Employment and Income Pattern of Farm Households in Northeast India: Has COVID-19 Lockdown Hindered?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic hinders the livelihood of farm households in India. This study was conducted to measure the change in the employment and income patterns of farm households in the Imphal West district of Manipur state during the imposition of a nationwide lockdown in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the districts, blocks, and villages. A simple random sampling technique without a replacement strategy was used to identify 109 farm households from two blocks in the Imphal West district of Manipur. Simple tabular analysis and statistical tests were used to examine the changes in the employment and income patterns of farm households in the Imphal West district. The study revealed that the majority of the sampled farm households (86.14%) got their employment in off-farm, non-farm, or both activities along with on-farm activities, and the rest of them (13.76%) specialized only in on-farm activities in the study area. The average number of human days employed on farms by sample households has significantly reduced from 121 to 110 human days. During the COVID-19 period, the average off-farm and non-farm employment decreased from 51 to 35 human days and from 170 to 107 human days, respectively. During COVID-19 lockdown, average yearly farm income reduced by 8.22 per cent. Similarly, the average off-farm and non-farm average income reduced by 21.67 per cent and 20.23 per cent, respectively and there was no employment was generated under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNERGA) during COVID-19 lockdown period. The employment from private jobs and businesses was primarily disrupted during lockdown. Hence, this study proposes that efforts should be made to encourage farm households to embrace diversified employment options by giving education on several different enterprises and connecting them with specific groups such as SHG, Join Liability Group, and Farmers' Club that will assist them in coping with future economic shocks.