Bio: 

Sukhwinder received his PhD in International and Rural Development from the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, UK in July 2014 under the supervision of Professor Julian Park and Professor Chris Garforth. His PhD research investigated ‘the major indicators and determinants of agricultural sustainability in the Indian Punjab’. During 2015-16, he worked with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (India) on an international project titled ‘Impact of Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) in South Asia.’ Previously, after finishing his MBA, he had been teaching economics and management in India for about a decade. Having an interdisciplinary background, his research interests encompass economics, management and agriculture.

Project summary:

The Indian state of Punjab has slowly embraced a culture of mono-cropping, decreasing crop diversity and livestock populations and concentrating on wheat and rice production. In comparison, the state of Gujarat has increased crop diversity and livestock populations during the same period, yet it experiences lower nutrition levels than Punjab in terms of stunted, wasted, underweight and anemic children and women. This research will measure the effect of farm, crop and livelihood diversity on farmer nutrition in India.  It will be achieved by reviewing the relevant literature, outlining the farm, crop and livelihood diversity indicators, outlining the anthropometric, dietary diversity, and nutrition and energy density parameters to assess health and nutrition among farmers, collecting primary data from 540 farm households (270 each in Punjab and Gujarat) using a structured interview schedule, calculating the Farm Diversity Index (FDI), Crop Diversification Index (CDI), Livelihood Diversity Index (LDI), Body Mass Index (BMI), Z scores and Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC), Aggregate Nutrition Density Index (ANDI), Energy Density Index (EDI), and establishing a relationship between various combinations of these metrics.

Articles:

Regional differences in agricultural and socioeconomic factors associated with farmer household dietary diversity in India

The association between crop and income diversity and farmer intra-household dietary diversity in India