Impact of National Food Security Mission (NFSM) on Input Use, Production, Productivity and Income in Tamil Nadu. K Jothi Sivagnanam

Transcription

1 1 AERC Research Study No:155 Impact of National Food Security Mission (NFSM) on Input Use, Production, Productivity and Income in Tamil Nadu K Jothi Sivagnanam Professor and Director i/c Agro Economic Research Centre University of Madras Chennai May 2015

2 2 Research Team Dr. K. Jothi Sivagnanam Professor and Head (Economics) Director i/c, AERC Syndicate Member : Principal Coordinator Dr. V. Loganathan Former Tagore Professor University of Madras Mrs. T. Priya Research Associate Dr. K. Murugan Research Associate Mr. M. Pragasan Field Investigator : Consultant : Field Investigator : Drafting the Report, Data Analysis Primary and Secondary Data Collection : Primary Data Collection, Data Entry Process and Typing of the Report Mr. G. Moovendan Field Investigator : Field Investigator

3 3 PREFACE India has achieved self-sufficiency in foodgrains production since the last four decades. It had increased its food production from 50.1 MT in to MT in Even though, the prevalence of hunger is one of the biggest challenges to the Indian economy; the share of hungry people had declined by 8.5 percent from 25.5 percent in to 17.0 percent in To address the problem, the Government of India has taken a major policy initiative by launching a mega scheme called National Food Security Mission (NFSM). Besides addressing hunger, poverty and food security, the NFSM also aims at enhancing farm profitability so that the farming community retains its confidence in farming activity and able to produce more to meet our growing requirements. The NFSM is implemented in 561 districts in 27 states in the country. The scheme has been extended to more districts during the Twelfth Plan period. The NFSM aims at increasing the production of foodgrains by 25 MT (10 MT of rice, 10 MT of wheat, 3 MT of pulses and 2 MT of millets). The focus of the scheme is to improve the cropping pattern, develop small and marginal farmers, create value chain and market linkages for the welfare of the farmers. This is a revised and final version incorporating all the suggestions made by the coordinator on the draft report. The Research team has been benefited from helpful comments and suggestions made by the Consultant Dr. V. Loganathan, Former Tagore Professor of Economics, University of Madras. The team thanks him for the advice and constructive suggestions. I also thank Mr. Mayilvaganan, JDA, Thiruvarur for his support during the field visit. I am also thankful to Mr. Vijayakumar, Mr. Prabu, Agricultural Officers for their support during the visit. I express my sincere thanks to Mr. Mariyam Joseph JDA, Sivagangai and Mr. Ismail, Hidayatulla and Arun, Agricultural Officers for their kind help during the field survey. Dr. K. Jothi Sivagnanam Professor and Director i/c, Agro Economic Research Centre Chennai , Tamil Nadu. kjothisiva24@gmail.com

4 Contents 4 Chapter Titles Page No. No. List of Tables List of Figures Preface I Introduction Background of the Study The Rising Global Demand for Food Continuing Role of Agriculture in Food Security The Evolution of Food and Nutrition Security Current Scenario of Food Security National Food Security Mission in India The National Food Security Act Review of Literature Need to Evaluate NFSM Programme Objectives of the Research Study Research Methodology Organization of the Research Study 18 II Trends in Area, Production and Productivity of Rice and Pulses in Tamil Nadu 2. Introduction Trends of Paddy Production in Tamil Nadu Area, Production and Yield of Paddy and Pulses in Tamil Nadu Food Security in Tamil Nadu Growth Trends in Area, Production of Paddy and Pulses Growth of Paddy and Pulse Crops: Impact of NFSM in Tamil Nadu District-wise Growth of Paddy and Pulse Crops and Impact of 30 NFSM Performance of the NFSM Districts: Pulses Financial Allocation to the NFSM Scheme in Tamil Nadu Summary 41 III Household Characteristics, Cropping Pattern and Production Structure 3.1 Socio-economic Profile of the Sample Households Characteristics of Operational Holdings 47

5 5 3.3 Sources of Irrigation and Structure of Tenancy Cropping Pattern and Costs and Returns Asset Holdings Sources and Purpose of Credit Summary 62 IV NFSM Interventions and Their Impact on Farming Awareness of the NFSM Scheme Costs and Subsidy Particulars of Availed NFSM Benefits Annual Usage of Farm Equipments and their Benefits Cost and Return of Paddy Crop in Kharif Season ( ) Cost and Return of Paddy in Rabi and Summer Season ( ) Marketed Surplus and Marketing Channels Summary 82 V Participation Decision, Constraints and Suggestions for Improvement of NFSM Scheme 5.1 Factors Influencing Participation of Farmers in NFSM Scheme Constraints Faced in Availing the NFSM Benefits Suggestions for Improvement of the NFSM Scheme Reasons for Non-Participation in the NFSM Scheme Suggestions for the Inclusion of Non- Beneficiaries for Availing 91 Benefits under NFSM Scheme 5.6 Summary 92 VI Summary and Conclusions Introduction Major Findings of the Study Policy Implications 107

