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ThesisItem Open Access VULNERABILITY OF DAIRY FARMERS TO RISK AND UNCERTAINTY IN COASTAL ODISHA AND EFFECTIVENESS OF COPING STRATEGIES(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2019) BARAL, SHIBASHISH; CHANDEL, B SRisk is all pervasive in Indian agriculture and dairy sector is no exception to that. Odisha being a coastal state faces huge risk from climatic occurrences and underdeveloped production environment. Keeping this in view, the present study assessed risk, Vulnerability to risk and formulated risk efficient farm plans for coastal Odisha region. The primary data collected for the study pertains to the year 2015-16 collected from 400 households of the 4 districts of the coastal region of Odisha. The primary data were supplemented by the secondary data on cost of production, cost inputs and animal population of the region as required by the study. Risk and risk factors facing the dairy farmers were studied both at regional and farm level. The vulnerability of farmers was assessed by construction of a vulnerability index constructed as a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Regression analysis was carried out in determining the factors affecting the farm level vulnerability. Farm enterprises diversification along with extent of adoption of livestock and crop insurance was assessed as strategies of risk diffusion. Finally risk efficient composite farm plans were formulated for the different categories of farm households by use of linear programming techniques and Minimisation of Total Absolute Deviation (MOTAD) model. Repeat breeding appears to be affecting the crossbred (CB) cows much more than the local cows. Among diseases, mastitis appears to be greatest contributor to household (HH) losses at about 40 per cent share while FMD and Blood protozoan diseases were found to be the second and third highest contributors. The natural calamity mortality of dairy animals was found to be very less in comparison to the diseases mortality at about 0.33 and 4.56 per cent, respectively. The regional economic loss to dairy and crop sector in coastal Odisha was found to be about Rs. 34,000 lakhs and Rs. 1,898 crores per annum, respectively. About 44 per cent of landless households were found to fall under highly vulnerable and very highly vulnerable category combinedly while the same in case of marginal farmers was found close to 50 per cent. The study found decrease in vulnerability with the increase in farm sizes. Regional location of households was found to be a factor affecting the degree of vulnerability of farmers, confirming different level of vulnerability between the two coastal region of Odisha. Animal husbandry diversification index was found to be highest in case of landless farmers at about 0.631 suggesting their greater dependence on livestock and diversifying for lowering the risk. The overall coverage of livestock mortality and crop damage by adoption of insurance coverages were found to be about 14 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively. In the composite risk efficient farm plans, increase in cropping intensity and increase in area of cash crops like groundnut and vegetable suggests them as crops of higher return with relatively lower risk association. Among dairy animals crossbred cows appeared to be more preferable than the local cows. The small animal holdings like goat and sheep increased in all farm plans in comparison to their present level of holdings suggesting them to be risk efficient farm activities with prospects of higher return.ThesisItem Open Access ECONOMIC VALUATION OF INDIGENOUS DAIRY CATTLE BREEDS- A CASE OF SAHIWAL IN INDIA(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2020) BHANDARI, GUNJAN; CHANDEL, B SDue to continuous emphasis on raising the milk production and market failure to account for other benefits of indigenous breeds, our cattle biodiversity are under severe threats which calls for their valuation and designing of suitable strategies. Current study attempts to standardize the methodology for valuation of indigenous dairy cattle breeds which is then used to assess the economic value of Sahiwal breed which is one of the best indigenous cattle breed of India but is still facing threat of extinction in its own homeland. Cost of conservation was also estimated for the breed. Primary data was collected from 84 Sahiwal rearing and 84 crossbred rearing farmers spread over prominent breeding tract of Sahiwal in India. Preliminary information required for construction of profiles was collected from experts and secondary information was collected from ABRC, NDRI and from companies dealing with reproduction technologies. Garrett’s ranking technique, conjoint analysis, choice modelling, dichotomous choice CVM and cost analysis were applied to the collected data. Valuation of genetic traits of an indigenous dairy cattle breed comprised of following steps- compilation of attributes, identification of attributes, inclusion of monetary attributes, deciding the levels of attribute, generation of animal profiles, schedule designing, implementation of survey, data analysis and valuation while valuation of non-market benefits comprised of identification of attributes, classification of attributes, selection of attributes, inclusion of monetary attribute, deciding the levels of attributes, designing the choice sets, schedule designing, survey implementation, data analysis and valuation. High disease