Economic Analysis of Agricultural Growth and Crop Diversification in Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Tamil Nadu is one of the largest state with an area of 130.33 lakh haandwith the population of 6 percent of nation. Agriculture sector contributes 13 percent of state income. Nearly 56 percent of people depends on agriculture for their livelihood. In this scenario, the present study has been undertaken to analyse the agriculture growth as it determines the trend in terms of production, area and productivity. In this study, compound growth rate is used to measure the agricultural growth. The study was conducted based on secondary data.The data is analysed for the period of 50 years (1967-68 to 2017-18) for the important crops such as Rice, Maize, Cotton, Banana, Groundnut, Sorghum, Sugarcane, Oilseeds, Pulses, Vegetables, Fruits and Spices.The growth rates of the production of the major crops revealed that rice, maize, banana, pulses, vegetables and fruits were showing a positive growth rate. In contrast, crops such as cotton, groundnut, sorghum, oilseeds, and spices were showing negative trend. In recent decades, there is a vast change in the climate and other environmental factors which makes farmers to shift in their cropping pattern. Hence to analyse the changes crop diversification is calculated using the indices such as Herfindal Index and Modified Entropy Index (MEI). The estimates of indexes revealed that crop diversification is increased in over years.