6 List of Tables 6 Table No. Particulars Page No. 1.1 Area and Production under NFSM Scheme in Tamil Nadu: to District-wise Area and Production under NFSM Scheme in Tamil Nadu: to Sample Size of Thiruvarur and Sivagangai Districts of Tamil Nadu Area, Production of Foodgrains in Tamil Nadu: to Trend in Area and Fertilizer Use in Tamil Nadu Trend in Area, Production and Yield of Paddy and Pulses in Tamil Nadu District-wise Area, Production and Productivity of Rice in Tamil Nadu 27 during 9 th Five Year Plan to 11 th Five Year Plan 2.5 District-wise Area, Production of Pulses in Tamil Nadu during 9 th Five 28 Year Plan to 11 th Five Year Plan Period 2.6 Districts-wise Area, Production of Paddy in NFSM Districts and Non- 32 NFSM Districts of Tamil Nadu: to Districts-wise Area, Production of Pulses in NFSM Districts and Non- 34 NFSM Districts of Tamil Nadu: to Financial Progress under the NFSM in Tamil Nadu (Rs. in Lakhs) District-wise Plan Outlay and Expenditure under NFSM in Tamil Nadu 37 during 11 th Five Year Plan Period ( to ) (Rs. in Lakhs) 2.10 Category-wise Interventions: Plan Outlay and Expenditure in Tamil Nadu 39 for the 11 th Five Year Plan Period ( to ) (Rs. in Lakhs) 2.11 Correlation between Percent Change in the NFSM Expenditure and 40 Irrigation/Fertilizer in Tamil Nadu 2.12 Correlation between the NFSM Expenditure, Area and Production of 41 Paddy and Pulses in Tamil Nadu 3.1 Socio-economic Profile of Thiruvarur and Sivagangai in Tamil Nadu 45 (Percentage of Households) 3.2 Characteristics of Operational Holdings: Thiruvarur and Sivagangai 48 Districts (Acres per Households) 3.3 Distribution of Area by Source of Irrigation in the Study Area 49 (Percent to the Total Area) 3.4 Nature of Tenancy in Leasing-in/Leasing-out Land (Percent) Cropping Pattern of Thiruvarur and Sivagangai Districts Tamil Nadu (Percent of Gross Cropped Area) 53

7 7 3.6 Household Income from Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Sources Crop-wise per acre Costs and Returns among the Sample Households Farm Asset Holdings by Sample Households (Rs. / Household) Households Classified by the Source of Credit Details of Purpose of Credit of the Sample Households (Rs./HH) Awareness of NFSM Scheme among the Sample Beneficiaries Sources of Awareness of NFSM Scheme among the Sample 67 Beneficiaries 4.3 Particulars of Benefit Availed ( up to ) Annual Usage of Farm Equipments Availed under NFSM (Per annum) Benefits derived from Farm Equipments (Percent of Benefited HH) Impact of the Benefit Availed under NFSM Scheme Cost and Return of Paddy during Kharif Season ( ) (Per Acre) Cost and Return of Paddy in Rabi/Summer (Per Acre) Marketing Channels and Marketed Surplus of Paddy Factors influencing Participation in NFSM Schemes in Tamil Nadu Constraints faced in availing the NFSM Benefits (only Beneficiaries) Suggestions for Improvement of the NFSM Scheme 89 (only Beneficiaries) 5.4 Suggestions for Improvement of the NFSM Scheme 89 (Non- Beneficiaries) 5.5 Reasons for Non-participation in the NFSM (Only Non- Beneficiaries) Suggestions for the Inclusion of Non- Beneficiaries for Availing Benefits under NFSM Scheme (Only Non- Beneficiaries) 92

8 Abbreviations 8 AAY -Antyodaya Anna Yojana ACGR -Annual Compound Growth Rate AFCL -Agricultural Finance Corporation Limited CC - Cost of Cultivation CI -Cropping Intensity FAO - Food and Agricultural O rganizat ion FYM -Fertilisers Yield Management FYP - Five Year Plan GA S -Gross Area Sown GCA -Gross Cropped Area GDP - Gross Domestic Product GIA -Gross Irrigated Area GR - Gross Return HH - Households HYV -High Yielding Varieties of Seeds II -Irrigation Intensity INM -Integrated Nutrient Management IPM - Integrated Pest Management L. Ha. - Lakh Hectare M. Ha. - Million Hectare MDG -Millennium Developme nt G oals MSP -Minimum Support Price MT - Million Tonnes NABARD -National Agricultural Bank for Rural Development NADP -National Agricultural Development Programme NAS -Net Area sown