resistance and low milk yield were respectively the most important positive and negative attributes of the Sahiwal. Direct nonconsumptive use value of Sahiwal occupied the major share of total economic value followed by indirect use value and existence value. Farmers in Sri Ganganagar and Fazilka assigned more value to the Sahiwal breed. Thus, more conservation efforts can be directed to these areas. Subsidy on purchase price, higher price for milk and ensured availability of pure breed figured out as the most essential requirement for rearing Sahiwal cattle. Total cost per conception in Sahiwal through use of cryopreserved semen was found to be Rs. 193.26. For encouraging the crossbred rearing farmers to rear Sahiwal an additional expenditure of Rs. 19,075 per animal per year is required. At present only 8 per cent of total value of Sahiwal is being allocated for its conservation in the three states which varies from 0.15 per cent in Rajasthan to 13.73 per cent in Haryana. On an average, at least around 10 per cent of total value of the breed in each state can be allocated for its conservation.ThesisItem Open Access ESTIMATION OF OUTPUT SUPPLY AND FACTOR DEMAND ELASTICITIES OF MILK PRODUCTION IN EASTERN REGION OF INDIA(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2019) KUMARI, BINITA; CHANDEL, B SDairy farmers have an important role to play in determining the level of milk production in the country. In order to lure the farmers into dairy farming the suitable policies related to prices are important as they act as instrument for policy implementation. The present study was carried out in the eastern region of India with the objectives to estimate the factor demand, output supply, cost and net income elasticities of milk production as well as to determine the level of profit efficiency among the dairy farmers in the region and the factors effecting it. The states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal were chosen and one district was selected from each state. One tehsil was chosen from each district from which two villages were selected. Complete enumeration of the villages was done and three strata (small (1-3 milch animals); medium (4&5 milch animals); large (>5 milch animals) were formed using cumulative square root frequency method. Further, a sample of 300 respondents was selected according to probability proportional to size. In order to fulfil the objectives, the tools of normalised translog profit function approach, cost and net income models and stochastic profit frontier were used. The average milk productivity of crossbred cow (13.15 litres / day) was about eight times higher than that of the local cow (1.65 litres / day) and about two times higher than that of the buffalo (6.21 litres / day) which clearly indicate superiority of crossbred cow in milk productivity. The average profit per household per day from milk production was ` 332 over variable costs. Among the milch animals, the returns over total cost were ` 5.36 and ` 1.46 per litre of milk production from crossbred and buffalo, respectively. The net return per litre of milk production which was negative (` -32.72) for local cow over total cost, turned out to be positive (` 8.54) when only cash costs were taken into consideration. Overall, supply elasticity of milk with respect to own price was estimated to be 0.7154 showing positive, yet comparatively inelastic effect on milk supply. The milk supply elasticities with respect to input prices were negative and with respect to fixed factors it was positive. The milk supply elasticity was the highest negative with respect to wage rates (-0.3682). All the own price elasticities of demand were negative, thereby, revealing that all the inputs are normal goods whose demand increases as their prices fall. The own price elasticity of demand for concentrate (- 0.0006) was almost perfectly inelastic revealing that irrespective of the change in prices, required quantity of concentrate was demanded. Almost all the cross price elasticities were negative, indicating that the inputs were complements to each other. All the factor demand elasticities with respect to milk prices were positive. Overall, net income elasticity (12.3435) of milk with respect to its own price was four times higher as compared to cost elasticity (3.0709) which demonstrates that raising the milk price may be right approach towards increasing the income of the farmer. The magnitude of cost (0.2335) and net income elasticity (-2.4646) with respect to labour wages was the highest. The mean profit efficiency of the dairy farmers in the study area was 0.7215 which increased with increase in the herd size. Profit efficiencies in the area can be increased by having older, more educated and experienced farmer take decisions related to dairy activities and by increasing amount of family labour, herd size, number of crossbred cows in the herd and exposure to information and trainings and by improving infrastructure facilities like proper roads, veterinary hospitals, cooperatives etc.ThesisItem Open Access AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF CATTLE INSURANCE IN SELECT DISTRICTS OF KARNATAKA(ICAR-SRS, BENGALURU, 2019) ROHITH, G. V.; DIXIT, P KLivestock is one of the important productive assets in the rural areas in India. But this vital economic asset is most prone to several risks and uncertainties. So, an effective insurance mechanism is essential for the farmers to cope with the household related shocks. There