analysis that the extent of indebtedaess of agricultural labour households is higher in those states that have higher percentage of landless labour households, percentage of the Scheduled Castes, labour households to the total agricultural labour households and share of productive purpose debt to the total debt.

Earnings and Consumption by Indian Rural Laborers: Analysis with an Extended Linear Expenditure System

This paper analyzes consumption pattern of agricultural and nonagricultural labor households in rural India using a new extension of the familiar Linear Expenditure System (LES) model. This extension accounts for changes in commodity consumption not only due to changes in prices and total expenditure but also due to changes in certain other “status” variables. The analysis extends to assess differential impacts on consumption pattern due to different welfare programmes. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.

Political Economy of Rice Price Protection in Asia

Rice continues to be the most important food staple in Asia, contributing 40%-80% of total calorie intake. Rice is also the major source of livelihood of small farmers and agricultural labor households in this region, where at least two-thirds of arable land is planted to rice. At least half of that rice area is rain-fed and vulnerable to drought and floods. Even in irrigated areas, higher cropping intensity has increased pest problems, contributing further to the production instability that characterizes the rice economy of monsoon Asia. Because of the economic and political importance of rice in Asia, no government has left its domestic rice sector freely influenced by market demand and supply forces. Invariably, the central food policy question confronting Asian governments is how to reconcile the conflicting objectives of providing low rice prices to consumers and remunerative incentives to farmers. Maintaining stable domestic rice prices to both consumers and producers is a separate and equally important concern. Moreover, given the political importance of rice and the instability of the world rice market, most Asian countries aim for rice selfsufficiency rather than rely on international trade to pursue their food security goals. Among rice exporters, on the other hand, raising government revenues from rice exports is another policy objective. To achieve the above objectives, a wide variety of policy instruments have been used to influence output and input prices directly or to increase productivity. Except for Thailand, most Asian governments control rice prices in the short run through a monopoly on international trade, as well as by engaging in domestic marketing operations.1 On the other hand, governments also invest in irrigation,

Agricultural productivity, seasonality and gender bias in rural nutrition: Empirical evidence from South India

This paper analyzes changes in the nutrients intake, intra-household allocation and gender bias due to changes in agricultural productivity among four groups of rural households over six different seasons. The study utilizes household survey data collected from a village in Tamil Nadu, India. While the results are consistent with earlier findings that seasonality influences variation in the intake of nutrients, it is shown that subsistence agricultural households recover faster from poor crop yields than market oriented agricultural households in terms of nutrient intake. Agricultural labour households consumed lowest quantities of energy and protein in all seasons with the highest degree of gender bias. The gender bias is more in terms of protein intake compared to energy intake for all the households. The non-agricultural households are least affected due to variability in crop yields and seasonality. While nutritional intake of the rural households is positively correlated with crop yields, the variations in yields worsen the gender bias. It is argued that reducing dependency of rural households on agriculture may reduce malnutrition and the gender bias associated with it.

Population Growth and Poverty in Rural South Asia

An Overview - Gerry Rodgers Demographic Patterns and Poverty Among Households in Rural Bihar - G Rodgers, S Gupta, A N Sharma, and B Sharma Poverty, Class Structure and Household Demographic Behaviour in Rural Pakistan - Mohammed Irfan The Size and Structure of Agricultural Labour Households in India - N Krishnaji Population Pressure and its Effects on Changes in Agrarian Structure and Productivity in Rural Bangladesh - Rafiqul Huda Chaudhury Population and Poverty in Nepal - David Seddon

Poverty of Agricultural Labour Households in India: A State Level Analysis

Poverty of Agricultural Labour Households in India: A State Level Analysis

Inequality, earnings and participation among the poor in rural India

Emphasising that there is a relative dimension to deprivation, an attempt is made here to decompose income inequality among the rural poor into inequality in earnings per worker, in participation rate and covariance of earnings per worker and participation rate. From this decomposition, the effects of (small) changes in inequality in earnings per worker and in participation rate on income inequality are evaluated. The analysis is based on a cross‐section of rural households in 1970–71. The samples of poor cultivating households and poor casual agricultural labour households are analysed separately for each of two regions, based on a classification of villages in terms of technological advancement.

Agricultural Labour, a Diminishing Force

The results of the First Agricultural Labour Enquiry (ALE; 1950-51), Second Agricultural Labour Enquiry (ALE; 1956-57) and the Third Enquiry on Income of Rural Labour Households (RLE; 1963-64) lead one to believe that agricultural labour in India is a diminishing force. Even taking note of the fact that a degree of incomparability exists between the first and second enquiries, the conclusion that the agricultural labour households in both absolute and percentage terms had been declining during the three enquiries is inescapable.

Corporate Growth and Diversification

Corporate Growth and Diversification

Caste and Landlessness in South India

In 1956 there were 16.3 million agricultural labour households in India, roughly one out of three for Indian agriculture as a whole. Their number has been rapidly increasing; in 1900 only 12 per cent of the agricultural population were landless labourers. It is tempting to see the creation of this huge landless class as yet another verification of a general theory of development which seems to apply to Japan and to much of South-East Asia, as well as to a great deal of Western experience. Such a theory would explain the growth of this class in terms of the weakening of village communities, the breaking down of traditional patterns of land tenure, the spreading of indebtedness and the consequent dispossession of the peasantry, and it would find the chief cause of these changes in the monetisation of the economy.