9 NB NCA NFSA NFSM NHM NIA NOA NR NSS OBC PACS PDS RKVY RRB SC ST TFYP TNAU TOA TRA TV USA UT WB WFC WFP WFS WTO - NFSM Beneficiaries -Net Cropped Area - National Food Security Act - National Food Security Mission -National Horticultural Mission -Net Irrigated Area -Net Operated Area - Net Returns -National Sample Survey - Other Backward Classes - Primary Agricultural Co-operative Society -Public Distribution System -Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana -Regional Rural Banks - Scheduled Castes - Scheduled Tribes -Twelfth Five Year Plan Period -Tamil Nadu Agricultural University - Total Operated Area -Total Rainfed Area -Television - United States of America - Union Territories - World Bank -World Food Conference -World Food Programme -World Food Summit - World Trade Organization 9

10 1.1 Background of the Study Chapter I Introduction Agricultural sector plays a very vital role in the different dimensions of social, political and economic development of our nation. It is enormously important for the Indian economy as the sector is contributing 13.9 of the GDP and about 55 percent of the total employment share (Census, 2011). About half of the population still depends on agriculture as its primary source of income, while it provides raw material for a large number of industries (Government of India, ). The experience of the last three decades indicates that the growth rate of foodgrain production decreased from 2.93 percent during the period to 0.93 percent during The declining growth of foodgrains production was partly contributed by the decline in area but largely by the decline in yield rate. The yield growth rate of foodgrains decreased from 3.21 percent to 1.04 percent during the same time period. There was also decline in growth in the production of other agricultural commodities. This is clearly reflected in the decelerated agriculture growth from 3.5 percent during the period to to around 2 percent during to Nevertheless, there have been signs of improvement during the recent years (Dev and Sharma, 2010; Kumar 2013 and Government of India, ). The U-turn in agricultural production occurred mainly due to the implementation of important programs, such as Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), National Horticultural Mission (NHM), various sub-schemes and substantial increase in the state agricultural outlay on agriculture (Government of India, , Kumar 2013). The structural change initiated by the reform process in the early 1990s completely transformed the Indian economy. This is evident from the remarkable annual GDP growth rate of 8.3 percent achieved during from 5.3 percent in The process of reforms transformed the services sector much more than that of manufacturing and agriculture sector. As per the estimates of the Department of Economics and Statistics 2013, service sector s

11 contribution to the GDP increased from percent in to percent in , as against drastic decline from percent to percent of the agricultural sector during the same period. Even manufacturing sector share took a downward trend though marginally, from to percent during the same period. The above statistics clearly indicates the transformation of the Indian economy from traditional agrarian to service-oriented Indian economy. In the midst of this transformation from agriculture to service, it is very interesting to highlight the revelation by the National Sample Survey (NSS) 66 th Round (Government of India, ) that still, more than half of the Indian rural workforce continues to opt agriculture for their livelihood. Despite half of the population working in agriculture, Indian economy was encountering a situation where supply of foodgrains fell short of demand for consumption, mainly due to rising population. Dev and Sharma (2010) indicated that one-third of the population was faced with extreme poverty. They further noted that half of the Indian children were malnourished. 1.2 The Rising Global Demand for Food The population growth and income pattern in the developing countries are the main determining factors of the global demand for food items in the international market. The total population of the world was 842 million during , and out of that one in eight people were suffering from serious hunger in the world. They do not get adequate food for survival of life. The average percent of undernourished people in the world declined from 1015 million (18.9 percent) in to 805 million (12.0 percent) in The poor people of the South Asian countries form the highest number among the hungry people in the world. Those suffering from hunger declined from 292 million (28.8 percent) to 276 million (34.3 percent) during the same period. On the contrary, developed countries have registered the lowest share of decline from 20 million (2 percent) to 15 million (1.8 percent) in the same period (FAO, 2014). The percentage share of the poor in India declined from 25.5 percent to 17.0 percent. It is noted that the low income countries have the higher prevalence of poverty than the developed and developing countries. A majority of the people, who are undernourished, are located in the Southern Asia followed by Sub-Saharan 11

12 Africa and Eastern Asia. The countries share has declined in Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia (FAO, 2014). The national and international community has taken steps to reduce hunger and malnutrition. The main theme of the Millennium Development Goals is to take initiatives to reduce them. A large proportion of the undernourished people are found in the developing countries. The number of people suffering from food insecurity increased due to the global food price crisis during 2008 (Brinkman et al. 2010; FAO 2009). International food prices rose for the second time during United Nations (2010) stated that the nutrition is given high priority in the national development like India. We need adequate food security for solving nutrition deficiency. The main objective of the food security is achieving nutritional food to the common poor in the world. In addition, it is essential to address the issues of food insecurity and food-price crisis. The main reasons for the food-price crisis are trade restrictions imposed by the food exporters, bio-fuel polices and increase in food speculation in the market economy. A mounting amount of food demand in the global market and national economy and changing pattern of diet of the population in the different nations have raised the food- prices and increase in the price of those commodities in the international food markets (Nelson et al. 2010; FAO 2011). A number of policy measures were introduced in the international and national governments for reducing the food prices in the international food markets. A number of policy measures were put forward by global institutions for controlling food prices. First, global trade rules are implemented in connection with the food exporters to impose export bans. Second, rules for bio-fuels production and food commodity speculation are imposed. Third, institutionalization of foodgrains reserves to stabilize the foodgrains prices and lastly, expansion of national social safety (Fan et al. 2011; World Bank 2012) gathered importance. The price and the income of the people are the main determining factors in a society, particularly that of the poor and the hungry. The prices of food items increased due to global financial uncertainties and economic conditions of the nation over a period of time. Whenever the price rises, the consumers es- 12