are a few studies on the livestock risk management strategies and depiction of farmers who adopt the insurance in India. The study is more imperative keeping in mind the benefits of the livestock insurance especially, small and marginal farmers against any eventual loss to their animals, but these issue need critical analysis, hence the study “An Economic Analysis of Cattle Insurance in Select Districts of Karnataka” was undertaken with the specific objectives to analyse the status, factors influencing and assess the willingness to pay for cattle insurance, its influence on dairy farmers and to identify the constraints in cattle insurance. The data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. A total sample of 240 dairy farming households comprising 80 each from Kolar, Shivamogga and Dharwad districts representing Southern, Malnad and Northern regions of the Karnataka, respectively were considered for the study. The sample was post-stratified into insured and non-insured of cattle insurance. The study employed suitable descriptive statistics including, Z-statistics, Mann-Whitney U-test, Compound Annual Growth Rate (CGAR), Binomial Logit Model, Contingent Valuation Technique, Multiple linear regression, Censored Tobit Model, Cost & return analysis, Standard treatment effects model and Henry Garret Ranking Technique. The results showed that number of animals insured under National Livestock Insurance (NLM) scheme in Karnataka between periods (2006-18) grew from 9487 to 2,36,332 with CAGR of 28.52 per cent. The claim to premium percentage varied from 20 to 81 per cent. Number of animals insured was found to be higher under Cattle Group Insurance scheme (26,278 to 37,477) than NLM scheme (970 to 7360) in Kolar district between periods (2015-18). The lowest claim to premium percentage was observed in Dharwad (13 to 25 %) under NLM scheme. In the study area, around 41 per cent of the farmers adopted cattle insurance and it was highest in Kolar (66.25 %) followed by Shivamogga (40.00 %) and with a lowest in Dharwad (17.50 %), which covered 18.48 per cent of total milch animals, which was highest in Kolar (37.50 %) followed by Shivamogga (14.02 %) and Dharwad (9.46 %) districts. The majority of animals insured were crossbreds (86.42 to 87.50 %), followed by buffalo (8.33 to 10.00 %) and indigenous cattle (4.17 to 5.00 %) across the districts, owing to high market value and better milk yield potential of the crossbreds. The age of the respondent, type of animal reared, herd size and membership in dairy cooperatives and districts had significant influence on adoption of cattle insurance. The education of the respondent, herd size, type of animal holding and membership in dairy cooperative significantly influenced willingness to pay for cattle insurance. Willingness to pay was found to be less than the actual payment for the cattle insurance premium, and it was more in the case of crossbreds than other categories of animals. Type of animal and membership in dairy cooperatives had positive and significant influence on actual level of payment for cattle insurance. In general, net cost of milk production was more in the case of insured herd as compared to non-insured herds. Higher net returns were observed for insured herd in Kolar district (₹ 6.72 per litre) for crossbreds. The mortality cases were higher in Shivamogga (42.52 %) but animal insured to total mortality percentage was only 16. 67 per cent. The highest mortality cases indicating high risk were found in crossbreds (41.18 to 92.31 %) followed by indigenous (5.13 to 29.41 %) and buffaloes (2.56 to 29.41 %) across the districts. The claim settled to claim lodge percentage was 91 per cent in Kolar district, which was the highest. The land holding size, animal herd size, non-farm occupation along with dairying had positive influence and the loss of animal had negative influence on net- income of the farmers. The major reason for not insuring cattle was high premium and complexity in the procedure for claiming of insurance. Constraints faced by the farmers in adopting cattle insurance were lack of awareness about rules and regulations, insurance not covering losses other than death, animals not insured at actual market price and tedious procedures in completing the formalities in filing a claim. Difficulty in arranging the documents for the insurance and claiming insurance money and non-adherence of dairy farmers to the rules and regulations of cattle insurance were major constraints faced by the cattle insurance agencies. It is concluded from the study that only a small proportion of the animals were insured indicating that there is need for educating farmers regarding the benefits of cattle insurance. There is need for simplification of the procedure for claim settlement and provide detail awareness about insurance. Finally, it can be concluded that, cattle insurance is one of the best risk mitigation strategies to help the farmers in stabilizing their income under risks and uncertain situations.ThesisItem Open Access ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF RISK IN DAIRY AND COCONUT PRODUCTION IN COASTAL KERALA(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2018) M, ANOOP; SIROHI, SMITAIndian agriculture is faced with a number of risks and uncertainties, and Kerala is not an exception for this. Coconut and dairy farming are two major livelihood activities of small and marginal farmers in the state. The present study examined the risks in