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100 million tonnes of cereals are missing… every year

In an earlier I4I post, Drèze and Oldiges drew attention to India’s ‘cereal gap’ – a large difference between net availability of cereals and household consumption. In this post, they use rec...

  • Perspectives

The ‘cereal gap’: Looming issues in India’s foodgrain policy

Cereal production in India recently crossed 300 million tonnes for the first time. In this post, Drèze and Oldiges point out that a major gap has emerged between the net availability of cereals and h...

  • Perspectives

Watering the seeds of the rural economy: Evidence from groundwater irrigation in India

Over time, technological advancements accompanied with government energy subsidies have made groundwater the single largest source of irrigation in India. This study evaluates the impact of access to ...

  • Articles
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Need for 10-year, state-wise procurement plan for rice and wheat

Against the backdrop of the ongoing debate around India’s new farm legislations, Hussain and Mohapatra make a case for having a 10-year plan indicating the targetted procurement of rice and wheat fr...

  • Perspectives

Improving farmers’ income: Learnings from a survey in Jharkhand

To work towards the central government’s goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022, the state government of Jharkhand initiated the ‘Jharkhand Opportunities for Harnessing Rural Growth’ projec...

  • Notes from the Field

Crop insurance scheme 2.0: Implementation issues and weaknesses

Launched in 2016 and revamped earlier this year, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is Government of India’s flagship crop insurance scheme. However, it has been riddled with implementation challe...

  • Notes from the Field

Farm laws: First principles and the political economy of agricultural market regulation

Wrapping up the Symposium on farm laws, Mekhala Krishnamurthy and Shoumitro Chatterjee contend that regulatory reforms are an important but limited part of what must be both a more comprehensive and c...

  • Perspectives

Farm laws: Potential for positive outcomes

Siraj Hussain contends that while the farm laws may have medium- to long-term benefits for Indian agriculture, following parliamentary processes for their passage and efforts to build consensus would ...

  • Perspectives

Farm laws: Unlikely to bring transformative change

Sanjay Kaul discusses the benefits and drawbacks of the farm laws for all stakeholders – farmers, businesses, commission agents, and the government – and concludes that given the dynamics involved...

  • Perspectives

Farm laws: Design leaves much to be desired

Sukhpal Singh examines the potential implications of the farm laws in view of the existing mechanisms of agricultural marketing, and highlights certain design flaws.

  • Perspectives

Farm laws: Liberalisation of agricultural marketing is necessary

Providing his perspective on the farm laws, Bharat Ramaswami contends that the liberalisation of agricultural marketing is the necessary direction – a view endorsed in the past across the political ...

  • Perspectives

Introduction to e-Symposium: Understanding the new farm laws

Would the farm laws help increase farmers’ incomes? Could farmers benefit from an expanded access to markets? Would they be more willing to engage in contracts with urban firms because of the law on...

  • Symposium

How self-help groups enable households to cope with climatic shocks

Climate variability and extremes, combined with a lack of appropriate insurance devices, pose a risk to rain-fed agriculture and large populations in developing countries. This article examines how se...

  • Articles

Food and agriculture during a pandemic: Managing the consequences

A critical fallout of the lockdown following the novel coronavirus pandemic has been a combination of confusion, uncertainty, and anxiety for farmers and consumers alike as to what lies in store in th...

  • Perspectives

Identifying the binding constraints of agricultural growth in Bihar

Out of the seven-year period set for doubling of farmers’ income by the government, four full agricultural years have already gone. This article identifies the binding constraints on farmers’ inco...

  • Articles

Recent Contributors

Bharat

Bharat Ramaswami

Ashoka University

Rajveer

Rajveer Jat

University of California, Riverside

Jean

Jean Drèze

Ranchi University; Delhi School of Economics

Camille

Camille Boudot-Reddy

Birkbeck, University of London

André

André Butler

University of Cambridge

Manaswini

Manaswini Rao

University of Delaware

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Climate change and Indian agriculture

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India's farm crisis: Decades old and with deep roots

In this Perspectives piece, Prof. Himanshu argues that the crisis in Indian agriculture today is not a new one; it goes back many years. Therefore, the problems of farmers cannot be addressed by the b...

  • Perspectives

How new technologies can raise farm productivity

Lele and Goswami discuss the potential of new technologies in raising farm productivity, and the challenges involved in turning the power of information and other technologies into a farmer-friendly t...

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