Establishment and Development

·      Established in 1961

·      Post graduate programme started  in 1962

·      Ph.D programme started in 1967

·      Post Graduate programme in AMM started in 1981

·      MBM started in 1988

·      20 Overseas Students Graduated

·      Micro, Macro and Policy Research are taken-up

·      90 Research projects during 1970s

·      105 Research project 1980s

·      50 Research Project 1990s

·      6 NATP Projects

·      12 Teaching Faculties currently in position

A full-fledged Department of Agricultural Economics was established in 1961 based on the recommendations of the Committee of Agricultural Education though it had its beginning from 1943 as a wing of the Agronomy section of the Madras Agricultural College at Coimbatore. With the formation of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in 1971, this Department becomes a part in the faculty of Agriculture.

Since its inception, the Department has been offering courses of relative importance in Agricultural Economics to under graduate students.  With international and national reputation and paramount importance for specializing the frontier areas of Agricultural Economics and to cater to the needs of the students, the Department has started postgraduate programme in 1962 and Ph.D. programme 1967. To meet the challenges of second generation problems and market failures, a separate postgraduate programme in Agriculture Marketing Management was commenced in 1981.  For emphasizing the need to extend the use of management science in agricultural sector of economy and to develop the manpower for managing Agriculture on Business lines, Master of Business management was started in 1988. Students from other countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Ethiopia, Thailand, Egypt, Zambia, Nigeria, and Afghanistan have undertaken postgraduate programme.

The Department is engaged in applied, policy, and problem solving research in agriculture, rural and allied sectors covering various field such as crop husbandry, animal husbandry, fisheries, poultry, forestry, irrigation, agricultural credit, natural resource utilization, wasteland development, rural energy, gender issues and trade. Based on the relative importance of the issues in agriculture, the Department has been shifting its focus on various areas. During 1970s, 90 research projects were carried out, covering areas like Production Economics, Agricultural Marketing, Agricultural Finance and Agricultural Development. The research focus was shifted to Agricultural Marketing Management, Natural Resource Economics, Bio-energy and Tribal Welfare during 80s and 105 research projects were completed on these areas.  During 1990s, the research focus was on Agricultural Research Management, Environmental Economics, Agricultural Business Management and Agricultural Policy and during this period 50 research projects have been completed. The Department attracted large number of National Agricultural Technology Projects to address the issues relating to environmental degradations, sustainable agriculture, ground water development and optimal rice based cropping system in coastal areas.

Organizational Function and Financial Profile

The Department of Agricultural Economics has a mandate to carryout teaching and research in socio-economic issues concerning Agriculture and Rural Development. It has focussed on complex issues associated with Production Economics, Development Planning, Agricultural Marketing, Farm Enterprises and Business Management, Natural Resources and Environmental problems and International Trade. Accordingly the Department has tailored teaching and research programmes to meet the challenges of post economic liberalization era. This Department has been playing very vital role in enlightening the policy makers in the new areas of international trade and globalization. The Department of Agricultural Economics has twelve teaching faculties with multi-fields of specialization. The average enrolment of students in master's level is 20 per year and the Ph.D level five per year.

This Department is having nine schemes at present. The centrally sponsored scheme on Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops Scheme is in operation in the Department since 1971. The research projects are funded by Government of Tamil Nadu, State Agricultural Marketing Board, Government of India, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and other private agencies. The research outputs are mainly helpful for the policy makers to address the agricultural and rural development problems.

The other schemes functioning in this Department are: NATP-Economic analysis of Rice Based Cropping System, Agro-climatic Regional Planning Exercise in Tamil Nadu, Agro-climatic Regional Planning for Coimbatore District, TNADP-Watershed, Common Property Regimes, Capital Formation in Agriculture, Study on Factor Productivity Improvement in Agriculture, An Econometric Analysis of Coconut Industry in Tamil Nadu, Production and Marketing of Casuarina, Re-tabulation of the Cost of Cultivation Data, Study to examine Causes and Effect of changes in Land use Pattern, Winrock Agro-Forestry, ICAR-Collective Bargaining in Agricultural Labour Market, Economics of Bio inputs usage in Agriculture and Sustainable ground water use. 

