Current Issue

Vol. 53,  No. 1,  2023

Behind the crises: Histories of knowledge Production for Indian Agriculture

Anvesak Vol. 53(1) (2023), pp 1-18 Received: 8 May 2023; accepted: 31 May 2023

Barbara Harriss-White
Oxford University, UK

Abstract: In this paper, using the case of knowledge for agriculture, the benefits of pluralism in the study of institutions are laid out. The last century of development of institutions essential to new agricultural technologies are organised into two historiographical streams, each with intellectual eddies. The first set of histories of formal and informal agricultural research for development is reinterpreted as the product of an institutional synergy, now unravelling but whose path-dependence still constrains the application of technologies resulting from a second set of histories. The latter are currently needed to resolve the social-environmental crises of agriculture generated by the former.

Key Words: Agricultural research, Agro-ecology, Green revolution, India, Innovation system, Institutions, Organic agriculture

Relationship Between Borrowing Cost And Farm Size: Test Results From Parametric And Non-Parametric Methods

Anvesak Vol. 53(1) (2023), pp 19-33 Received: 10 Dec. 2022; accepted: 23 Mar. 2023

Jisha K. K. And Prashobhan Palakkeel
Government College Chittur, Palakkad, Kerala, India And Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: Agriculture land conversion is becoming a severe threat to the sustainability of the agrarian systems in countries where farm activities are predominantly performed on marginal landholdings. The relationship between borrowing cost and farm size is a concern for many marginal farmers as some of the components in the borrowing cost are not scalable. The present study evaluates the relationship between borrowing cost and farm size based on a primary survey conducted among the paddy farmers of Kerala. MANOVA and PERMANOVA are used to test the hypothesis. The results from the study show that there exists a significant difference in the average cost bared by different categories of farmers, and the burden of borrowing costs is more on the smaller farmers.

Key Words:Borrowing cost, Transaction cost, Farm size, Cooperatives, MANOVA, PERMANOVA

Regional Catch-Up of Income in Indian States: Evidence From Static And Dynamic Modelling

Anvesak Vol. 53(1) (2023), pp 34-51 Received: 21 Jun. 2022; accepted: 22 Dec. 2022

Rochna Arora And Baljit Kaur
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India

Abstract: The purpose of the paper is to examine the role of infrastructure in the process of regional convergence in India for the period 1991-2017 and also identify which infrastructure matters in ensuring convergence. The exercise of conditional convergence is carried out using Fixed effects and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The results estimated find out convergence rate of 0.133 percent per annum over a 4 year period taking almost 5 years to fill the half way gap with only physical infrastructure impacting the state income positively. Furthermore, not only infrastructure affects steady growth paths but even state incomes influence infrastructure. The results from Fixed effects instrumental regression pinpoint to the importance of physical infrastructure for the Indian states. The policy imperative from this suggests that more government expenditure is likely to foster better physical as well as social infrastructure.

Key Words: Infrastructure, India, Growth, GMM.

Environmental Kuznets Curve for CO2 in India: 1960 to 2020

Anvesak Vol. 53(1) (2023), pp 52-71 Received: 16 Dec. 2022; accepted: 21 Feb. 2023

Utpal kumar de
North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India

Abstract: This paper examines how CO2 emission responds to the growth of per capita GDP, changing share of manufacturing and international trade in GDP in India for the period 1960 to 2020. ARDL and Cointegration methods are employed to examine the short and long run quadratic relationships of the time series data. The results reveal a long run relation among CO2 emission, economic growth, manufacturing output and export as a percentage of GDP. The existence of EKC in India is however associated with a short run insignificant relation of CO2 emissions with manufacturing output and export share of GDP. The existence of long-run EKC relation in India, proves that economic growth itself is an antidote to the environmental degradation problem in the long run. However, the positive relation of manufacturing share in GDP with CO2 emissions alerts for taking care of manufacturing growth but with serious environmental management and control of overall pollution.

Key words:EKC, ARDL, Cointegration, CO2 emission, Income

Structural Change in Trade and Finance in India During 1950-2019: Implications for Disproportional Rise in Output and Employment Across the Sectors

Anvesak Vol. 52(1) (2022), pp 72-90 Received: 12 June 2022; accepted: 7 November 2022

Dipak Prakash
ARSD College, New Delhi, India

Abstract: In the last four decades, it was the tertiary sector which has brought the growth of the economy at higher trajectory. However, the sector is quite heterogeneous and diverse in its nature. The role of various sub-sectors is not the same in output and employment. Modern sector has contributed in output growth, while traditional sectors have generated employment. Therefore, a classic case of disproportionality in output and employment has been palpable in India’s service sector—i.e., more rise in output share than employment. In this paper, the phenomenon has been discussed in the context of trade and finance. The result is quite startling. Trade has exhibited modest growth in output, and the proportionate generation of employment is observed. The role of finance is diametrically opposite. However, in post-2003-04, there is a clear rise in capital intensity of trade. This increase in capital intensity has reduced employment share despite the fact that no or little change in output share of trade is observed.

Key words:Structural change, Service sector, Trade, Finance, Output, Employment

On Quantification of Firewood Dependence of the Fringe Villagers: A Case of Forest Dependence in Northeast India

Anvesak Vol. 52(1) (2022), pp 91-100 Received: 15 December 2021; accepted: 9 March 2022

Rabinjyoti Khataniar
B.H. College, Barpeta, Assam, India

Abstract: This study develops a multidimensional index to measure forest dependence of the fringe villagers for firewood consumption based on the empirical pieces of evidence from northeastern states in India. The study observed that forest firewood dependence is significantly influenced by the factors like size of landholding, availability of alternative fuels, wealth possessed by the households, distance to the nearest firewood market, existing forest management rules and education level of the head of the household. The study is expected to be beneficial for the policymakers with a view to designing sustainable forest and energy policies. The Forest Firewood Dependence Index (FFDI) will facilitate the researchers to add a new dimension in forest and livelihood based research.

Key words:Livelihood, Entropy weight, Multidimensional index, Degradation, Tribal households

Ethnicity, Social Exclusion and Extremism in Northeast India: Understanding Elite Conflict and Political Mobilisation

Anvesak Vol. 52(1) (2022), pp 101-114 Received: 19 December 2021; accepted: 12 August 2022

Tarun Gogoi
D.R. College, Golaghat, Assam, India

Abstract: The politics of Northeast India has been highly ethnicised because of the awakening of ethno-cultural consciousness and assertion of ethnic identities and the region has been passing through a serious ethnic conflicts and turmoil ever since the independence of the country. The ethnic groups inhabiting this region have been pressing either for the creation of separate states or for special constitutional safeguards of their respective identities. The ethnic assertion of different groups is the manifestation of their urges and aspirations against exclusion and for their all round development. The emergence as well as growth of ethnic consciousness based on ethnic identities has manifested through ethnic political mobilisation and ethnic movements. These assertions may be understood as a form of elite conflict. In fact, ethnic assertion is not something which is irrational and impulsive but it is a cover through which the elites compete and struggle for power. This paper is an attempt to deal with the following questions. How do the elites of different communities mobilise people of their respective communities? What strategies do they adopt to push through their objectives? What kind of exclusion does motivate the elites of the ethnic communities to organise their respective communities? It is found in the study that the existing exclusion and conflict among the diverse communities of Northeast India may be removed to some extent by mobilisation of the masses of all sections of people far beyond the interest of the dominant Assamese elite and the elites of the ethnic communities.

Key words:Ethnicity, Social exclusion, Ethnic mobilization, Elite conflict, Extremism, Northeast India