Groundwater is a major source of irrigation in West Bengal, with about 65 per cent of irrigated area under tube well irrigation. Under the present government, there has been a rapid hike in power tariffs for agriculture and it has affected the cultivation of summer crops in the State, particularly the cultivation of water-intensive boro (summer) paddy.
Women’s Access to Land
Women’s control over land and property is recognised to be an important factor in women’s socio-economic status and empowerment. We report some interesting results on the subject from a quick analysis of data from eight villages (located in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab and Karnataka) surveyed by the Foundation for Agrarian Studies.
Rural Women Work (At Least) 50 Hours a Week
Women work for at least 50 hours a week. This is our finding from a one-week labour diary or time-use survey conducted in Siresandra village of Kolar, Karnataka in May 2017. As part of a project on Women in Rural Production Systems, the Foundation for Agrarian Studies team interviewed 14 women on all the activities undertaken every day for a week.
Misunderstanding Data, Poor Analysis, and Wrong Conclusions
A recent paper, published by the PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences of the United States) and authored by Tamma A. Carleton, titled “Climate Change and Agricultural Suicides in India” claims that “temperature during India’s main agricultural growing season has a strong positive effect on annual suicide rates.” Regrettably, the paper has received widespread uncritical coverage in the Indian media.
The Effects of Extreme Temperature on Crop Yield in Karnataka
One of the immediate consequences of climate variability is the occurrence of extreme weather events, which are expected to increase in the future as global warming intensifies. A study of climate change and agricultural yield in Karnataka, supported by the Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission (Jayaraman, et al. 2017), was recently undertaken to analyse the relationship between extreme temperatures and crop yield at the sub-district (taluka) level for selected crops.
Forests and Food Security
There is an interesting new report on forests and food security from the High Level Panel of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security (HLPE 2017).
Review of A New Statistical Domain in India
My review in Japanese appears in Statistics, the journal of the Japanese Society of Economic Statistics. The review begins by introducing the book series, mentioning that the book is part of the Agrarian Studies Series of the Foundation for Agrarian Studies.
The Shrinking Policy Space for Food Security
Food security one one of the foremost goals of social policy in most developing countries, including India. Subsidies for food security can be at the producer level (through price support and procurement), at the storage, processing and transport level and, finally, at the retail level (that is, to the consumer). As per the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), subsidies are permissible except through price support and procurement.
The Agricultural Potential of Tripura
Tripura is a small State in the North-East of our country that has made excellent progress in agriculture largely because it is endowed with high political stability and vision, and also a high degree of administrative efficiency.
Understanding Organic Agriculture
Globally, there is an increasing concern for environmental sustainability and availability of safe and nutritious food. Organic agriculture is seen as a promising solution to address these concerns.