dairy and coconut production in Kerala, the effect of risk on adoption of management practices by the farmers, and the efficacy of institutional arrangements in managing risk. The study was based on both secondary and primary data. The secondary data were collected for all districts of Kerala, while primary survey was carried out in Kozhikode and Malapuram districts of Kerala. The instability in area, production and productivity of coconut was not high during 1985-2016 making it a low risk enterprise, but very low growth rates for three decade period suggested that coconut farmers are highly vulnerable to income stagnation. Farm wholesale price of coconut showed comparatively high growth rates, but it was accompanied by high instability also. In case of dairy production, instability in crossbred yield and milk production was low in most districts except Malappuram and Kozhikkode. The dairy farmers were not vulnerable to price risk as milk purchase price by cooperatives were found to be stable along with high growth rate in the state. Risk factor was found to have significant influence on farmers adoption behaviour of better management practices like irrigation in coconut cultivation and mineral mixture usage in dairy. Probabilities of downside risk and extreme events were found hindering farmers adoption of these management practices. If the farmers get more awareness through education and more extension visits, it was found to have favourable effect on adoption of better management practices. Membership in cooperative societies or producer companies were found to help farmers in effectively managing income risk over time. Value addition, farm diversification and not stopping spending on management practices during times of losses were the other factors found helping the farmers in managing income risk. The study emphasised on the need for better risk coping mechanisms, awareness creation among the farmers, and also to make available necessary inputs on credit basis in times of risk events so that farmers may adopt better management practices and it will stabilize and augment their income.ThesisItem Open Access ANALYSIS OF RISK AND VULNERABILITY OF RURAL FARM HOUSEHOLDS TO NATURAL DISASTERS IN RAJASTHAN(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2018) KANWAL, VINITA; SIROHI, SMITAAgriculture sector is the backbone of India in terms of food supply and employment which is subjected to frequent risks that are in turn very pervasive and complex in nature. Sources of risk could be many including natural disasters (like droughts and floods). Often the level of severity of risks vary according to different farm households, farming systems, geographical location, weather conditions, supporting government policies and farm types etc. Therefore, from policy perspective it is important to look into the extent of production risk and how the natural disasters are affecting them. Besides the production, natural disasters can also cause the risk in consumption in the form of reduced consumption and increased malnourishment. It is further necessary the ex-ante assessment of those people who are food secure but vulnerable and food-insecure but nonvulnerable could be made. Other than this it is also important to take into notice the perception of local farmers regarding various types of risk they face and their frequency. Checking the efficacy of ongoing risk coping mechanisms is also crucial from policy perspectives. Keeping these considerations in mind, the present study was undertaken in the state of Rajasthan both at micro and macro level. The study was analyzed based on district level area, production, productivity of major crops and rainfall data for the period from 1980 to latest (2013). Data on livestock population, production and productivity at state level was also used for the years of 1985 to 2016. Instability indices, rainfall anomaly, year on year percentage change and correlation coefficients were used to analyze the extent of instability in yield and prices and their inter-linkages with natural disasters was established. National Sample Survey Office’s unit record data (consumption expenditure for 66th round (2009-10) and 68th round (2011-12)) was used to estimate food and nutritional insecurity in year of drought. The year of 2009-10 was drought year for Rajasthan and 2011-12 was normal year. The primary data was collected for agricultural year of 2016-17 from 360 selected households with the help of pre-defined and pilot tested schedule through personal interview in districts of Bikaner and Kota. Risk perception index was an added dimension. Also, household specific utilization of risk management option was carried out with the help of logit regression. Multinomial ordered logit was used to see the efficacy of crop-insurance scheme as a risk management option. There was a wide variation in rainfall anomaly across the districts of Rajasthan. During 1980s three years viz. 1980, 1981 and 1987 were years of extreme droughts while during 1990s; 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 were extreme drought years. Production instabilities were more in kharif crops as compare to rabi crops. In general, coarse cereal and pulses displayed highest production instability followed by super cereals and oilseeds. Production instability was mainly due to instabilities in yield rather than instability in area. Price instabilities were very less that indicates an overall stability in prices for the period of 36 