Agricultural Income, Production Costs and Economic Sustainability of Small and Marginal Farmers in Kanniyakumari District

Abstract

Agriculture continues to be the primary source of livelihood for a large section of the rural population in Kanniyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, where paddy, banana, coconut, rubber, tapioca and vegetables form the dominant cropping pattern. However, small and marginal farmers, who together constitute the overwhelming majority of operational landholdings in the district as in the rest of the country, continue to face rising input costs, fragmented landholdings, price volatility and limited access to institutional support, which threaten the economic sustainability of farming as a livelihood. This article develops a conceptual and methodological framework to examine the level of agricultural income, structure of production costs and the net farm income of small and marginal farmers in Kanniyakumari District and to identify the socio-economic and institutional factors that influence the long-term economic sustainability of small-holder agriculture. Drawing upon the existing body of literature on farm size-productivity relationships, cost of cultivation and farm household income in India, the article proposes objectives, hypotheses, a stratified sampling design covering the major agro-climatic blocks of the district and appropriate statistical tools of analysis, namely percentage analysis, cost-benefit ratio, correlation and multiple regression. The article also outlines the broad patterns anticipated on the basis of the literature reviewed and offers policy-oriented suggestions relating to input subsidy, crop diversification, Farmer Producer Organisations, price stabilisation and institutional credit, with a view to strengthening the economic sustainability of small and marginal farmers in the district.