|
In this issue, the first two papers bring out the importance of quality in the context of
producing cotton and mulberry silk cocoon, respectively. The next three papers are on
measurement of cost efficiency in rice production between two states, regional
variation in agricultural development at state level and performance, and determinants of
agricultural growth at macro level of Indian economy are also focused. Lastly it incorporates the
paper on the participation of female labor in the agricultural sector of Swaziland.
Mohit Gupta and Navdeep Aggarwal in the paper, "Practices and Perceptions of
Cotton Ginners of Punjab Towards Cotton Contamination: A Study", elucidate that
cotton contamination is a serious problem which needs to be tackled to remain competitive in
the world textile market. Even a single fiber can lead to the downgrading of yarn, fabric
and garment to second quality or to total rejection of the entire batch. Against this
background, this paper attempts to find out the perceptions and practices of 30 cotton ginners
towards cotton contamination in two important cotton growing areas of Punjab. The results
conclude that some of the contaminants are not found as important threat to cotton quality.
However, organic matter is found as the significant contaminant. This study suggests that the
cotton ginning factories have to adopt more specialized practices to avoid contamination at
ginning and pressing stages.
Kumaresan P, Geetha Devi R G and Kamble C K in their paper, "Determinants of
Mulberry Silk Cocoon Quality", articulate that India is the largest producer of mulberry silk. Despite
serious attempts since 1981, the production of quality bivotine silk has not
increased significantly. However, the quality of the silk is influenced by the races of silkworm,
rearing management and the process used for the reeling, etc. Central Silk Technological
Research Institute, Bangalore, has made a study in major silk producing states such as
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in South India to examine the quality of cocoon
produced by the farmers. The findings of this study conclude that though many parameters are
involved in determining the cocoon and quality of raw silk, defective cocoon, renditta and raw
silk recovery had shown high degree of association with raw silk grade. Thus the authors
conclude that there is a need to educate the farmers to improve the quality of silk produced in
these three states.
Chandralekha Ghosh and Ajitava Raychaudhuri in the paper, "Measurement of
Cost Efficiency in the Case of Rice Production in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh", says that both
are the two large rice producing states of India. It is evident that institutional reforms in
West Bengal and technological reforms in Andhra Pradesh have caused remarkable changes
in agricultural sector. Against this background, this study examines the cost and
technical efficiencies of rice production in these two states during the period from 1971 to 2005.
It concludes that though these states followed different paths of agricultural
development, they have shown similar technical efficiencies which are below the optimum level.
Finally this study concludes that this issue should be considered a matter of serious concern in
policy making.
Umakanta Tripathy in the paper, "Impact of Regional Variation in
Agricultural Development: A District-Wise Analysis in Orissa", focuses on interdistrict variation
in agricultural development among the 13 undivided districts of Orissa. First this
study examines the disparities among various indicators of economic development such as
Per Capita Income (PCI) from agriculture, net irrigated area as percentage of net area
sown, productivity per hectare, cropping intensity, distribution of fertilizer per 1,000 ha of
gross cropped area. Secondly it focuses on variation of district income such as Gross
District Domestic Product (GDDP), Net District Domestic Product (NDDP), and PCI, etc. Lastly
this paper attempts to study the inequal distribution of land holdings in the state. Based on
the findings, the author concludes that land reform is essential for the benefit of marginal
and small farmers of this state.
Amarnath Tripathi and A R Prasad in the paper, "An Overview of Agrarian Economy
in India: Performance and Determinants", evaluate the growth of Indian agriculture
since independence. Further, it analyzes the sources of agricultural growth and determinants
of agricultural production. It uses the decomposition test to analyze the sources of
agricultural growth and the production function approach to analyze the determinants of
agricultural production. The findings of this study state that there is a scope to increase both net
sown area and gross sown area in the country. The decomposition analysis further states that
rising output per hectare is the predominant source of agricultural growth for most of the crops
and crop groups. The results of aggregate agricultural production function indicate that
land significantly affected the agricultural output growth during the study period and
subsequently land became less significant and labor and capital are significantly affecting the growth
of agricultural output.
N Narayana and N B Shongwe in the paper, "Determinants of Female Labor
Force Participation in the Agricultural Sector of Swaziland", explain that female labor force
plays an important role in the economic development of Swaziland. This study examines
and analyzes the determinants of FLFP in the agricultural sector of Swaziland. This study is
mainly based on the secondary data and uses the Prohit and Multinational Logit Models to
analyze the data. The results state that almost 7% of females participate in the agricultural
sector. However, it was mainly decided by age, marital status, level of education, land
ownership, employment status and credit accessibility. Lastly, it advocates certain policy implications
for the significant contribution of women to the agricultural sector of Swaziland.
-
L Krishna Veni
Consulting Editor |
