Tamil Nadu, one of the important agrarian states in India, has experienced remarkable growth in the agricultural sector. Among the seven agro-climatic zones of Tamil Nadu, north western zone is known for intensive agrarian economy of which, the economy of Salem district is predominantly agrarian having 2.20 lakh hectares of net cultivated area (42.31 percent of total geographical area). The district has distinctive cropping patterns and the major crops grown in the district include Paddy, Tapioca, Maize, Sorghum and Vegetables. Given the importance of changing scenarios in cropping patterns, this study was undertaken to analyze the land use and cropping pattern changes and to examine the extent of crop diversification in Salem District over the year using the time series data for 20 years, i.e., from 2000-01 to 2019-20. Direction of changes in land use and cropping pattern was investigated using Markov chain analysis and for each year, crop diversification index was calculated. It was concluded from the study that the compound annual growth rate of area under crops like cereals and millets, pulses, spices and condiments, fruits, fibres. drugs, narcotics & plantation crops and other non-food crops were positive whereas it was negative for sugar crops, oilseeds, vegetables, fodder and green manure. Based on the crop diversification index value, it is evident that Salem district is moving towards crop diversification rather than specialization however the process as analysed on a time series basis is stagnant.

The study intends to investigate the relationship between the growth of the economy and surface water pollutants in Tamil Nadu using the concept of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The study used cross-sectional time series (panel data) data for water pollutants such as Dissolved oxygen and conductivity, BOD, Total Coliforms and Fecal Coliforms across 16 districts in Tamil Nadu for the period 2003–2019. The findings of the study revealed that there was no indication of an EKC for Dissolved Oxygen and BOD; instead, Dissolved oxygen has a monotonically declining relationship while BOD has a monotonically increasing relationship, and the first turning point is yet to be achieved for both the water quality indices. The relationship between income and conductivity found a U-shaped relationship with the turning point on Rs.131.98 billion. The existence of an Inverted U-shaped EKC relationship for Fecal coliforms and Total Coliforms with the turning point on Rs. 482.22 and Rs. 477.65 billion, respectively.

The study attempts to examine the socio- economic profile and economics of coconut cultivation using treated sago industrial wastewater and fresh water in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu. A sample of 180 farmers receiving treated wastewater from nearby industrial units and another 180 farmers receiving fresh water (control farms) were selected through a multistage purposive sampling technique. The major finding of economic analysis of coconut cultivation revealed that the gross income of the sample farm using treated sago industrial wastewater was high at ₹ 1,31,408.00 as a result of the better yield of nuts (12540) as compared to that obtained by irrigation with fresh water (12245). The net income per hectare of coconut was ₹ 46,128.64 and ₹ 34,245.72 for the farm using treated wastewater and control farms, respectively. The study; therefore could establish that using treated industrial wastewater for irrigation will be advantageous in terms of net returns and to an extent substitute use of fresh water for irrigation, besides helping to save on use of and expenditure of organic and inorganic fertilizers.