13 13 pecially the poor suffer a lot and they will prefer the low quality food items (inferior goods). Giffen s paradox comes into play in the market. The food items will affect the health of the common man, leading to malnutrition. The rapid income increase and the growing middle class has led to the increased demand for food in Asian region. The growth of GDP in Asian countries recorded 7.3 percent, which is more than double that of 2.9 percent of the world GDP growth during It implies that the Asian economy was growing faster than the other continents. Asian economy will offer half of the global GDP during 2050 (Asian Development Bank, 2011). The population growth and income of the consumers will have impact on the food consumption pattern in the society. The average food consumption per person (calories/person/day) has risen by 0.29 percent during 2030 (FAO, 2006). The world population will reach 9.3 million in 2050 (United Nations, 2010). Population production and food security are intertwined. Over a period of time, the income growth and economic development have been the determining factors of the pattern of food consumption. The per capita grain consumption has gradually declined in the world due to the low income elasticity of food, particularly for grains. Generally, people are changing their food habits from cereals to fruits and vegetables. Growth of the urbanization also supports the changing pattern of diets such as, higher value processed food, dairy products and coffee. In Asian economies like Japan, Korea, Singapore and China, per capita consumption of cereals has been drastically declining for the past two decades. But per capita consumption of grains has increased to meet out the demand of the people in that region. Nowadays, there is a change in the dietary pattern because of population growth in Asian countries like India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Demand for food commodities like rice, soya beans, meat, fruits, and vegetables are very strong in Asian regions in the last few decades. A key challenge facing Asian economy is how to meet the evolving demand for non- staple food as their populations are becoming richer and more nutrition-conscious. This evolving demand is likely to have implications for global food trade as the increase in indirect per capita consumption of grains

14 adds pressure on global grain prices. Food imports are crucial for food security in many countries, especially the low-income food-deficit ones. Despite increasing affluence in Asia, large segments of the population remain hungry and the focus of attention for food security in the region should be on providing these segments with adequate access to food Continuing Role of Agriculture in Food Security Agriculture s role in food security has shifted over time and with rapid population growth and growing food aid in Asia in the 1950s and 1960s and the global food-crisis of the mid1970s, attention was focused on food availability at the global and the national levels. From the mid-1970s to the 2008 foodcrisis, the world was generally food secure, producing enough food to meet the dietary needs of today s global population. However, the 2008 crisis was a sharp reminder that global food security should not be taken for granted because of uncertainties from growing resource scarcity, rising energy prices, new demands such as biofuels and climate change. At the country level, trade can stabilize food availability and prices in countries with rising and diversified foreign exchange earnings-the case of most countries in Asia and Latin America. However, domestic food availability is still a challenge for many countries in Africa that experience some combination of negative per capita annual growth rates in staple food, large production fluctuations caused by climatic variability, low foreign exchange earnings, and landlocked status or poor infrastructure to import food staples. World price fluctuations place additional strain on import capacity and therefore, increasing domestic food availability and stability remains essential for development in these countries. Because of the low price elasticity of demand for food staples and the thinness of international markets, small changes in food availability translate into large hikes in domestic prices and reductions in real incomes of the poor consumers, many of whom are farmers. In 2008, food price hike is estimated to have moved an additional million people into poverty (World Bank, 2008). However, even with adequate global supplies, over 800 million people remain undernourished and more than 5 million children die each year from causes linked to under-nutrition (Gross and Webb, 2006). Accordingly, the concept of food security evolved in the 1980s to in- 14

15 clude access-the means to acquire food, and most recently the human right to adequate food. Food access puts emphasis on food security at the level of households and individuals within households (especially women and children). It is within this broader perspective, the channels between agricultural production and food security are complex and multiple. Rising productivity increases rural incomes and lowers food prices, making food more accessible to the poor. Other investments-such as improved irrigation and drought-tolerant crops-reduce price and income variability by mitigating the impact of climatic shocks. Productivity gains are important to food security in countries with foreign exchange shortage or limited infrastructure to import food. The same applies to households in remote areas with poor access to food markets. For most of the malnourished, the lack of access to food is a greater problem than food availability. Today, agriculture s ability to generate income for the poor is often more important for food security than its power to increase local food supplies. Women, more than men, spend their income on food and so efforts to redress gender biases can provide payoffs to food security as well. Beyond food supply and access, lack of dietary diversity can lead to micro-nutrient malnutrition, even when energy intakes are sufficient. This hidden hunger can cause illness, blindness, and premature death as well as impair the cognitive development of survivors. Recent experience indicates that it is possible to develop crop varieties with higher levels of vitamins and minerals, providing yet another example of the link between agriculture and food security The Evolution of Food and Nutrition Security The concept of food security has been widely in use for the past six decades in the world. The Hot Spring Conference of Food and Agriculture was held in The main motive of the event was to secure, adequate and suitable supply of food for everyone. During 1950s, USA and Canada had food-aid programme started for the disposal of their agricultural surplus commodities in a foreign country. The World Food Programme (WFP) was started in 1963 for solving the food problem in the world. The food crisis arose in 1970s, which created highly unstable food supplies and prices in the world market. This had given birth to food security-insurance schemes assuring food supplies for inter- 15