The total manpower of the scheme on Institutional Chair in Agricultural Marketing is two personnel with the budget of five million rupees. The total manpower of the scheme on strengthening Postgraduate Teaching and Research in Agricultural Marketing Management is three personnel with the budget of more than seven million. The primary mandate of this scheme is to strengthen education, research and training in Agricultural Marketing. The total manpower of the scheme on starting of postgraduate programme leading to Master of Business Management is four personnel with the budget of more than three million. The primary mandate of this scheme is to strengthen education, research and training in Agricultural Business Management.

A judicious management of finance is very important for increasing efficiency and productivity of any organization. The subject of budget management deals with expression of planning in monetary terms by estimation of income and expenditure. The actual expenditure spent during the year 1999- 2000 by the Department of Agricultural Economics was Rs. 1.63 crores. One of the major research projects in terms of budget is the Comprehensive Scheme on Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops in Tamil Nadu, which is fully funded by the Government of India. The total man power of the scheme is about 83 personnel with the budget of more than Rs 10 million. The total manpower of the Agricultural Economics (main) is about ten personnel with the budget of more than Rs. two million.

The Mandate of the Department and Programmes of Activities Pertaining to Education, Research, Extension Education and Others.

The Department has been undertaking triple functions such as research, education and policy support on the issues concerning socio economic aspects of agriculture and rural development.

The mandate of the Department are;

·         to develop a strong programme in agricultural and rural development research, teaching and extension;

·         to generate information related to socio-economic constraints affecting employment and income;

·         to study the production and marketing institutions with a view to relationalize ownership of productive assets in the rural sector;

·         to impart education and conduct research in agricultural economics and train personnel on rural development issues;

·         to develop deeper understanding of agricultural and rural development process, identify development problems and formulate alternate strategies for solving them;

·         to specify relevant policy alternatives and options and evolve comprehensive models of rural development in the different agro-ecological regions of Tamil Nadu State;

·         to foster inter institutional collaboration at regional, national and international level, for research, training and development in select areas.

Education

The primary mandate of the Department is to develop manpower in the field of Agricultural Economics. The Department of Agricultural Economics offers specialized courses of relative importance to UG, PG and Ph.D programmes to develop expertise among young graduates looking for job carrier in agriculture and related fields.

Undergraduate Programme

The Department of Agricultural Economics is offering five courses. The six-course sequence is typical for under graduate curriculum for B.Sc (Ag.) students at State Agricultural Universities in India.  These courses are adequate and taught in-depth. Agro-industrial Tie-up programme for under graduate classes has been conducted by the Department of Agricultural Economics to establish an inter linkage between academic activities and agricultural processing industries. The three weeks programme has been sponsored by the AHRDP. Students have been trained in the operation of processing and marketing of Agri-based industrial products. The students, after the completion of the programme, submitted a final report to the Department for evaluation. This Department has actively participated in the Rural Agricultural Work Experience Programme, as a part of experiential learning programme, by deputing staff members as group teachers for successful conduct of the programme. The syllabi for under graduate programme is revised and improved on regular intervals by conducting series of meetings within the Department to finalize the syllabus and courses according to the guidelines provided by the Indian Council Agricultural Research. The syllabi of these courses have been revamped keeping in view of the advances in the field of Agricultural Economics and changes in the employment avenues for Agricultural graduates.

