Micronutrient Deprivation and Poverty Nutrition Traps in Rural India

We test for the existence of a Poverty Nutrition Trap (PNT) in the case of
calories and four important micronutrients — carotene, iron, riboflavin, and
thiamine- for three categories of wages: sowing, harvesting, and other for male
and female workers separately. We use household level national data for rural
India for the period January to June 1994 and robust sample selection procedures
due to Heckman to arrive at consistent and efficient estimates. It is discovered
that the PNT exists in ten cases. It exists for calories for female harvesting and
sowing wages. In the case of carotene male workers engaged in harvesting are
subject to the PNT, whereas both male and female workers engaged in
harvesting are subject to PNT in the case of iron. In the case of riboflavin female
workers engaged in harvesting and sowing and male workers engaged in
harvesting are subject to PNT, and, in the case of thiamine, female workers
engaged in harvesting and sowing are subject to PNT. Thus micronutrient
deficiency is pervasive and has a significant impact on labour productivity of
agricultural workers in rural India. In particular, female workers are more prone
to PNT than male workers.