16 national purposes. The food security schemes were initiated in 1970s. At the World Food Conference (1974), it was explained that food security meant assuring supply, availability and to maintain price stability of the food items in the national and the international level. The conference defined food security as Availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset?uctuations in production and prices The success of the Green Revolution in the world including India during 1980s was because of increase in food productivity and production and easy access of food availability. In the 1990s, hunger and malnutrition were reduced drastically. In addition, the human right to adequate food and nutrition was internationally reaffirmed and committed national governments to a more proactive role. The declining trend in hunger and malnutrition resulted in the overall development of a country during 2000s. The main objective of the Millennium Development Goals is to reduce poverty and to provide adequate food and nutrition to the people. FAO is focused on food access, the balance between the demand and supply side of the food security. The main objective of FAO was: Ensuring that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food that they need (FAO, 1983). World Food Summit (1996) reported that the objective was access to food, availability, food use and stability in the society. The policy was focused on the promotion and recovery of livelihood. The main objective of the summit was food security for all people at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life (FAO, 1996). The right to adequate food to the common people was one of the important slogans raised in the summit. Again, the summit was held in 2009 and the focus was on food security that is availability, utilization and stability (FAO 2009). The comprehensive nature of the event was too useful at all levels- individual, household, national, regional, and global levels. At household level, one should maintain food security in terms of health status. The food security at national and international level should focus on supply and demand side of the food in a country like India. Inter-governmental Working Group under the FAO Council (2004) focused on the fact that the right to adequate 16

17 17 food was the need for common men in the society, which was included in the national food security Current Scenario of Food Security India had achieved self-sufficiency in foodgrain production in the last six decades. The foodgrain production had increased from 50.1 million tonnes in to MT in This implies a nearly five-fold increase over the period. Out of that, rice, wheat and pulse production had very eminent position in the Indian agriculture. The vast majority of the Indian people consume rice and wheat. In this context, both the food items would be in great demand for the future generation. The area and production under rice had recorded 43.9 million ha. and million tonnes during (P). The area and production under wheat had recorded to 31.3 m. ha. and 95.8 million tonnes, and the pulses also registered to 25.4 m. ha. and 19.6 million tonnes. The compound growth rate of area, production, and productivity during to had been higher than in the previous two decades for coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and cotton. The share of area under rice had increased by 0.17 percent from 0.41 percent during to and 0.68 percent during to The production of rice had declined to 1.80 percent from 3.62 percent to 1.82 percent during the same period. It is noted that nearly half a percent of share of production declined over a period of three decades. The share of area under wheat had increased by 0.89 percent from 0.46 percent to 1.35 percent but production of wheat had declined by 0.92 percent from 3.57 percent to 2.65 percent in the same period. The percent of area under pulses has improved to 1.5 percent from percent to 1.59 percent and production of pulses items also increased by 2.2 percent from 1.52 percent to 3.72 percent during the period. It is noted that the consumption pattern changed over the period. The farmers had received higher production with the lowest area under cultivation by using modern technology in the farm field (Economic Survey, 2014). The per capita availability of cereals and pulses had witnessed a positive trend for the past three decades, and the net availability of cereals had increased from kg per year in to kg per year in (P). But the pulses had declined from 51.2 kg to 41.9 kg per year in the same period.

18 18 The prevalence of hunger is one of the biggest challenges to the Indian economy. In India, the percent share of hunger had declined by 8.5 percent from 25.5 percent in to 17.0 percent in (FAO, 2014). The majority of the states were facing that problem in the current situation. The calorie and protein intake of the poor had declined consistently during to The Eleventh Five Year Plan ( ) stated that the absolute weight and height of the people had not improved over the three decades in India. Rural calorie consumption per day had fallen from 2221 calories in to 2047 calories in ; it had declined to 8 percent. But in urban areas, calories consumption had fallen by 3.3 percent from 2080 to 2020 calories in the same period. In rural areas, about 81 percent of the people do not consume the recommended levels of food and for urban areas as the figure is 57 percent. The share of food consumption in total expenditure had fallen during the three decades (India Today, 2011). To solve the problem in India, the Government of India has been implementing National Food Security Mission National Food Security Mission in India In India, National Food Security Mission was started in The Mission is fully funded by the Union Government. There is mismatch between the foodgrains production and population growth in India due to various factors. Over a period of time, foodgrains production increased gradually, but the population growth was faster than that. There is shortage in food at national and state level. The average growth rate for yields of foodgrains had declined from 3.2 percent in 1980s to 0.6 percent during the Tenth Five Year Plan period due to the limitation of the cultivated land. A majority of the districts are having low soil conditions, which lead to low yield rate in the districts. The main aim is to achieve an increase in yield in the lower yield districts of India to have food security for the future generation. In order to combat the challenge of deficit in food availability in the country, the Government of India launched National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in at the beginning of the 11 th Five Year Plan. The NFSM Programme targeted to increase the production of rice, wheat and pulses by 10, 8, and 2 million tonnes, respectively by the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan.