Ongoing Courses

Post Graduate Programme

The syllabi of postgraduate programme are being revised regularly keeping in view of the developmental aspects of Agricultural Economics.  Brain storming sessions are being conducted to revamp the course curriculum. In revising the course curriculum, the syllabus of both reputed national and international universities is being considered. The courses have been revised and rephrased as per the suggestion of Indian Council of Agricultural Research.  The curriculum for M.Sc.(Ag) in Agricultural Economics is well designed and balanced.  The course History of Economic Thought (AEC 601) has been revised to include contributions of classical, neoclassical and modern economists.  The courses (Micro-Economics (AEC 602) and Macro-Economics (AEC 603) have been revised to include all theories of micro and macro aspects of the economy.  The Course Production Economics and Farm Management (AEC 604) has been modified to include practical applications of economic theory in farm firm and agricultural sector.  The course Agricultural Marketing and Price Analysis  (AEC 605) has been modified to include basic concepts of consumer theory and estimation of demand functions.  The quantitative skills that students learn in this course would be helpful in the job market.  The Course Analytical methods in Agricultural Economics (AEC 608) have been revised to include both econometrics and programming.  Strong training in analytical methods would be helpful to the students for doing thesis work.  New course on Institutional Economics (AEC 613) has been included to study the historical perspectives of institutions and their role in managing common property and open access resources.

This Department offers Ph.D programme in Agricultural Economics and it had three major fields of Specialisation viz., Resource and Environmental Management, and Development Planning and Policies.  Ph.D. curriculum in Agricultural Economics is well designed and balanced.  It offers a strong background in microeconomics, macroeconomics and applied econometrics.  This strong background will be useful to Ph.D. scholars to do their research work. New area of specialisation in Agricultural Marketing has been included to teach futures market, which is an important and emerging area.

Ongoing M.Sc (Ag) courses

Ongoing Courses for Ph.D Programme

Core Courses (13 Credits)

Area of Specialization(6 credits)

Resource and Environmental Management

Trade and Development

Agricultural Marketing

RESEARCH

The Department of Agricultural Economics has taken up research projects in all major fields of agricultural and rural development. The Department of Agricultural Economics is shifting research emphasis from over exploited micro level issues to under exploited terrains like macroeconomics, environmental economics and institutional economics. Institutional economics is an emerging field, which has received attention in our research and education programmes.  Similarly, the issues of relationship between population problem, poverty, property rights, natural resource degradations, environmental problems and the contribution of market and policy failures towards such natural resource and environmental degradation are being thoroughly researched. The research outputs are mainly helpful for the policy makers on various aspects of agricultural and rural development problems such as impact of modern technology, research prioritization, food security, poverty, agricultural marketing and price analysis, economics of land and water resources, environmental economics, agricultural labour, rural credit and global trade. The list of on going projects is appended.

List of Ongoing Projects

The Specific Objectives, Relative Importance of Various Programmes

The Department is presently focussing on issues relating to environmental and natural resource degradation, sustainable development, integrated farming system management, international trade and rural credit.  In order to address these issues, the department is currently undertaking the large number of projects on these line. The Department is supporting the central government for fixing and announcing support and procurement prices for major crops such as paddy, sorghum, ragi, black gram, redgram, cotton, sugarcane, groundnut and gingelly. The comprehensive Scheme for Studying the Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops, sponsored by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Govt. of India, was initiated in 1970-71 on the recommendations of a Technical Committee on Indices of Input Costs appointed by Government of India and being implemented by Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University from the year 1971-72 to provide cost data on major crops for implementing price policy. The Department is presently focussing on the following thrust areas to address the related issues. 

Policy Seminars / Workshops / Trainings – Organized

Thrust Areas of Research

Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

·      Resources use, environmental degradation and sustainable agricultural development

·      Impact Assessment-Valuation of environmental damage of pollution by various industries.

·      Bio-diversity, bio-safety and intellectual property rights

·      Role of institutions in Common Property Resource Management

Production Economics

·      Economics of Integrated Farming System

·      Optimization Model/Regional Crop Plan

·      Evaluation of Agro-techniques/ Performance of Crop Varieties

·      Economics of Farm mechanization

·      Resource use efficiency studies with special reference to modern inputs

·      Productivity trends and sustainability

·      Feed back-implications for research

International Trade

·      Trade Prospects of Exportable Commodities

·      Trade Policies, Tariff, Custom duty, Trade blocks and Regional Cooperation/Spatial analysis - WTO, TRIPS, Commodity Boards, Acts, Export Policies etc.,

·      Terms of Trade in Exports of Agricultural Products

·      Export Vs Equity, Food Security and Sustainability.