years. However compound annual growth (CAGR) rate of prices for this period was less than 1% that indicates substantial instabilities. Vulnerability to poverty in Rajasthan was 12.4% in normal year that increased to 20% in drought year. The corresponding poverty head count ratio was 22.3% in normal year and 33.5% in drought year. Vulnerability to poverty of households engaged in agriculture was lower as compare to the households that were engaged in non-agricultural activities. It was highest among no-land rural farm households followed by marginal & small land (upto2 ha) and medium land households. Head-count poverty in normal year was merely 22.3% while incidence of malnourishment in that year was more than doubled (54.3%). Hailstorm (44.5%) followed by drought (43.4%) and pest and disease of livestock (40.1%) were the most realized risks during past ten years. Surprisingly around 90% of sample households in Bikaner have never realized the incidences of heat waves. However the incidences of heat waves were completely absent in Kota perhaps due to geographical location. Also, around 76.7% people in Kota never realized the incidence of drought during past 10 years. A majority household indicated that pest/diseases of crops and livestock are the risks perceived by them in various intensities. Risk perception in Bikaner was mainly due to unawareness about the available technology while in Kota it was due to inaccessibility to same. Besides formal compensation method, farmers adopt multiple informal ways to avoid the income risk that includes inter-temporal consumption smoothing and ex-ante risk response measures. The formal risk aversion mechanism was of little use in minimizing income risk in case of yield loss. Regional specific plans must be built up to enhance adaptive capacities of the region. Additionally, drought resistant crops like pulses and oilseeds that were most stable must be promoted in the region. Affluent price policies are need of the hour so that sufficient encouragement can be provided to the farmers to grow the selected income enhancing crops. The stable production of meat, milk and other livestock products can act as cushion in case of natural disasters and hence must be prime focus of policy formulation in event of natural disasters. Irrigation alone is not sufficient to decrease vulnerability to poverty in the event of extreme events and so government programs should be designed more effectively through proper and inclusive policy intervention. Asset base of the households is of less concern and skill development and capacity building can be important interventions in the region. Public distribution and National Food Security Mission (NFSM) will be of no use until along with food distribution, nutritional management is also taken care of. So awareness about wholesome diet and balance nutriton is the need of the time. Inclusive policy initiatives should be formed to reduce the negative influence of economic risks on the marginal and small farmers. Socially and economically deprived households in general had lower utilization of various risk management strategies and remains under risk. It is important that macro level policy toward better social protection should be designed and implemented considering equity parameter of the households. Increasing the social capital for farmers and reducing the frangibility of farmers to meet the market economy so as to strengthen the ability of farmers to cope with the risk of income fluctuations would provide additional support.ThesisItem Open Access IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF LIVESTOCK SERVICES AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THEIR DELIVERY MECHANISM IN GUJARAT(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2018) PUSHPA; CHANDEL, B SRecognizing the paramount importance of livestock support services in increasing production and productivity of animals, the study conducted impact assessment of livestock services and economic analysis of their delivery mechanism in Gujarat. The primary data collected for study pertains to the year 2013-14 for 200 selected households of Anand, Junagadh, Sabarkantha and Surat districts. It was supplemented with secondary data on veterinary institutions, total output of livestock products and inputs used especially feed, labour and interest of population stock. The contingent valuation (CV) was used to estimate WTP and Tornqvist-Theil Index was used to estimate total factor productivity (TFP) which was further decomposed to find out the effect of factors other than inputs. Simple tabular analysis was done to know the status, growth and effectiveness of livestock services. The study found that number of livestock population served by one veterinary institution was 20 thousand which was too large from all standards. The coverage of livestock insurance was unexpectedly low as only 0.55 per cent of the livestock population was insured. An average farmer was making total expenditure of Rs 1813 per standard animal unit (SAU) per annum on livestock services in which animal health services were accounting for 67 per cent of the total expenditure and remaining was on AI services. The expenditure incurred by cooperative institutions on providing the services of case treatment, vaccination, emergency visits and AI were Rs 71, Rs 66, Rs 267 and Rs 49 per service on an average, respectively. For animal health services, the overall WTP was about Rs 74 per service at the centre and Rs 206 per