19 19 The main objective is to achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains production to improve livelihood of the people. Rice, wheat and pulses are given high priority in the process of production by the Union and State Governments. The purpose of the mission is achieving food security and self-sufficiency for the common man in India. The mission adopted twofold strategy to bridge the demand-supply gap. The first strategy was to expand area, and the second was to bridge the productivity gap between potential and existing yield of food crops. Expansion of area approach was mainly confined to pulses and wheat only, and rice was mainly targeted for productivity enhancement. The chief measures adopted to augment the productivity included: (1) acceleration of quality seed production; (2) emphasizing INM and IPM; (3) promotion of new production technologies; (4) supply of adequate and timely inputs; (5) popularizing improved farm implements; (6) restoring soil fertility; and (7) introduction of pilot projects like community generator and blue bull. A total amount of Rs 4500 crores was spent under NFSM during the 11 th Five Year Plan (Government of India, 2014). The mission supports the farmers in terms of using modern technologies in the farm sector. The modern technologies and modern farm management are very essential part of the modern agriculture. Even marginal and small farmers are using the modern technologies in agriculture with help of the NFSM. The mission is providing the modern machinery, farm management and pest management. It creates more job opportunities for the rural people. The Union and the State Government are providing quality seeds to the farmers by using modern technology. The Eleventh Plan approach was to concentrate on select districts and crops in specific locations and it was target oriented. The Mission has been extended to cover coarse cereals and fodder, in addition to wheat, rice and pulses. It is intended for the promotion of the farmers in blocks. It helps in enhancing the production and productivity of a region. It aims at inclusion of all farmers in the compact blocks irrespective of their size of holdings or social status. The NFSM target was to enhance farm profitability so that the farming community retains its confidence in farming activity, and with these strategies

20 20 and goals, NFSM was implemented in 561 districts in 27 states in the country (Government of India, 2013). Along with the NFSM, RKVY programme was also launched during the same period. In addition, there were several other state and centrally sponsored programmes running parallel to NFSM programme. Aided by all the above efforts of the central and the state governments, rice production during the end of the 11 th Five Year Plan increased by 12.1 million tonnes, wheat production by 19.1 million tonnes and pulses production by 3 million tonnes as compared to the production during the base year of (Government of India, 2012). The allocation of union government for NFSM had increased from Rs. 4, crores during the Eleventh Five Year plan ( ) to Rs. 12,350 crores during the Twelfth Five Year plan ( ). The budget allocation for the 12 th Plan has increased threefold and scheme is implemented in 27 states including the northern-eastern and hill states. It will be implemented in selected districts in the various states of India. The approach of the mission is to promote improved technologies like adoption of quality seeds, line sowing, SRI method, direct seeding, soil test, integrated nutrient management, integrated pest management, water use efficiency and resource conservation technologies. The NFSM schemes are extended to area development during the Twelfth Plan period. The target of the mission is enhancing and increasing production of rice, wheat and pulses. The target of foodgrains production is to increase 25 million tonnes, including 10 MT of rice, 10 MT of wheat and 3 MT of pulses and 2 MT of millets. In addition to that, it aims to expand food production to meet the demand of green and dry foodgrains. The target is 30 MT including the production of coarse cereals of 7 MT. The focus of the scheme is on increasing the cropping pattern system and small and marginal farmer s development, creating value chain and market linkages The National Food Security Act The NFSA was notified on 10 September 2013, with the objective of providing food and nutritional security, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices. It provides for coverage of up to 75 percent

21 of the rural population and up to 50 percent of the urban population. It stipulates an entitlement of 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month for priority households and 35 kg per household per month for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households at subsidized prices of Rs. 3 per kg of rice, Rs. 2 per kg of wheat, and Rs. 1 per kg of coarse grains. The states/uts are to complete identification of eligible households under the NFSA by July So far 11 states, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chandigarh, and the NCT of Delhi, have implemented the NFSA and monthly TPDS allocations of foodgrains to these states/uts have been revised. The remaining states/uts have been given allocation under the TPDS as per earlier norms. The Act also has special focus on nutritional support to women and children. Pregnant women and lactating mothers during pregnancy and six months after the childbirth will also be entitled to maternity benefit. Children up to 14 years of age will be entitled to nutritious meals or take-home rations as per prescribed nutritional standards. In the case of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals, the beneficiaries will receive a food security allowance. The Act also contains provisions for setting up of grievance redressal mechanisms at district and state levels. Separate provisions have been made in the Act for ensuring transparency and accountability. The Act also contains measures for reforms in the TPDS, to be undertaken progressively by central and state governments. These reforms, inter alia, include doorstep delivery of foodgrains to TPDS outlets, application of information and communication technology tools, and diversification of commodities distributed under the PDS over a period of time. Based on the provisions of the Act, the foodgrain requirement for the TPDS and other schemes is estimated at lakh tonnes. The average annual procurement of wheat and rice was lakh tonnes during to , i.e percent of average annual production. The estimated annual food subsidy for implementation of the Act at prices was about Rs. 1,31,066 crores. Tamil Nadu has been successfully implementing the NFSM scheme for the past seven years. The state has already had a Universal Public Distribution system in place. The area and production coverage under the NFSM scheme for the years from to are given in Table