Agricultural Finance

·      Rural Credit Structure

·      Cost of credit and credit use efficiency and credit marketing

·      Institutional issues - Self-help Groups and credit delivery

·      Rural indebtedness, over dues and problems of cooperatives

·      Linking credit with marketing and crop insurance

·      Credit as a source of risk management

Domestic Agricultural Marketing

·      Post Harvest Losses and Technology Requirement.

·      Institutional Changes required for Regulated Markets to improve their Performance in Tamil Nadu.

·      Establishment of Agricultural Price Forecasting units

·      Emerging Farmers' Markets in Tamil Nadu.

·      Export Potentials of Select Agricultural Commodities in Tamil Nadu.

·      Proper interfacing of agro-processing sector with agricultural production sector

·      Training on post harvest technology and Management

·      Creation of physical infrastructure in transforming food chain, packing etc.

·      Identify the potential commodities for export

·      Training on Agricultural export marketing

·      Strengthening research on agricultural export

·      SWOT analysis for agricultural export

·      Differentiated market strategies for agricultural export promotion

·      Integrated approach for production of exportable commodities

The Principal Output of Each Programme During the Last Five Years and the Potential of the Output in Achieving the Stated Objectives of the Programme.

Research Accomplishments

The Department of Agricultural Economics has completed a number of research projects in the field of natural resource economics, food policy, poverty, and various aspects of rural development. So far more than 250 research projects have been carried out by the Department and during the last five years 105 projects were completed and results were communicated to the users. Besides this Department has also carried out a number of consultancy projects on various policy issues such as temple lands, land use planning, concealed tenancy, feasibility for the establishment of processing units in regulated markets and rural credit to assist the state government in formulating agricultural and rural development policies in these areas.  The Government of Tamil Nadu has also sponsored research projects on Watershed development, land use pattern and agro-climatic regional planning.  This Department has provided information to State Government regarding Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).  This department suggested economic measures to the High Power Committee on Southern Districts for the development of Southern districts of Tamil Nadu.  The Department of Agricultural Economics is also providing lot of inputs to the State Planning Commission by way of preparing theme papers, policy papers and lead papers and organising policy seminars on key issues concerning the agricultural and rural development problems in Tamil Nadu.

Collaborative Research

Most of the departmental projects are extensively funded by the external agencies viz., the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Swedish International Development Agency, The World Bank, International Rice Research Institute, Winrock International, ICAR, TNADP, NABARD besides by the State and Central Governments.

National Agricultural Technology Projects

The staff of the department have bagged six National Agricultural Technology Projects in areas like coastal cropping system, sustainable groundwater use, livestock production system, economics of bioinputs usage in agriculture, total quality management in sorghum and technology for safe storage of pulses.

The research outputs are mainly helpful for the policy makers on various aspects of agricultural and rural development issues such as impact of modern technology, research prioritization, food security, poverty alleviation programmes, agricultural marketing and price analysis, economics of land and water resources, environmental economics, agricultural labour and rural credit.

Professorial Chair

The Department is engaged in research and extension activities to generate data and information on agricultural marketing and rural development perspectives and priorities. The State Agricultural Marketing Board has instituted a Professional Chair in the Department of Agricultural Economics since 1983 to strengthen education, research and training in agricultural marketing.  The chair has been established with and initial one time grant of Rs.5.00 lakhs, which has been enhanced to Rs.50.00 lakhs in 2001-02.  Nineteen research projects have been completed so far under this grant on functioning of regulated markets, price analysis and price forecasting of major agricultural commodities, agricultural processing and export.

