Abstract
Past research has laid considerable emphasis on the acceleration of productivity as an important means of achieving agricultural growth and a reduction in rural poverty and inequality in most developing countries.
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Notes
- 1.
Chand (2017) estimated farm income per cultivator to be approximately 34% of the income of nonagricultural workers, with little change over the past decades. Furthermore, the concentration of poverty is more widespread among landless agricultural labourers and marginal farm households, which account for more than 50% of the total number of people below poverty line in the country. It is important to take care of the needs and aspirations of these vulnerable groups in order to ensure inclusive growth in the agricultural sector.
- 2.
- 3.
The risk management strategy for productivity growth requires preparedness in terms of developing location-specific contingency plans, disseminating weather information through advisories, water management through irrigation to ensure adequate availability, diversification of agricultural activities, and research on breeding for drought tolerance and conservation agriculture (World Bank 2014; Birthal et al. 2019).
- 4.
The consensus from international comparison is that investment in agricultural research and development is important for achieving the dual objectives of productivity growth and poverty reduction. It is estimated that every million American dollars invested by the International Rice Research Institute in 1999 led to more than 800 rural poor people being lifted above the poverty line in China and 15,000 in India (Fan et al. 2003).
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Two public investments—education and agricultural research and development in the lagging western region of China—had the largest and most favourable impact on reducing income inequality, whereas additional investments in the coastal and central regions worsened it (Fan et al. 2002; Zhang and Fan 2004).
- 6.
A large body of literature suggests that interstate inequalities stem from various economic and policy factors, which are in turn influenced by sociocultural and historical factors that shape income and access to various services. The inequalities in agricultural income can also be explained by weak initial conditions, unfavourable climate and production conditions, market failure, and hence persistent gaps in economic and social amenities (Dev 2017; Bathla and Kumar 2019).
- 7.
Other instruments are taxation and direct income transfers that redistribute income from higher to lower income groups, governance and institutional reforms to level the playing field (Claus et al. 2014).
- 8.
The states have kicked off various centrally sponsored schemes: National Food Security Mission (NFSM); National Horticulture Mission; National Fund for Basic, Strategic and Frontier Application Research in Agriculture; National Agricultural Innovation Project; Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFTAAR) for investment loans for micro-irrigation and farm machinery; Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS); and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
- 9.
The central government cannot legislate on activities of agricultural produce cultivation as these are state subjects; however, it can intervene through promotional schemes for particular produce by providing financial incentives. It may also legislate on interstate trade and on quality of agricultural produce and its distribution. The centre can also influence spending on agricultural research and development and on fertiliser subsidies, which fall solely within its domain.
- 10.
The concept broadly refers to innovative delivery systems that use targeted vouchers or cash transfers; this system is effective and sustainable and reduces problems commonly faced in subsidy programmes.
- 11.
Expenditure on soil conservation, crops, and animal husbandry are also included in agricultural research and development due to research components within each. Expenditure on medical and public health is broadened to include expenditure on social welfare and nutrition as well.
- 12.
A number of Indian states have been divided: In 2000, Bihar was divided into Bihar and Jharkhand; Madhya Pradesh into Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh; Uttar Pradesh into Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand; and in 2014 Andhra Pradesh into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Time series data for first three new states is available from 2000/2001.
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Bathla, S., Joshi, P., Kumar, A. (2020). Introduction. In: Agricultural Growth and Rural Poverty Reduction in India. India Studies in Business and Economics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3584-0_1
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