This paper examines the effect commercialization (sale ratio, market transaction, co-operative sale), and diversification (crop, animal husbandry, and non-farm diversification) may have on farmers’ income. In investigating so, this paper takes into account the structural factors which could also affect farmers' income. The results show that increasing diversification (crop and …
The Green Revolution was India’s first industrial agricultural revolution that replaced the traditional farming system completely. But the adverse consequences of Green Revolution in the form of stagnation in production aggravated the problems of the farmers in the era of post-Green Revolution in 1980s and 1990s. The late 1990s witnessed …
Survey data collected in 2007 from three districts in Andhra Pradesh, this article assesses the performance of 72 primary agricultural credit cooperatives. It finds that these credit cooperatives tend to be used as political instruments and, as a result, borrowers prioritise all debt obligations to microfinance institutions, informal moneylenders and …
Strong rural organizations like producer groups and cooperatives are crucial to hunger and poverty reduction. They allow small producers to play a greater role in meeting growing food demand on local, national and international markets, while improving their own economic, social and political opportunities. This thinking connects a series of …
The question of 'what changes do we need to empower women smallholders and achieve food security?' has been asked repeatedly. But transformational changes in both public policy and practice have been few and far between, although increasing access to resources and opportunities for women farmers could substantially reduce the number …
Village cooperatives to get new responsibility Village cooperative societies in Rajasthan will shortly take over the responsibility for supplying essential commodities to consumers under the public distribution system. The State Government is set to make the significant change in the PDS in an attempt to strengthen the cooperative movement. Cooperative …
This article looks at a system designed and implemented by members of an indigenous community in central Ecuador, which, by localising food production, distribution and consumption, ties together a series of efforts that provide a safeguard against the precarious nature of local employment and fluctuating food prices. Results so far …
This bill has been drafted by Goa Law Commission to prevent sale of agricultural land to non agriculturists. It proposes to conserve water bodies too and deals with the aspect of contract farming, co-operative farms and farming estates. An Act to provide for conservation of agricultural land, prevention of sale …
There is a need to break yield barriers through multidimensional approch to achieve food security on a sustainable basis for the people of this country. Cooperatives can play an important role in this direction due to their proximity to farmers. The Indian Farmers' Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), since over the …
Bioenergy could help bring food security to the world's poorest continent, say Lee R. Lynd and Jeremy Woods. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v474/n7352_supp/full/474S020a.html
Non timber forest products (NTFPs) play a vital role in sustaining rural communities, particularly those living adjacent to forest areas. In India, it is estimated that over 50 million people are dependent on NTFPs for their subsistence and derive their earnings from these products after consuming about 60% of NTFPs.
This paper from Centre for Development Finance (CDF) - IFMR analyzes the product distribution choices available in rural BoP markets to help enterprises evaluate the key drivers of distribution for successful go-to-market strategies. Based on extensive field work with commercial and social enterprises, rural BoP consumers and on rigorous secondary …
Corporate inventories of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions provide a firm foundation for emissions management by business. But they rarely include agricultural emissions, often because of confusion about the best practices needed to address unique aspects of agricultural sources. This paper suggests accounting and reporting procedures based on the GHG Protocol …
This paper illustrates the environmental elements of a strategy towards the creation of sustainable enterprises by highlighting impacts on employment of different environmental instruments and policies.
This cover story in Down To Earth online charts the growth trajectory of India’s microfinance institutions and consists of a special report on the microfinance institutions in Andhra Pradesh who grew rich by lending insured loans to the rural poor.
Ega Mounika was born into debt, lived in debt and died with debts. The college-going 20-year-old of Warangal’s Karimabad village immolated herself on September 25; three days later, she died. “My daughter wanted to release us from debt,” said her father Laxmi Narayan who sustained burn injuries trying to rescue …
The total demand for micro-credit in the country has been estimated at Rs 50,000 crore. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) estimates that in 256 of India’s 626 districts the credit gap is at least 95 per cent or more. Most mfis are concentrated in these districts, including two of …
CHHATTISGARH “It was a crazy time and we took great risks,” said Alok Shukla. “Sometimes I shudder to think what would have happened if we had not succeeded. We would have been facing audit questions the rest of our lives.” Shukla was referring to his challenging time as food secretary …
The journey of honey from bee farms to breakfast tables has become complex with time. From wild honey gatherers, honey supply has passed into the hands of cooperatives of individual beekeepers and then to big companies. The cooperatives could have helped beekeepers demand better prices, but they did not last …
On the genesis of the scheme Our target is to ensure not a single milk producer in Anand and Khera districts of Gujarat defecates in the open. This is the region where the milk movement began in 1946, where we strive to improve the quality of the milk chain— from …
The Green Revolution impacted livestock-rearing as well as agriculture. Farmers were encouraged to shift from low-input backyard systems to corporatised capital-intensive systems. As a result, write Nitya S Ghotge and Sagari R Ramdas, there was an artificial divide between livestock-rearing and agriculture, leading to the further crumbling of fragile livelihoods …
