Economic Affairs - Official Publication of AESRA
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Rural Household Livelihoods, Non-farm Economy and Landless Workforce: Evidence from the Village Economy of Haryana, India
Get PDFThis paper examines household livelihoods patterns of the landless poor in a village of Haryana by applying sustainable livelihood approach rather than the reductionist approach of income-consumption paradigm. The attempt is made to investigate and analyse the contours of life of landless workers from the multiple perspectives: literacy rate among male and female in each household, education attainment, income-expenditure patterns, rural farm and non-farm occupational choice, housing conditions and the role of social and financial capital. It also explores the desperation and vulnerability among the working class in a village in the context of above indicators. The economic and social environment locates the landless workforce in the brutal and vicious circle of low literacy- unskilled and semi-skilled works- low income- poor living condition which is not pleasant to asset creation. Keeping these actualities in mind, the paper indicates towards the environment created by central planning system, various welfare schemes run by the state and central governments and specifically by economic reforms initiated in the last quarter of twentieth century. As a corollary, landless workforce is doomed to live in vulnerability and desperation
Growth, Economic Instability and Popular Aspirations in South Asia: Some Leads for Public Policy
Get PDFGlobal dynamics in the economic front have undergone several noteworthy changes in recent decades. At one hand, there is an increasing interest of the global finance capital in some prominent and emerging economies of South (emphasis ours). We see an increasing systemic resilience in these emerging economies towards shocks and economic fluctuations that have frequented the developed part of the globe more often than ever before. Many ascribe this resilience to an increasing recognition of the national governments of the Southern economies towards popular aspirations reflected in the manifestos of the ruling forces as well as formulation of pro-people policies than ever before. While this is something that needs attention, we also observe some contradictions of the growth process within the so called ‘emerging south’. While the income of the nations is on the rise, the regional imbalances also are growing. At the same time, the deficit in some key development indicators such as health and education are also widening. Such a scenario is more so true in the context of countries of the South Asian region. Some flagship programmes and policies in the most South Asian countries clearly reflect the popular aspirations and development needs in these countries. The political forces in these countries have also become proactive in raising issues of development more prominently in their election campaigns and political literature. The present paper attempts to explain some such contradictions in the context of South Asia and based on the analysis of country specific data on income, health, education and other indicators from the global database of world development indicators (WDI) and with the help of vector auto-regression (VAR) method of analysis, the paper seeks to establish some linkages in these variables in the changing global scenario
Measuring the Knowledge Level of Farmers Regarding Improved Rice Cultivation Practices and Ranking of Associated Constraints
Get PDFThe Production Oriented Surveys on paddy growing areas were conducted in the three plain districts of Jammu region namely; Jammu, Samba and Kathua during the years 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The information was gathered regarding the knowledge of farmers about improved practices of paddy cultivation, as recommended in package and practices. It is revealed from the study that the Knowledge Index of paddy growers was less than 50%, and majority of the respondents fall under the medium level category in terms of knowledge about improved practices of paddy cultivation. It was also observed that the knowledge of improved practices did not vary much between different districts and statistically were at par with each other. Lack of critical inputs at the right time and insufficient skill in dealing with diseases and pest control were the main constraints in achieving higher productivity. A number of steps are required to be taken to provide opportunities to farmers for adopting improved practices in paddy cultivation, either through the provision of training programmes or by making effective administrative decisions at the right time
Effectiveness of Training Programmes of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) towards Socio-economic Development of Farmers in Meghalaya
Get PDFThis study, to analyse the effectiveness of training programmes conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, West Garo Hills, was conducted in six purposively selected villages under KVK West Garo Hills districts, with 120 sample size from the adopted villages selected by proportionate random sampling. Data collection from the selected respondents was made with the help of pre-tested structured schedule using personal interview method. The study reveals that majority of the respondents in KVK adopted villages had medium level of knowledge and adoption of improved rice cultivation practices with medium level of productivity, annual net income, self-confidence and materials possession. Majority of the respondents also perceived that KVK trainings had enhanced the social recognition of the farmers. The training effectiveness score reveals that effectiveness score for social recognition was the highest followed by materials possession, level of knowledge and skills, economic condition, extent of adoption, productivity and self-confidence respectively
Production Economics of Strawberry in Haryana, India
Get PDFThe present study was conducted in Hisar and Bhiwani districts of Haryana which was selected purposively on the basis of highest area and production of Strawberry cultivation in the state. One block from each district and two villages from each block were selected. Saharwa and Satrod (Hisar-1) and Chanana and Siwani (Siwani) were selected purposively since they have the highest number of strawberry growers in the district. 120 growers were selected from which 43, 30, 30, and 17 farmers were from Satrod, Saharwa, Chanana and Siwani, respectively depending upon the availability of strawberry growers in the region. On the basis of the nature of the data, simple tabular analysis was carried out. The cost concept namely cost A, cost B and cost C and various economic tools were used for the estimation of per ha cost of strawberry cultivation. The overall average cost of strawberry production in both districts of Haryana was found to be ` 937.18 thousand per hectare. The total cost of cultivation was highest in case of large category growers followed by medium and small category. The overall net return earned by strawberry growers was ` 1174.80 thousand per hectare. Cost of production of per kg of Strawberry was highest in large ` 78.57per kg, followed by medium ` 74.33 per kg. and small ` 71.34 per kg. Benefit-Cost ratio of Strawberry cultivation calculated under cost A was 2.79, Cost B was 2.56 and Cost C was 2.25
