Impact of Migration on the Livelihood of Dryland Farmers

Dryland farming is generally marked by more quantum of risk and migration has become a valid coping strategy to overcome the risks. Migration has profound influence on dryland farmers and a study was conducted to assess the impact of migration in the livelihood of dryland farmers of Tirunelveli district. The respondents of the study constituted 90 dryland farmers. The study revealed that income and employment generated by the dryland farmers after migration increased significantly. The remittances from migration created a positive impact on the migrant’s purchase, investment and behavioural domain. Better job opportunities, increased income, increased access to infrastructure facilities and increased security of migrant and family members were the most perceived benefits of migration. Increased monetary demand from family members, deviation from family occupation and cultural differences in the migrated destination were the most perceived problems of migration.

Dry land farming is a risky and uncertain enterprise.Farmers in dry land regions are often resource-poor and these regions are usually of low priority when national resources are allocated.Small and marginal farmers in these regions have little surplus income and their livelihood becomes perilous during adverse agricultural situations.The coping strategy adapted by dryland farmers during such problematic situation is to migrate.Circular and internal migration forced by dire economic need has become a common concern in India and is increasing (Bird and Deshingkar, 2009).Migration, thus radically changes the socio-economic and development profile of the dryland areas with farreaching implications on agrarian economies.Migration drains more active population from the villages and creates both benefits and problems for the people who migrate and for the areas from where people migrate and for the areas where people migrate to.On the positive side, migration may help to reduce pressure on agricultural land and provide opportunities for the rural un-employed and underemployed.It is associated with raising living standards and livelihood prospects at the household and community levels in urban as well as rural areas.On the negative side, some of the semiskilled population and non-skilled population have moved to the big cities and consequently put pressure on the civic institutions.It might create a far-reaching effect on agriculture, uncertainty in employment and income, insufficient civic amenities etc., (United Nations Population Information Network, 1995).*Corresponding author email: anamicamv@gmail.comUsually the migration of agrarian population tends to be studied in narrow disciplinary ways focusing on geographical or demographic aspects mainly at macro level.Only a less is known about how migration is correlated with the livelihood status of dryland farmers, and its impacts on individuals, families and communities.The consequence of rural-urban migration on agriculture is important for the sustainability of agricultural livelihood in the villages (Dugbazah, 2008).Hence, the present study mainly focused on the earthing out the impact of migration on the livelihood of dryland farmers and agriculture on varied dimensions namely income generation, employment generation, nature of purchase, nature of investment, behavioural nature and also perceived benefits and problems of migration.

Materials and Methods
The research was carried out using ex post facto research design during 2009-2010 in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.Purposive and random sampling methods were employed for selecting the respondents.The data were collected through personal interviews with well-structured and pretested schedules.
Tirunelveli district was purposively selected as the percentage of rainfed area contributed to 56.70 per cent and cropping pattern of the district is essentially of the type characterising dry regions.Less prevalence of industries and migration of people towards urban areas hinder the agricultural growth, which is the major threat in this district (Tirunelveli District Agricultural Development Plan, 2008).The district has 19 blocks, out of which Tenkasi, Senkottai, Radhapuram, Nangunari and Sankarankovil divisions are the rainfed areas of the district.Three blocks were selected purposively after migration were gathered from the respondents in terms of rupees.A comparison was carried out between the income before and after migration using paired t-test.based on the area under dry farming and rate of migration.Three villages from each block with Table 1.Income Generation Category Mean SD SE n=90 maximum rate of migration were further identified using the key informant method.A sample size of 90 migrants was fixed and the list of families with migrants was collected using key informant method for all the villages.Ten migrant farm families from each of the villages were randomly selected as the sample.

Analysis Paired t-test
Paired t-test was used to test the significance difference between the means of dependent samples which referred to the characteristics of the same set of objects.The equality of means was tested using the following formula.From Table 1 it could be understood that the difference between the mean values of income generated before and after migration is significantly high.The income of an individual has increased by atleast a fold after migration.Thus the income generated as a result of migration has certainly increased compared to that of income generated before migration.