Price policy support

One of the major research projects in this direction is the Comprehensive Scheme on Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops in Tamil Nadu, fully funded by the Government of India. Under this scheme the Tamil Nadu state was de-marked into eight agro-climatic zones. A sample of 600 farmers in 60 villages was selected covering the state. In each village, two farmers were selected in each size group and thus totally 10 farmers were selected. Cost accounting method has been adopted for collection of data. The data on various aspects of crop production are collected, computerized and analyzed for assisting the Government of India in fixing minimum support prices for major crops.  Major crops are Paddy, Sorghum, Ragi, Redgram, Blackgram, Cotton, Sugarcane, Groundnut and Gingelly.  The Government of India has announced Minimum Support Prices for the above crops based on the suggestions by the Commission on Agricultural Cost and Prices. The minimum support prices will be announced every year just prior to the start of the agricultural season.

Other Policy Interfaces

Trade issues

India's accession to WTO has generated large number of deliberations and discussions on the key issues like trade in goods, trade in services and intellectual property rights.  The department has organized series of seminars to deliberate on the issues and prepared a report on implications of trade negotiation on Tamil Nadu agriculture and submitted to government.  Experts from the department attended the state level meeting.   The contribution of Tamil Nadu for agricultural growth in state has been analytical and discussed at state level meeting.

State Planning Commission

The department is regularly preparing and supplying policy note to State Planning Commission on major policy issues like; investment in agriculture under tropical condition and impact on agro productivity and policy directive has been given for allocating more funds to development in order to overcome the adverse effects of tropical nature of the state.

Agricultural Policy for Tamil Nadu

To sustain the impetus of growth in agriculture and provide rural people a safety net in the course of many local and global changes, the importance of agricultural policy for the state is recognized and preparation of agricultural policy for the state has been assigned to the department.  The Department has organized a series of seminars to prepare the documents covering various issues like land use and wasteland development, soil health management, Dry land Agriculture, Dry land Horticulture, water and Irrigation, environmental protection, Germplasm conservation and crop breeding, fodder Development.  Agricultural Biotechnology, seed production, plant protection, Agricultural mechanization, Agro-processing and post Harvest Management, Agricultural marketing, Agricultural Export, Agricultural credit, Agricultural Research and Education and Agricultural Extension.

Farmer's Market

The State Agricultural Marketing Board has instituted a professorial chair in the Department of Agricultural Economics since 1983 to strengthen marketing, research and training in agricultural marketing. This Department has conducted survey on ‘Uzhavar Santhai’ in Coimbatore and Madurai cities during the last year.  The broad objectives of the   ‘Uzhavar Santhai’ as given by the Honorable Chief Minister are here under.

·         To provide remunerative price to the producers

·         To supply fresh and quality vegetables to the consumers at reasonable price

·         To establish a direct link between farmers and consumers and

·         To avoid all sorts of market malpractice..

The benefits of the Farmer's Markets are:

·         Free transport and handling charges

·         No commission and brokerage

·         No market charges

·         Remunerative prices

·         No delay in getting payments

·         Transparency in transaction

·         Direct contact between producers and consumers

·         Clean and neat environment

·         No entrance fee or gate fee

·         No middlemen

·         Fresh and quality product

·         Correct weighment

·         Proper guidance from the market committee

·         Located in easily accessible place

·         No charges for infrastructural facilities

Wasteland Development in Tamil Nadu

Lands are limited in supply and their demand for agricultural and nonagricultural purposes are increasing. Lands are getting degraded due to various reasons. Total wasteland in the country is 130 million hectares. The extent of wasteland in Tamil Nadu is estimated at 2.41 million hectares. Wastelands are land that are degraded and are presently unutilized due to different constraints. Ameliorating the wasteland will enable to increase the agricultural production, generate employment and have linkage efforts in allied sectors. The perspective plan has been developed by this department to improve wastelands. Data on population, natural resources and livestock population have been collected. The extent of different types of wasteland has been collected form the Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University, Chennai. Technologies suitable for developing different types of wasteland have been formulated based on the discussion with different disciplines. The estimated wastelands in different categories are

• Gullies and ravenous land                  22546.20 ha.

• Upland with or with out scrubs           868806.6 ha.

• Water logged and marshy land           44675.80 ha.

• Salinity and Alkaline affected land      285869.10 ha.

• Degraded pastures and grazing lands  17531.50 ha.

• Degraded land under plantations         52428.60 ha.