service at doorstep, which was 1.23 times and 1.02 times higher than the existing charges per service, respectively. The TFP of livestock sector in Gujarat was found to be every increasing except during mid eighties to mid nineties when the state faced severe drought. The highest growth rate in TFP was recorded 5.32 per cent per annum during the last decade from 2005-06 to 2014-15. This growth rate in TFP has been realized due the high growth of output index and deceleration in input index which revealed an improvement in input efficiency ratio. The research and development (R&D) investment which was proxy for technology, significantly contributed for increase in TFP. A one per cent increase in R&D investment increased the TFP by 0.1237 per cent. Another major variable explaining the positive growth in TFP was the rural literacy which was proxy for skill of farmers. The study concluded that in spite of growth in institutions of livestock services, it has not commensurate with the increase in livestock population. The number of animals served by one institute or veterinary doctor was substantially higher by all standards and could be one of the reasons for poor livestock services. The role of government institution in providing services was still dominating even after multi-agency approach recommended by policy planners and scientists. The share of cooperatives and private agencies was lower especially in treatment of animals and vaccination which are crucial services for overall improvement in production and productivity of animal. The cooperatives were doing better in improving the germplasm of the livestock through AI services and were also found to be cost effective. The private agencies can play a complementary role in providing livestock services if made more reliable and cost & quality effectiveThesisItem Open Access ASSESSMENT OF LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION AND FOOD SECURITY IN FARM HOUSEHOLDS OF UTTARAKHAND HILLS(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2018) SHEELA KHARKWAL; MALHOTRA, RDiversification has become a common term associated with small farms due to low profitability and higher risk involved in farming. Involvement in non-farm occupations reduces risk by combining activities that have different risk profiles; it can also ameliorate the labor and consumption smoothing problems associated with seasonality.The present study was, therefore, conducted in Uttarakhand hills with the objectives: 1) to examine the status of employment and food security across different regions of the state; 2) to assess the extent of livelihood diversification and its determinants in selected households; and 3) to investigate the linkage between livelihood activities, food security and socio-economic factors.The study utilized both secondary and primary data. Secondary data was procured from NSSO under Schedule 1.0 & Schedule 10, for two rounds, viz., 61st and 68th round, while primary data were collected for two seasons,i.e.,winters in 2016-17 and summers in 2017-18. A sample of 200 farm households was drawn using multistage random sampling technique. Tabular analysis was done and FGT index was calculated to analyze first objective whereas multiple linear regression model and binary logit model were estimated to analyze second and third objectives, respectively.Results revealed that from 61st to 68th round total labor force and work force declined in usual status by 7.58 per cent and 7.87 per cent, respectively. Sector-wise distribution of workforce showed a sharp decline of 17.28 per cent workforce in primary sector from 61st to 68th round. The relative share of workforce engaged in cereal and pulse production declined hugely by 20.65 percent from 61st to 68th round. On the other hand, mixed farming showed a positive momentum over the years. Food security status of the state revealed that hilly region fared well in terms of calorie intake than the plain region in each round. The head count index of food insecurity showed that theincidence of food insecurity came down to 52 per cent in 68th round from 61 per cent of 61st round in plains and 39 per cent from 46 per cent in hills during the same period. Results obtained from primary data observed 0.39 average value of diversification index, which suggests a moderate level of livelihood diversification among sample households. Around 19 per cent of the sample households belonged to low, 49.50 per cent to moderate and 31.50 per cent households belonged to high level of livelihood diversification. Regression analysis results revealed that household structure, dependency ratio, education of household, organization membership and training had positive effect while age of household head and farm size had negative effect on livelihood diversification.At an overall level, deficiency of all the nutrients, viz., energy, protein and fat was observed for men, women and children, but was more prominent among children.Around 65 per cent households in the study area were found food insecure with an average calorie intake of 2336.08 kcal per day. For rest 35 per cent households, average calorie intake per day calculated was 2829.04 kcal.The results of binary logit model showed that 2 variables namely sex of household head and dependency ratio had negative effect on food security. While 6 variables, viz., transfer income, number of livelihood activities, age of HH head, food aid recipient, extension utilization and technology had a positive effect on