Employment generation
A comparison was carried out between the employment generated before and after migration interms of number of mandays.The data on employment generated before and after migration was gathered from the respondents and paired ttest was worked out.

Percentage analysis
Percentage analysis was used in descriptive analysis for making simple comparisons.

Mean Score
A self -perceived impact framework developed by Olaiywola (2005) was modified and used to ascertain the migrants' perception on benefits and problems of migration.This framework consisted of five dimensions of benefits and problems namely economical, agricultural, personal, cultural and societal.Each dimension has got some statements within itself, representing various degrees of impact.The responses have been collected on a five point continuum with scoring range of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 for strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree.Mean scores have been worked out for each of the dimensions of impact for meaningful interpretations.From Table 2 it could be observed that the difference between the mean values of employment generated before and after migration differed significantly.The respondents reported that on an average an individual was employed for 150 -180 days after migration, in addition to the on-seasonal (from Nov-Feb) agricultural works in their own fields.Thus the employment generated after migration has certainly increased compared to the employment generated before migration.

Nature of purchase, investment and behaviour
Migration is a coping factor for the dryland farmers which help them to receive monetary returns during adverse agricultural situations.These monetary returns which is otherwise known as the remittance refers to the portion of migrant income that, in the form of either funds or goods, flows back into the home place, primarily to support families Mean scores of self perceived impact dimensions Total sum of the score of individual statement in a dimension = Total number of respondents back home.The greater share of these monetary flows largely benefits the rural areas.The improved income situation enjoyed by recipients of remittances also brings with it changes in spending habits.Remittances indeed have a positive impact on the migration prospects of potential migrant's

Income generation
The details on income of migrants before and economical and psychological status.The impact of migration and remittances on the migrant's economic and personal livelihood is discussed here under.From the above table it can be observed that on the economical front, better job opportunity and increased income were the most perceived benefits.From the above table it could be inferred that 52.00 per cent of the respondents invested their money in insurance/savings.About 32.00 per cent of the respondents invested their money on agricultural works like strengthening bunds, renovating or constructing irrigation structures and land reclamation.Few (12%) reported to have constructed or renovated their houses.Less than 9.00 per cent of the respondents bought land and meager (3.33%) started new business.

S (Standard Deviation
The behavioural nature of the migrants as a result of migration and migration remittances are expressed in Table 5.From the above table it could be interpreted that 88.00 per cent of the respondents attained a higher standard of living followed by 80.00 per cent of respondents being self empowered.There was increase in knowledge and skill level for 70.00 per cent of the respondents.Nearly half of the respondents (49%) gained confidence.Thus migration created a positive influence over the behaviour of the respondents' interms of their behavioural domain.

Perceived benefits of migration
The migrants were asked to express their perception on the benefits of rural-urban migration.The results are given in Table 6.This phenomenon would have been due to the concentration of services, industrial zones, and other socio-economic and cultural services in prime cities and large metropolitan regions.
The most perceived benefit on the agricultural front was 'increased investment in agriculture' and 'locating better markets in towns for farm products'.The remittances brought by the migrant would have been invested effectively in agriculture and the exposure gained by the migrant would have helped them to locate a better market for his farm produce.
On the personal front, 'increased security of the migrant and family' was the most perceived benefit followed by 'increased access to infrastructure facilities'.Migration is a temporary adaption measure taken by the dryland farmers to escape from risk during adverse farming conditions and thus migration would probably secure the livelihood of the migrant and his family.The migrants temporarily move towards cities or towns to seek his fortune and accessing the infrastructure facilities available there would become quite easy.
'Cultural exposure' was the most perceived benefit on the cultural front.People of diverse culture will gather in prime and large metropolitan cities and thus migrants would disseminate their heritage and culture with pride.
'Increased social respect' was the most perceived benefit on the societal front.The remittance brought by the migrant and his property acquisition would probably increase his social respect within his home community.The exposure gained by the migrant would increase his opinion leadership skill and he would effectively guide other people.

Table 5 . Nature of behaviour
*Multiple responses