Doubling of Small and Marginal Farmers Income through Rural Non-Farm and Farm Sector in Karnataka
Get PDFThe paper has examined the importance of rural non-farm and farm sector in meeting the consumption expenditure and the nutritional security of the small and marginal farmers. The study has analyzed the factors affecting the income of the diversification. The role of small farms is well recognized in the contribution towards total food grain production and poverty reduction. The study revealed that the contribution of marginal and small farmers to the total output is higher when compared to their share in the total land holdings. The contribution of small and marginal farmers to output ranges from 19 percent in Punjab to 86 per cent in West Bengal and it indicates the significant regional variations in their contribution to output. The farm level study conducted in Raichur district of Karnataka clearly indicates that income from the horizontal diversification is unable to meet the monthly expenditure of the household. The medium farmers and the income from crop enterprise are enough to meet the monthly household consumption expenditure. All the categories of the farmers were nutritionally better off and were consuming more than the recommended level with regard to milk, vegetables and fruits through diversified farming. Further, the availability of irrigation, farm mechanization, farm size and the experience of the farmers have been identified as the important factors influencing the diversified farming income. Thus, this study suggested that giving importance to both farm and non-farm sector will be the best option to double the income of the farmers particularly small and marginal farmers
An Economic Analysis of Silk Saree Weaving by Power Loom: A Study in Tumkur District of Karnataka
Get PDFThe growth of power looms had begun during the 1960s and year after year there has been a tremendous growth in the number of power looms. As a result, presently there are more than 22.69 lakhs power looms in the country (3rd census, GOI, 2008). And Karnataka is the fifth state with respect to the number of registered power looms (89,900), offering employment to 2, 04,725persons (www.indianstat.com, 2014-15). The study was conducted in Tumkur district of Karnataka with a total sample size of 60 respondents from three different taluks of Tumkur District. The result of the study revealed that there is a variation in man days used in saree production. The man days depended on the type and design of the saree produced in Power loom (Resham Saree: 0.4 MD, LT (Low twist yarn) Saree: 0.30 MD, Cotton Silk saree: 0.40MD) and the weft used for LT type saree was very less when compared to Resham and cotton silk saree. The total cost of production of Resham saree was high (`401.56) compared to LT and Cotton silk sarees (` 224.69 and ` 395.70). This is because of the differences in design and colour combination of the sarees. The net returns obtained from Resham saree was ` 123.44 with the B:C ratio of 1.30, which means that if you invest one rupee in a power loom , Resham silk saree production can be obtained in ` 1.30
Agricultural Labour Shortage: An Abysmal to Agriculture in North Eastern Karnataka
Get PDFOver the years, there has been an arising worry about the farm labour accessibility which has been diminishing as a result of occupational changes, peoples attitude, Government policies and reforms, making it crucial to explore into the dynamics of the scarcity of agricultural labour and the reasons contributing to this. A study was undertaken considering the status of labour scarcity in agricultural economy with special reference to North Eastern Karnataka. A stratified sampling procedure was adopted to select the sample respondents. A total of 180 farmers were interviewed for the study. It was found that the labour demand exceeded supply for almost seven months and reached its peak during the sowing and weeding operations in both rabi and kharif seasons. According to the sample respondents, migration of labourers to the nearby villages for higher wages was the most serious problem leading to labour scarcity
Production and Export of Value Added tea in India and its Global Competitiveness
Get PDFThe study was conducted for Indian tea based on secondary data pertaining from 1971 to 2016 with the objective to examine the production of bulk tea and value added tea, trends and growth of value added tea and its competitiveness in the world tea market. The data were analysed through tabular as well as quantitative analyses like CAGR, Balassa’s Revealed Comparative Advantage and Nominal Protection Coefficient. It was observed that production, export and growth of graded tea increased during the last two decades. Among the value added tea, the export of tea bags was found to increase and the growth of values was higher in the country. Production of tea in Kenya was more advantageous than India and Sri Lanka. South Indian tea had labour and cost advantages while tea produced in North India and Assam gained profit advantages for selling quality tea. Revealed Comparative Advantage indicated that India is still competent in the global tea market and tea is not an efficient export crop as the domestic prices were higher than the world prices. The study concludes that India should go more for graded and value added tea by reducing the costs of production to gain the competitive advantages
An Economic Assessment of Cotton Production under Precision Farming in North Eastern Karnataka
Get PDFPrecision Farming is an old traditional farming in the modern way, which involves optimizing agricultural production by improving the precision of the existing agronomic management activities by implementing them at a subfield scale. Such an experimental implementation has been done in Karnataka as the project on precision farming in selected field crops. Hence, to analyze the economic benefits of precision farming in comparison with conventional farming the present study was undertaken. The study was conducted at Raichur district, Karnataka. The data were collected by personal interview method by the pretested schedule. The study results indicated that though the cost of cultivation was marginally higher (1.47 %) in precision farming than non-precision farming, the yield obtained under management practices of precision farming (38.03 q/ha) were much higher than (26.48 q/ha) conventional farming situations. Hence there was a net gain of ` 35,898.82/ha under the adoption of precision farming. Returns per rupee spent was 2.03. Considering its benefits there is a need to encourage and popularize this technology with the support of line departments, SAU’s and other extension agencies