Suchergebnisse

Sangeeta Verma and P. C. Bodh (Eds.). 2018. Glimpses of Indian Agriculture. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. xix+582, ₹1995. ISBN: 9780199488834.

G.S. Bhalla and Gurmail Singh. Economic Liberalisation and Indian Agriculture, 2012, New Delhi: SAGE. ISBN: 9788132108580

The price information is one of the prime objectives of marketing strategies, and the farmers are unable to determine the marketing strategies without knowing the price movements of the agricultural commodities. In this context, the study has examined the spatial price integration among four major onion markets using the threshold vector error correction model (TVECM) that takes into account transaction costs in the price adjustment process. Augmented Dickey–Fuller and Phillips–Perron tests for unit root suggest that the time series is I(1). The application of the Johansen cointegration technique supports the presence of long-run price association and equilibrium in all pairs of onion markets. The Granger Causality test unveils that Bengaluru Granger causes all the markets except Kolkata. The Hansen and Seo supreme Lagrange Multiplier ( SupLM) test of linearity suggests that non-linear TVECM with one threshold and two regimes is best fit for the underlying data for three pairs of markets. While the rest of the three pairs, the SupLM test rejects the null of linearity, therefore, linear vector error correction model (VECM) is estimated. Finally, VECM and TVECM results reveal that Mumbai and Bengaluru are dominant markets in price formation in rest of the markets. Against these findings, it is suggested that the prices should be stabilised in the dominant markets so that the price shocks are not transferred to other markets. The threshold parameter, which is analogous to transaction cost, reveals the high transaction costs between the selected markets pairs, especially Mumbai and Delhi. One of the reasons for the high transaction costs may be the inefficiencies in infrastructure and communication. While a more correct explanation for this difference can be attributed to the differences in marketing fees, taxes, commission charges, license fees, etc., across the spatially separated agricultural markets. JEL Codes: Q1, Q13, D4, C22, D23

Small producers' participation in milk collectives such as dairy cooperatives and producer companies is seen as one of the several ways to institutionalize the dairy value chains and leverage their production and marketing strengths. In this context, the study has explored procurement practices of a dairy cooperative vis-à-vis producer company that have recently ventured into direct procurement, processing and retailing of the milk in Indian Punjab and understood their economic impact on the milk producers in Indian Punjab. The findings of the study suggest that both the milk collectives offer higher prices to the producers, resulting in higher profitability than their counterpart non-member milk producers. The findings of the study suggest that the milk collectives need to take additional responsibilities in terms of advancing credit, introducing new production technologies to increase milk productivity and encouraging participation of women milk producers to make such linkages inclusive, effective and sustainable.

Linking primary producers with modern markets through corporate agribusiness, especially food supermarkets, is being seen as one of the ways to improve rural livelihoods. But, given smallholder dominance of farming in India, it is important to consider the implications of corporate linkage for smaller links involved/proposed to be involved in the chains i.e. primary producers, so that the process is not exclusionary in nature, and becomes a win-win situation for most of the participants in the supply/value chain. Gujarat is one of the Indian states which have seen significant food retail chain presence and penetration in the last few years in fruit and vegetable procurement and retailing. This paper analyses the functioning of two fresh food (fruit and vegetable) supermarket retail chains (Reliance Retail's Reliance Fresh and Aditya Birla's More) in Gujarat with special focus on implications for small producers. The paper situates the food supermarket retail phenomenon in the Indian context and profiles the operations of major players in fruit and vegetable sector and analyses their primary producer interface with a field study of two major vegetable crops procured by the retail chains each. It examines the inclusiveness of the retail chain operations and its impact on farmer incomes. The paper also attempts inferences about the competitiveness of food supermarkets and the mechanisms to promote inclusiveness and significant farmer benefits from emerging supermarket retail operations in terms of both policy and practice, based on the case study.

Linking small farmers with modern agri-business firms through contract farming is viewed as one of the several ways to achieve crop diversification and enhance farmers' income, besides bringing spill-over effects of such interventions for other local stakeholders like farm workers. This article examines the role of contract farming in crop diversification and employment generation in the context of Indian Punjab. Based on a sample of 50 contract farmers and 50 non-contract farmers for three firms each, the study shows that contract farming brings crop diversification and generates farm labour employment, particularly for women, due to the high value and labour-intensive nature of crops being grown under such arrangements. But, there exists a gender gap in wages and gendering of tasks, which demand policy and corporate attention besides regulatory oversight to achieve more equitable and pro-poor impact of contract farming.

Understanding the economic efficiency of agriculture production in Punjab is an interest of this study. The Cost of Cultivation Survey data set for the block period 2014–15 to 2016–17 has been used. Data envelopment analysis deterministic approach has been applied to measure production efficiency. The estimation showed that in the case of wheat, 73 per cent of tehsils and in the case of paddy, 77 per cent of tehsils in Punjab are found to be inefficient in crop production due to poor input utilisation (managerial inefficiency) and scale size (scale inefficiency). But the higher proportion of inefficiency is mainly attributed to the non-optimal scale of production as compared to pure technical allocation. The farmers can increase their production level on average by 7–17 per cent through improving farm efficiency. Findings showed that farmers are allocating their input resources in an exploitative manner due to which they failed to use an appropriate combination of inputs, which is necessary to achieve cost minimisation. These findings have important implications for agricultural development policy and are likely to offer some useful insights for the adequate use of scarce sources. JEL Codes: C33, C67, Q10, Q15

Growing agrarian contradictions and peasant protests globally are seen as outcomes of the commercialization of agricultural production systems. The Indian Punjab is one such site that has also witnessed a high degree of agricultural commercialization, and farmers' movements and protests are attributed to growing discontentment among peasantry due to the emergence of agrarian crises. This has led to massive farmers' movements and protests through their unionization over time. These protests received global limelight during the introduction of three farm laws by the union government of India in 2020, which were repealed in 2021. This necessitates understanding the organizational structure and functioning of unions; their social composition, mobilization strategies and role of gender. This article examines the evolution and strategies of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan, ekta meaning united), which is the largest farmers' union in Punjab and one of the largest in India. Using a mixed-method approach of research, which included interviewing union member farmers and agricultural workers through a semi-structured schedule and conducting focused group discussions with block presidents and executive committee members, the study finds that the unionization of farmers has accelerated the process of rural democratization. However, active persuasion of social reforms along with other agrarian issues in rural society by the unions is needed to bring social inclusiveness to make rural development process pro-poor and inclusive.