The Department of Economics and Rural Development was established during the year 2011; formerly it was known as Centre for Rural Development which was started during the year 2005. The Department currently offers programmes such as M.A., in Economics; M.Phil., in Economics; Ph.D., in Economics as well as in Rural Development. Within the short span of its establishment, the Department has made many landmark achievements in academic spheres. Some notable achievements are presented here.

1. Place the Department as an important learning centre in Economics and Rural Development.
2. Provide high-quality education in Economics and Rural Development, especially for the students of disadvantaged regions.
3. Place the Department as an important centre for empirical and policy-making research.
4. Improve the overall quality of the rural poor and other disadvantaged groups through participatory action, research, consultancy and training programmes.

1. Producing well-trained economists
2. High-quality teaching and research
3. Research focusing on agriculture and rural economics
4. Conducting capacity building for the deprived sections of the community

Member of CACP: The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) is a policy making body comes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi. The CACP recommends the minimum support prices for the mandated agricultural crops for the whole of India. For the first time from the state of Tamil Nadu, a Professor from the department was appointed as a full-time Member (official) of the CACP.

Awarded NABARD Chair Professor: This coveted position is one among the five Chairs awarded at the national level. For the first time in the entire history of Alagappa University, a Chair has been awarded to an individual faculty belonging to our Department. This is almost equivalent to the National Level Professor. NABARD would provide funds for meeting the entire expenditures of this Chair for five years.

Best Agricultural Economist of the Country: This is known as Professor Ramesh Chandra Agrawal Award of Excellence provided to an Indian scholar for the outstanding contribution in the field of Agricultural Economics by the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, Mumbai. This was awarded to a Professor of the Department.

ISAE FELLOW 2019: Dr. A. Narayanamoorthy, Senior Professor and Head of the Department has received the prestigious ISAE FELLOW 2019 award from the Honourable Governor of Chhattisgarh State, Ms. Anusuiya Uikey, at the 79th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics held at the Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on November 21, 2019.

Projects: Getting projects in Social Sciences are relatively difficult, but over one crore rupees worth of projects sponsored by the national and international agencies (IWMI, ICRISAT, etc.,) have already been completed.

Members in Committees constituted by the Government of India: Members from state University are rarely considered for Government Committees involving policy formulations, but faculty members from the Department have already worked as members in three different committees: (1) Member, Sub-group of the Committee on Statistics of Agriculture and Allied Sectors, constituted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, New Delhi, (2) Member, Working Group on Terms of Trade between the Agriculture and Non-Agriculture Sectors, constituted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi. (3) Member, sub-committee on ‘Irrigation - Minor Irrigation, Tank and Canal Irrigation’ which is part of the “Commission on Inclusive and Sustainable Agriculture Development of Andhra Pradesh” constituted by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad.

Publication of Articles and Papers: Over 200 research papers/articles have been published in well recognised national and international journals including the world’s top 20 Agricultural Economics journal rated by the Google Scholar.

Publication of Books: Good number of books has been published through top class publishers, which include Oxford University Press, Routledge and Springer. Publication of books through Oxford University Press, Routledge and Springer is rare distinction in the University.

Articles in Top 20 Journals in the World: Several papers have been published in the world’s top 20 Agricultural Economics related journals rated by the Google Scholar.

High Level ‘h’ index: ‘h’ index reflects the quality of the researchers. Some faculty members in the Department have very high level ‘h’ index of 30, which is seldom seen among the faculty members belonging to the non-science faculty.

1. Dr. R. Suresh

2. Assistant Professor and Head i/c
3. Department of Economics and Rural Development
4. Alagappa University, Karaikudi – 630003, Tamil Nadu, India.

1. 
   

2. sureshsaga42@yahoo.co.in
3. saga42.suresh@gmail.com
4. +91 4565 225842
5.   +91 94861 24907
6. +91 4565 225202