food security. A major challenge identified was to promote livelihood and retain work force through local employment and income generation to enhance quality of life of the people living in rural areas of the state. As soil and topography in the state are not suitable for mono-cropping, mixed agricultural practices need to be adopted. This diversified agriculture could be a healthy mix of animal husbandry including cattle rearing, poultry, fishing, beekeeping, etc. A targeted monitoring to ensure food availability through PDS to lower income population should be done and range of food products can be increased for this particular target group. Streamlining and tightening of the food distribution system is equally important. Extension services is one of the prime factors for educating farmers regarding adoption of new technology, about nutritional aspects, etc.; hence, should be performed efficiently.ThesisItem Open Access ASSESSMENT OF LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION AND FOOD SECURITY IN FARM HOUSEHOLDS OF UTTARAKHAND HILLS(ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL, 2018) KHARKWAL, SHEELA; MALHOTRA, RDiversification has become a common term associated with small farms due to low profitability and higher risk involved in farming. Involvement in non-farm occupations reduces risk by combining activities that have different risk profiles; it can also ameliorate the labor and consumption smoothing problems associated with seasonality.The present study was, therefore, conducted in Uttarakhand hills with the objectives: 1) to examine the status of employment and food security across different regions of the state; 2) to assess the extent of livelihood diversification and its determinants in selected households; and 3) to investigate the linkage between livelihood activities, food security and socio-economic factors.The study utilized both secondary and primary data. Secondary data was procured from NSSO under Schedule 1.0 & Schedule 10, for two rounds, viz., 61st and 68th round, while primary data were collected for two seasons,i.e.,winters in 2016-17 and summers in 2017-18. A sample of 200 farm households was drawn using multistage random sampling technique. Tabular analysis was done and FGT index was calculated to analyze first objective whereas multiple linear regression model and binary logit model were estimated to analyze second and third objectives, respectively.Results revealed that from 61st to 68th round total labor force and work force declined in usual status by 7.58 per cent and 7.87 per cent, respectively. Sector-wise distribution of workforce showed a sharp decline of 17.28 per cent workforce in primary sector from 61st to 68th round. The relative share of workforce engaged in cereal and pulse production declined hugely by 20.65 percent from 61st to 68th round. On the other hand, mixed farming showed a positive momentum over the years. Food security status of the state revealed that hilly region fared well in terms of calorie intake than the plain region in each round. The head count index of food insecurity showed that theincidence of food insecurity came down to 52 per cent in 68th round from 61 per cent of 61st round in plains and 39 per cent from 46 per cent in hills during the same period. Results obtained from primary data observed 0.39 average value of diversification index, which suggests a moderate level of livelihood diversification among sample households. Around 19 per cent of the sample households belonged to low, 49.50 per cent to moderate and 31.50 per cent households belonged to high level of livelihood diversification. Regression analysis results revealed that household structure, dependency ratio, education of household, organization membership and training had positive effect while age of household head and farm size had negative effect on livelihood diversification.At an overall level, deficiency of all the nutrients, viz., energy, protein and fat was observed for men, women and children, but was more prominent among children.Around 65 per cent households in the study area were found food insecure with an average calorie intake of 2336.08 kcal per day. For rest 35 per cent households, average calorie intake per day calculated was 2829.04 kcal.The results of binary logit model showed that 2 variables namely sex of household head and dependency ratio had negative effect on food security. While 6 variables, viz., transfer income, number of livelihood activities, age of HH head, food aid recipient, extension utilization and technology had a positive effect on food security. A major challenge identified was to promote livelihood and retain work force through local employment and income generation to enhance quality of life of the people living in rural areas of the state. As soil and topography in the state are not suitable for mono-cropping, mixed agricultural practices need to be adopted. This diversified agriculture could be a healthy mix of animal husbandry including cattle rearing, poultry, fishing, beekeeping, etc. A targeted monitoring to ensure food availability through PDS to lower income population should be done and range of food products can be increased for this particular target group. Streamlining and tightening of the food distribution system is equally important. Extension services is one of the prime factors for educating farmers regarding adoption of new technology, about nutritional aspects, etc.; hence, should be performed efficiently.
