Agricultural Labour Consumption of Goods in the Market in Karnataka: An Empirical Study

Agricultural labour is one of the primary factors of production. A large proportion of rural youth of the country is way out of agriculture. This is mainly because of rising disenchantment with the profession and better opportunities in other sectors like, manufacturing and service sectors and pulls them out of agriculture. The study was taken up in Mandya district (irrigated situation) and Bijapur district (rainfed situation) of Karnataka. From each taluk, 20 farmers were also selected randomly who were practicing farming. The total sample for the study comprised of 60 agricultural labour households and 40 farmers. The extent of dependence of households on food for consumption was calculated for the commodities which are produced on the farm like rice, ragi, field bean, red gram, vegetables, milk, egg, sugar, edible oil etc., Simple statistical tools like indices, averages, ratios and percentages were computed to interpret results properly. The results revealed that, average consumption of pulses, vegetables, fruits, milk, edible oil, sugar and egg that are rich in minerals and vitamins was compara tively higher in migration labour households compared to non-migration labour households. The total per household expenditure on food items was higher (Rs. 3883) in migration labour households in rainfed situation. The dependence of households on market for cereals and millets consumption was low in non-migration households in irrigated situation (80.52%) and highest in migration labour households in rainfed situation (88.53%). On an average, 36 per cent of cereals consumption was from public distr ibution system (PDS). PDS played an important role in food security of labour households by way of providing food grains at cheaper prices. The extent of market dependence for pulses was relatively lower in rainfed situation compared to irrigated situation. Overall market dependency of labour households for fru its and vegetables was 83 per cent in rainfed and 81 per cent in irrigated situation. The extent of market dependence for milk was low (37.98%) in non-migration labour households of irrigated situation and more in migration labour households of irrigated situation (88.89%). The extent of market dependence for egg and meat was highest in migration labour households compared to non-migration labour households.