Agriculture - Nutrition Linkages: A Preliminary Investigation for Rural India

The paper has attempted to study the direction, strength and magnitude of agriculture on nutritional status in rural India. Using a panel data for the period 1991–2012, the study explores the linkages at two stages. At stage1, assuming ‘Life Expectancy at Birth’ as an indicator of nutritional well-being, it tests for a ‘positive causality’ hypothesis between agriculture and nutrition. At stage-2, it tests whether or not the assumption holds by controlling factors that simultaneously influence the nutritional status. The graphical analysis has indicated a ‘positive causality’ and the ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates have provided evidence for a significant positive influence of agriculture on human nutrition. Further, low agricultural productivity states with higher growth rates have been found to have better health outcomes than the high productivity states. The least squares dummy variable (LSDV) estimates have confirmed the ‘positive causality’ after controlling for the effects of several factors. The study has concluded that agriculture has a significant positive influence on nutrition, thereby on health. It has emphasized that investments in agriculture could improve nutritional status of people in rural India.