22 22 Table 1.1: Area and Production under NFSM Scheme in Tamil Nadu Year NFSM Districts Tamil Nadu Area (in 000 ha.) Production (in 000 MT) Productivity (kg/ha) Area (in 000 ha.) Production (in 000 MT) Productivity (kg/ha) Source: Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai The area under the NFSM districts has increased from 5.95 lakh ha in to 6.62 lakh ha in and after that it has declined to 5.24 lakh ha in The major decline in area has occurred in Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Ramanathapuram districts; the cause of the decline is the impact of Neelam cyclone. The percentage share of the area under paddy cultivation in the NFSM districts has changed only marginally; it has increased from 33.3 percent in to 35.1 percent in But, the production of the NFSM districts has increased three fold from 8.69 lakh tonnes in to lakh tonnes in The year , however has witnessed a considerable fall in the area as well as yield due to natural calamity. The yield rate of the NFSM districts had been very low than that of the state as whole. However, since the implementation of the scheme, the yield rate has increased from 1461 kg/ha ( ) to 3702 kg/ka in 2011-

23 23 Name of the NFSM Districts Area Prod. Pty Area Prod. Pty. Area Prod. Pty Pudukkotai Thiruvarur Nagapattinam Ramnad Sivagangai Tamil Nadu Pudukkotai Thiruvarur Nagapattinam Ramnad Sivagangai Tamil Nadu Source: Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai Note: A - Area coverage, Prod. - Production and Pty. - Productivity District-wise area and production under NFSM scheme in Tamil Nadu from to are given in Table 1.2. Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Ramanathapuram districts have recorded the highest area under the NFSM coverage for all the seven years up to These three districts have cultivated 72 percent of total area under the NFSM coverage in Tamil Nadu during and the rest is covered by the Sivagangai and Pudukktai districts. In , the percentage share of the area cultivated in the three districts (Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Ramanathapuram) is 80 percent. The remaining 20 percent of the area comes in the other two districts, Sivagangai and Pudukktai. Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts had the having highest production of 3.11 lakh tonnes and 2.89 lakh tonnes during The districts maintained very high production of 7.9 lakh tonnes and 5.8 lakh tonnes during As these two districts are having adequate water resources, they have more production. On the other hand, Pudukkottai district is not having adequate irrigation are that gets reflected in its low level of production. Besides adequate irrigation, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur and Ramanathapuram districts have received greater attention from the government officials and therefore the scheme has been more successful in these districts. Pudukottai and Sivagangai districts mostly depend on rain water; however, they have also implemented this scheme more successfully.

24 Review of Literature The Government of India in its Agricultural Annual Report ( ) stated that through new farm practices under NFSM, nearly 50 percent of the rice districts (70 out of 143), 33 percent of the wheat districts (41 out of 138) and around 50 percent of pulses districts (74 out of 159) had recorded more than 10 to 20 percent increase in productivity compared to the base year of NABARD consultancy Services (NY) conducted a concurrent evaluation of NFSM by comparing NFSM and non-nfsm districts in Rajasthan considering current year and base year ( ). It was found from the study that there was an excellent growth in NFSM pulses districts with 57, 134 and 49 percent growth in total sown area, production and productivity, respectively. In non-nfsm pulse districts, all three measures viz., area, production and productivity had decreased by 20, 101 and 68 percent, respectively. Even though the non-nfsm districts have better irrigation sources than the NFSM districts, the yield in NFSM districts was generally higher. Agricultural Finance Corporation Limited [AFCL] (2012) conducted midterm evaluation of NFSM by selecting 17 states, 136 districts and 232 blocks common for all the 3 components i.e., rice, wheat and pulses. The study concluded that NFSM-Rice districts recorded yield gain of about two times and five times more than the non-nfsm districts during and , respectively. The productivity of wheat in non-nfsm districts was reflected in better yield gain of 3.91 percent in as compared to the 3 percent increase in NFSM districts. The productivity of wheat in NFSM districts improved by 7.91 percent and percent during and , while the corresponding figures were 7.09 percent and zero percent in non- NFSM districts, respectively. In the year , the non- NFSM pulse districts had recorded better yield by 1.14 percent over the base year of compared to an increase of 0.99 percent in NFSM districts. In the consecutive year , NFSM districts showed improved performance by registering yield grain of 8.26 percent as against the corresponding figure of 6.99 percent in non-nfsm districts.

