Micronutrient deprivation and poverty nutrition trap in rural India

Abstract

We test for the existence of a Poverty Nutrition Trap (PNT) in the case of five important micronutrients- calcium, 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 for calcium for female workers engaged in harvesting. In the case of carotene male workers engaged in harvesting are subject to the PNT, whereas both males and females 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 having a significant impact on labour productivity in rural India.