Research

Research Activities

Research grants are received from major international/national donors representing both private and public organizations to work upon major research areas in the field of agriculture and agri-allied activities to help the scientific community to serve for the cause of the farming community. Based on the changing economic scenario and the relative importance of agriculture, the department has been shifting its focus on various areas. In the new millennium, the Department has further strengthened its research activities by attracting a large number of externally-funded research projects to address the current global/national issues which have direct bearing on agriculture. Besides these, policy oriented research, impact studies and a number of policy documents were prepared for the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu on various issues concerning agricultural and rural development. In view of the poor performance of agriculture sector in recent years, there is a compelling need to reinvigorate agricultural sector in many dimensions through appropriate technologies and policy interventions in consonance with sustainability objectives. Therefore, the Department of Agricultural Economics at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University is all set to take on these challenges and committed to serve the cause of agricultural and rural development policy making at the state and national levels.

Thrust Area of Research

The Department is engaged in applied economic research, policy and problem solving research in agriculture, rural and allied sectors covering various fields. Recently completed and the externally funded on - going research projects are indicated below.

1. Comprehensive Scheme on the Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops

One of the major on-going research projects in this department since, 1971 is the Comprehensive Scheme on Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops in Tamil Nadu. The data on various aspects of cost of production of crops are collected, computerized and analyzed. Government of India fixes Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for major crops using the data collected under this scheme. The crops covered are Rice, Sorghum, Bajra, Ragi, Cotton, Sugarcane, Black gram, Green gram, Ground nut, Gingelly and Coconut.

2. Agricultural Marketing, Trade and Prices

In the Department, the scheme “Endowment Chair in Agricultural Marketing” is functioning since 1983. Under the scheme, studies has been carried out periodically on various aspects of marketing of agricultural and horticultural commodities such as production and marketing aspects, supply chain and value chain analysis, consumer preference and willingness to pay, market advisory services through price forecasting, post harvest losses of major crops, feasibility of establishing processing units for agricultural commodities, performance of marketing institutions such as regulated markets, farmers markets, market access for domestic and export markets, performance of commodity groups and FPO’s and preparation of commodity reports for major crops.

3. Natural Resource Economics

The Department has taken up studies on Climate Change and Groundwater Dynamics: A Hydro-economic Analysis of Impacts and Adaptation in South India, Developing Computer based Model for Impact Assessment of Watershed Development and Building Capacity in Tamil Nadu, To quantify the Impact of Energy Crisis on Irrigation Strategies to Mitigate the Impact of Poor Monsoon on Agriculture, Climate Variability and Tank Irrigation Management in Tamil Nadu: An Economic Inquiry into Impacts, Adaptation, Issues and Policies and Land Use Dynamics and Agricultural Performance in Tamil Nadu.

4. Impact Assessment of Major Development Programmes

The Department is engaged in Evaluation of Development Programmes of XI Plan in Tamil Nadu for the State Planning Commission. A new proposal on Social and Economic Impact Evaluation of Educational Infrastructure Schemes has been taken up. Other ongoing development programmes are: Comprehensive Assessment of Watershed Development Programmes in Tamil Nadu and Evaluation of Command Area Development Programmes in Tamil Nadu.

5. Agricultural Finance and Crop Insurance

The Department has taken up various research projects on Imbalances in Agricultural Credit System in Different Agro-Climatic Zones of Tamil Nadu - An Economic Study Evaluating the Adaptability of Crop Insurance Schemes in Tamil Nadu, An Analysis of Outreach and Effectiveness of Agricultural Credit Policy in Tamil Nadu , Strengthening the Institutional Agricultural Credit System Through Collective Action: The Links among Banks, NGOs and SHGs and Evaluating the Causes and Consequences of Credit Gap in Tamil Nadu – An Economic Analysis.

6. Other Research Programmes

The Department has taken up projects on Constraints in Production and Marketing of Paddy and Sugarcane, Analysis of Productive Trend in Sugarcane Ratoon Crop, Assessing the Yield Advantage of SRI in Cauvery Delta Zone, Estimation of Cost of Cultivation for Major Crops in Tamil Nadu, and Developing Guidelines and Methodologies for Socio-Economic Assessment of LMOs.