25 Need to Evaluate NFSM Programme The NFSM is extended to the Twelfth Five Year Plan due to its success in achieving the targeted goal of production enhancement. It is essential to evaluate and measure the extent to which the programme and approach has stood up to the expectations. The results of the study are providing useful information on trends in area, production and productivity during the recent planned period. The study will help the policymakers to incorporate necessary corrective measures to make the programme more effective and successful during the 12 th Five Year Plan. The results provide useful insights on the impact of the NFSM on farming communities and can suggest policy recommendations for improving the efficacy of the program Objectives of the Research Study Given the above broad objectives, the study intends to achieve the following specific objectives listed below: To analyze the trends in area, production, productivity of rice, and pulses in the NFSM and non-nfsm districts in Tamil Nadu; To analyze the socio-economic profile of NFSM beneficiaries vis-a-vis Non-NFSM beneficiary farmers of rice in the study area; To assess the impact of NFSM on input use, production and income among the beneficiary farmers in the study area; To identify factors influencing the adoption of major interventions (improved technologies) under NFSM scheme; and To identify the constraints hindering the performance of the programme 1.7 Research Methodology The study is based on primary and secondary sources in Tamil Nadu. The secondary data obtained from Government of Tamil Nadu publications relating

26 26 to area, production and productivity of rice and pulses was used to arrive at the trends in area, production and productivity in NFSM districts and Non-NFSM districts of Tamil Nadu. The secondary data on area, production and productivity of rice and pulses for 8 th to 11 th Five Year Plan was used. The average annual growth rates, correlation and graphical analysis were applied. For the selection of beneficiary households in each taluk, a list of beneficiaries was obtained from the Taluk Agriculture Officers, Government of Tamil Nadu. From the list, an attempt was made to note down the households which have obtained benefits of various components irrespective of the year of benefit. The list of the benefits obtained by the households for the whole of the 11 th Plan ( to ) and two years of the 12 th Plan ( and ) was prepared. After obtaining the beneficiary list, the households were selected in such a way that all the major components are covered under the scheme. The selection of households was done based on the crop development programme under which benefits pertain to only one year. Seeds, fertilizers, pesticides were distributed during year, but machinery and equipment was distributed from to For the selection of non-beneficiary households, the general rice cultivating farmers were chosen for the study. The sample was done in the peripheral areas in such a way that a similar cropping pattern and baseline characteristics were represented by the non-beneficiary households as well. Giving representation to different sizes of agricultural holdings and various socio-economic characteristics was kept in mind while selecting the beneficiary and non-beneficiary sample farmers. Primary data has been collected from two districts namely Thiruvarur and Sivagangai of Tamil Nadu. The two districts are chosen for the present study within the group of National Food Security Mission districts in Tamil Nadu. In each of the districts of Thiruvarur and Sivagangai, two representative blocks namely Mannarkudi, Valangaiman, Kalayairkovil and Sivagangai are taken respectively and within each block two villages are selected (Table:1.3). In each village, a complete list of cultivating households including SC, ST and women farmers growing rice has been prepared and stratified according to four land size groups

27 27 such as marginal (less than 1 hectare), small (1 to 2 hectares), medium (2 to 4 hectares) and large (more than 4 hectares). In each district, 150 beneficiaries from the list of NFSM rice growing cultivators are drawn at random from household farmers with different land sizes on the basis of their proportion in the universe. In addition to the above sample, 50 non-beneficiaries from rice growers have been selected randomly from households with different land sizes. Thus, altogether, 300 beneficiaries from NFSM rice growing cultivators and 100 nonbeneficiaries from rice growing cultivators are selected from the two districts of Thiruvarur and Sivagangai. Primary data is obtained by administering a structured schedule. The random sample methods adopted at the district, block and village level for the primary survey are given in Table 1.3. Table: 1.3 Sample Size of Thiruvarur and Sivagangai Districts of Tamil Nadu Sample Respondents Thiruvarur Sivagangai Mannarkudi Valangaiman Kalaiyarkiol Sivagangai NFSM Beneficiaries Non-NFSM Farmers Total Source: Field Survey 1.8 Organization of the Research Study The present study is divided into six chapters. The first chapter is of introductory nature; it contains the background, objectives, data base and methodology of the study. The second chapter describes the growth trends of rice and pulses production in Tamil Nadu. The third chapter analyses the socio-economic profile of NFSM and Non-NFSM beneficiary farmers of paddy in Thiruvarur and Sivaganagai districts of Tamil Nadu. The fourth chapter examines the impact of NFSM scheme on input use, production and income of the beneficiary farmers (paddy) in the study area of Tamil Nadu. The fifth chapter deals with the factors influencing the adoption of major interventions under NFSM scheme and analyses major constraints hindering the performance of the NFSM scheme and the last chapter provides concluding remarks and policy suggestions from the study.