Socio – economic profile of the tribal farmer borrowers in Nilgiris distict of Tamilnadu

Scheduled tribes were the socially excluded population in India. India had the largest tribal population in the world. Indian tribes constituted roughly 8.1 percent of the nation's total population, nearly 835.8 lakhs people were scheduled tribes as per 2001 censes. The number of scheduled tribales were higher in the state of Madhya Pradesh (122.33lakhs) Maharashtra (85.77 lakhs) and Orissa (84.45 lakhs). Less number of tribes was observed in the states of Arunachal Pradesh (7.05lakhs), Bihar (7.58lakhs), Goa (0.01lakhs), Tamil Nadu (6.5 lakhs), Tripura (9.93lakhs), Uttar pradesh (1.07) and Uttaranchal (2.56lakhs). A majority of land holdings of tribes (60%) was below 2 hectares and only 5% was above 10 hectares. However, the ownership of large holdings did not give a distinct advantage unless the land was of good quality. There were areas in which even large holdings beyond 5 hectors were not sufficient to meet the food necessity of the families all round the year. Most of the cultivable area (around 90 per cent) was cropped during kharif. Paddy happened to be main crop in the low lands. There were limited areas in which maize, ragi, oilseeds and pulses were cultivated. The above statistical facts that the tribes are socially excluded population in India. Hence an attempt was made to assess the socio economic profile of tribal population The following are the specific objectives of the study. To conclude, highest percentage (77.96) of small farmer borrowers were distributed in the age group of 30–60 years. Among non borrowers also, 77.19 percentage of small farmers were in the same age group. Highest percentage of the borrower farmers (41.33 percentages) had completed secondary education followed by primary level of education. Only 12 percentage of tribal borrower farmers were illiterates. As the number of small farmers was higher in the sample, highest value of asset holding and land holding were observed with them. But the level of farm income and consumption expenditure was higher for medium farmers compared to other category of farmers.