• Sands of Desert and coast                  71543.10 ha.

The total amount required for development of wasteland was estimated at Rs.12043.20 million at current prices. The implementation is phased out for a period 15 years. The total amount required is estimated at Rs.13053.50 million considering the time value of money.

Trainings/ Workshops / Policy Seminar Organized for the Last Five Years

The Department is regularly organizing both National and State level seminars, training’s, workshops and summer institutes to benefit the faculties and discharge expertise to other institutes. Many numbers of such summer institutes were organized considering the area of current importance and relevance.

Agricultural Marketing and Price Analysis

A short course on advances in agricultural marketing and price analysis was organized between 3-12 May 2000 due to its relevance in the present juncture.  Agricultural marketing plays a crucial role in sustaining agricultural production and farmers income.  Due to poor infrastructure and investment on agricultural market system, the share of the farmers income has considerably reduced and inturn it lead to marketing inefficiency.  In order to analyse the possibility of improving marketing system, the short course was organized with an emphasis on conceptual, methodological and policy issues of marketing and price determination.

Decision Support System for Social Scientists.

The Department has conducted series of short training in DSS for Social Scientists to equip them computer-based software to handle voluminous of data for policy analysis. Modern agricultural education and research requires timely decision for optimal use of resources and inventories.  This calls for special skill in decision making by the scientists.  Decision Support Systems are a collection of computer based software, which can be effectively applied to data gathered in agricultural research with a view to derive suitable inferences and optimal decisions. The application of these techniques not only helps to judicious use of resources for maximum return but also helps to enlighten the completeness involved in agriculture research.

Endowment Lecture

An Endowment Lecture in Agricultural Economics has been created in 1989 to benefit the faculty and students on current developmental issues in the areas of Agricultural Economics.  Experts have been invited to deliver the lecture on specific themes regularly.

Endowment Lectures Delivered

The Overall Impact of The Programmes of Activities of the Department

Education

The Department has developed man power in the field of Agricultural Economics and benefit the student communities for their performance and achievements in the job carrier. The Department has been fine tuning its teaching activities with emerging needs of the challenges and offering courses. The Department of Agricultural Economics is imparting coaching and training to the undergraduate students for availing ICAR junior research fellowship. Eight students have been qualified in Agricultural Economics during the year 2000-2001.  One of our students has secured first position at the all India level. The Jawaharlal Nehru and the best Tamil Nadu Agricultural University's awards for best Ph.D thesis have been bagged by Ph.D scholars of this Department. So far three Jawaharlal Nehru awards for best Ph.D thesis were obtained by our Ph.D. scholars. The best Tamil Nadu Agricultural University's Ph.D  award for Agricultural Economics was won in the year 2000-2001. The scholars have secured admission at international institutes for further studies and jobs and succeeded in the civil service examinations as well.

The Postgraduate students and Ph.D scholars are encouraged to select frontier research areas in the subject matter of Agricultural Economics.  The post graduate research covers micro level issues such as returns to scale, marginal productivity and profit maximization, mathematical programming, resource use efficiency and so on. The Ph.D research covers macro level policy issues addressing a central policy theme with thorough grounding in economic theory.  Four Ph.D. scholars and five M.Sc (Ag.,) students at present are working in the areas of research identified in the vision 2025 document.

Research

The Department of Agricultural Economics has completed a number of research projects in the field of natural resource economics, food policy, poverty, and various aspects of rural development. So far more than 250 research projects have been carried out by the Department. The Department has also carried out a number of consultancy projects on various policy issues such as temple lands, land use planning, concealed tenancy, feasibility for the establishment of processing units in regulated markets and rural credit to assist the state government in formulating agricultural and rural development policies in these areas.  The Government of Tamil Nadu has also sponsored research projects on Watershed development, land use pattern and agro-climatic regional planning.  This Department has provided information to State Government regarding Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).  This department suggested economic measures to the High Power Committee on Southern Districts for the development of Southern districts of Tamil Nadu.  The Department of Agricultural Economics is also providing lot of inputs to the State Planning Commission by way of preparing theme papers, policy papers and lead papers and organising policy seminars on key issues concerning the agricultural and rural development problems in Tamil Nadu.

