Page 128 - IJPS-10-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Child malnutrition in rural India

wasted. More than one-third of the children under the age 38.89%, respectively) and wasting was more prevalent
of 2 years are found to be malnourished. The study found among children belonging to general category (40%).
differentials in gender as boys were found to suffer from The majority of the underweight, stunted, and wasted
wasting at a greater extent compared with girls, whereas children resided in kaccha house. More than half of the
for underweight and stunting, their prevalence rates were children from the households owning <1 ha of farm land
higher among the girls. Surprisingly, it was found that the were underweight (55%) and stunted (54%) compared to
majority of children belonging to first birth order were households having more than one hectare of land.
underweight, stunted, and wasted. We also found higher
prevalence of underweight, wasting, and stunting among 3.3. Cropping intensity and crop Diversification
children whose mothers age is <25 years. Besides, the From Table 4, it is evident that paddy was mostly cultivated
children of higher educated mothers tended to suffer from as a Kharif crop that chiefly depends on the seasonal rainfall,
malnutrition, probably because 78% of the sample were and other principal crops such as potato, groundnut, and
women who had competed secondary education. mustard oil, onion were cultivated as Rabi crops, while

The analysis of nutritional parameters revealed that watermelon and mung bean were produced as Zaid crops.
the children belonging to the scheduled caste succumbed Seasonal vegetables were usually produced throughout
to higher risk for underweight and stunting (40.84% and the year but paddy is the principal crop grown by the
households. About 73.56% of the gross cropped area were
Table 4. Types of crops and cropping intensity in the study cultivated thrice a year. A man (55%) and aus (16.30%)
area, 2017 rices were mainly cultivated in the study area while a man
rice was generally produced on a broader scale compared to
Crops Area in hectares % a us rice. It was found that watermelon was the third most
Cereals Aman (paddy) 135.56 55 cultivated crop (4.90%), which is mainly cultivated during
Aus (paddy) 40.2 16.3 summer as a Zaid crop. Besides these, groundnut (4.86%),
Boro (paddy) 5.59 2.26 mung bean (4.70%), mustard (3.36%), potato (2.86%),
Total 181.35 73.56 and onion (1.58%) were also grown in a few areas with
assured irrigation facilities, a favorable sign of sustainable
Other principal crops Watermelon 12.08 4.9 agricultural expansion in the study area. Vegetables were
Groundnut 11.98 4.86 cultivated only in some parts (4.18%) of the land. Overall,
Mung bean 11.58 4.7 the cropping intensity in the study area is very high (183%).
Mustard oil 8.28 3.36 In Table 5, different indices, such as THI, MEI, CEI,
Potato 7.05 2.86 and Jasbir Singh’s method, were used to analyze the degree
Onion 3.89 1.58 of crop diversification. The result of crop diversification
Total 54.86 22.46 revealed that crop diversification in the study area falls
Vegetables 10.3 4.18 under the Class-I category, indicating low practice of crop
Total land in operation (gross cropped area) 246.51 100 diversification. The index value of THI, MEI, and CEI
were 0.41, 0.30, and 0.27, respectively. The index value of
Net sown area 134.7 / Jasbir Singh’s method of crop diversification (73.56) also
Cropping intensity / 183 revealed very low (Class-V category) diversity level in the

Table 5. Degree of crop diversification in the study area, 2017

Crop diversification indices Index value Categorization of index value in class/level Degree of diversification
1 Transformed Herfindahl index* 0.41 Class-1 Low (<0.50) Low
2 Modified entropy index* 0.30 Class-II Moderate (0.50 – 0.75)
Class-III High (>0.75)
3 Composite entropy index* 0.27
4 Jasbir Singh’s method # 73.56 Class-1 Very high (<20) Very low
Class-II High (20 – 30)
Class-III Moderate (30 – 40)
Class-IV Low (40 – 50)
Class-V Very low (>50)
Note: *The author categorized the class based on the range of the indices.
# Categorized based on previous research (Bisai et al., 2016).

Volume 10 Issue 2 (2024) 122 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0324