Understanding and Explaining Recent Changes in Income, Consumption and Poverty Among Agricultural Households Across Major States of India

The study, using unit level data from two nationally representative surveys, examines changes in levels and sources of household income, consumption expenditure, incidence of poverty and determinants of household income and poverty among agricultural households. The study shows that across most of the states, there has been a significant decrease in the per cent share of income from cultivation coupled with an equally significant increase in the share of income from wages and salary; average annual household income of such households is higher than their average annual consumption expenditure and there has been a significant decrease in the incidence of poverty among them. The results of regression analysis show that household size, head of the household being male, literacy, farm size, income from cultivation, awareness of minimum support price (MSP), access to technical training, engagement in non-farm business and engagement in wages and salary have significant positive effect on households income and lower the probability of a household being poor across major states. JEL Codes: Q1, C1, C2, D1, R2