The department also works with the International Food Policy Institute Washington, IRRI, Manila, ICRISAT, Hyderabad, Winrock International, USA and IFPHRI, Washington and other international donors. Though collaborative research the department has produced policy perspectives for the development of agricultural sector emphasizing on prioritization of research on specific areas.  The faculties of the department involved in projects like self employment program like IRDP and Rural credit of national planning commission, priority setting and monitoring, evaluation of ICAR, Land-use Board, MSS Research foundation, IX Plan formulation 1997 of State Planning Commission, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, TANWA Project, Govt. of Tamil Nadu and NCAP, ICAR, New Delhi. The Department has mobilized major funds form international and national donors for supporting education, research and extension activities. At present the Department spends nearly Rs. 1.6 crores for education, research and extension activities.

The Department is engaged in research and extension activities to generate data and information on agricultural and rural development perspectives and priorities. One of the major research projects is Comprehensive Scheme on Cost of cultivation of Principal Crops in Tamil Nadu, fully funded by the Government of India. The data from the scheme assist the government of India in fixing support prices for major crops. Cost of production forms an important basis for arriving at MSPs of different crops.  Farmers naturally demand that MSPs must cover not only the cost of production of their produce but also provide an adequate margin of profit.  On the other hand, consumers prefer that the MSP should be fixed at such a level that the prices of commodities are maintained at the minimum at least for those agricultural commodities such as cereals and pulses, which constitute major part of wage goods for low-income bracket people.  The Commission while recommending support prices is however enjoined to keep in view several important aspects such as (i) the need to provide incentives to the producers for adopting improved technology and to maximize production; (ii) the need to ensure rational utilization of land, water and other production resources and (iii) the likely effect of the price policy on the rest of the economy, particularly on the cost of living, level of wages, industrial cost structure etc.  The Commission has, therefore to take a balanced view as to the level of MSP after carefully considering multiple factors of which the cost of production is perhaps the most significant.

The Commission primarily depends on the Directorate of economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture for most of it data requirements relating to cost of cultivation / production of various agricultural commodities, generated under the Comprehensive Scheme for studying the Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops in India introduced in 1971.  Under the Comprehensive Scheme (CS), the state Agricultural Universities collect representative data on inputs and outputs by cost accounting method through sample surveys.  The data is analyzed in the Central Analytical Unit of Directorate of Economics and Statistics by a standardized methodology which provides estimates of cost of cultivation per hectare, yield per hectare and cost of production per quintal as per some uniform cost concepts.  The Scheme also provides data on some important input in physical terms such as fertilizers, seeds, manure, human labour (man- hours) and bullock labour (pair-hours).  Estimates provided are at the State level for each crop.

The State Agricultural Marketing Board has instituted a Professiorial Chair in the Department of Agricultural Economics since 1983 to strengthen education, research and training in Agricultural Marketing. Under the chair, advance training programmes were organized to the Officials of the State Agricultural Department and Cooperative Officials

The Department has prepared a perspective Plan for Wasteland development for  all the districts of Tamil Nadu with full financial support form Government of Tamil Nadu. The Department has carried out a number of consultancy projects on various policy issues such as temple lands, land use planning, tenancy, feasibility for the establishment of processing units in regulated markets and rural credit to assist the state government in formulating agricultural and rural development policies in these areas. The Government of Tamil Nadu has also sponsored research projects on Wasteland development, land use pattern and agro-climatic regional planning. The Department has also provided lot of inputs to the State Planning commission by way of preparing theme papers, policy papers and lead papers and organizing policy seminars on key issues concerning the agricultural and rural development problems in Tamil Nadu.  The Department has prepared a report on implications of trade negotiations on Tamil Nadu Agriculture and contribution of Tamil Nadu for agricultural growth in the state and agricultural policy document for Tamil Nadu.

Management: Funds Generated, Relative Number of Scientific, Technical and Supportive Staff.

The Department has mobilized major sources funds from international and national donors for supporting education research and extension activities. At present the Department spends nearly Rs. 1.6 crores for education, research and extension activities.

Staff pattern

This Department is having nine schemes at present. The centrally sponsored Scheme on Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops Scheme is in operation in the Department since 1971. The research projects are funded by Government of Tamil Nadu, state Agricultural Marketing Board, Government of India, Indian Council of agricultural Research (ICAR) and other private agencies. The research outputs are mainly helpful for the policy makers on various aspects of agricultural and rural development problems. The technical man power of the Department is analyzed and presented in what follows.

Agricultural Economics (Main)

Professorial Chair in Agricultural marketing

Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops Scheme

Research Staff in Position

List of Faculty Members and their field(s) of Specialization Working in the Department of Agricultural Economics, TNAU, Coimbatore – 641 003

Infrastructural Facilities

Recently, Department of Agricultural Economics has established a computer laboratory for students, an air-conditioned lecture-cum-seminar hall with LCD projector and television and VCR to facilitate teaching and presentation of seminars with modern equipments.  All these facilities have been created with financial assistance from the World Bank aided Agricultural Human Resource Development Project.  Staff rooms have been partitioned with separate rooms for individual scientists using the funds provided by the Winrock International Agency for Agricultural development.  The computer facilities are being upgraded and all the individual scientists are provided with individual computers with intercom facilities

Computer Facilities

Adequate computer facilities are available in the Department. Through Internet Communication facility available in the department, the research system has been connected with the other national and international institutions for integrated research.  The Department has computer net work connectivity with other State Agricultural Universities (SAU's) through Agricultural Research Information System (ARIS).  An air-conditioned lecture-cum-seminar hall is available with LCD projector and with complete set of other audio-visual equipments for adopting modern teaching technique.

Library Facilities

The Department library has more than 1200 books covering all disciplines of Economics.  The library also has very good documentation of 600 research projects, more than 500 PG and 50 Ph.D. dissertations.  The Department library has very good secondary data collection from Central and State published journals/booklets / research reports. A Ford Foundation Grant of $536,000 helped the CARDS in developing the needed expertise in the areas of resource economics, economic growth, planning and development, marketing and international trade, rural development, economic policy and related areas in rural social sciences.  Eight members from the Department of Agricultural Economics, one from Agricultural Extension, and one from mathematics were deputed for doctoral training and two senior staff members for post doctoral training in rural development and econometrics.  In addition, under the same grant, eleven Visiting Professors from the Universities in U.S.A. and U.K., visited this University and offered short-term courses in various fields and contributed for strengthening the knowledge base of the staff members and graduate students.

Institutional Manpower Development

Many of the faculties had their Doctoral Degree from USA universities under Ford foundation Grant and many of them are foreign trained. The faculty members are encouraged to attend trainings, summer school, workshops and seminars.

Human Resource Development

All the technical staff have undergone advanced training either at International or national training institute like IFPRI, NAARM, IIM, IIFT and MSE in their fields of specialisation and this has helped them in improving their skills in research and academic activities.

Faculty Improvement under the AHRDP

As a part of continuous improvement in human resources and keeping with the rapid development in the fields of agricultural economics and rural development, the staff have been trained in leading institutions in India and abroad under the Agricultural Human Resources Development Project (AHRDP).  Three scientists in Agricultural Economics have undergone training in USA.

In addition to this, almost all the other staff members have been trained in leading Indian institutes such as Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, Madras School of Economics, Chennai, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad, National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, Centre for Social Studies, Surat, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pune, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi, etc., on various topics of current importance such as institutional economics, environmental economics, international  trade, agri-business management, natural resource economics, forest management, educational technology and computer applications in agriculture.

Academic Contribution

To develop expertise in the frontier areas of Agricultural Economics, faculties have published number of books on specific topics production economics, environmental economics, natural resource and environmental degradation, trade, agricultural marketing and price analysis. The list of books are

List of Books

Books

CARDS PUBLICATIONS