Status
and Growth Trends in Area,Production and Productivity
of Horticulture Crops in Assam
--
Ira Das, M K Dutta and S Borbora
Diversification
of agriculture is considered as an important strategy
for agricultural development in India and importance of
horticulture crops as a means of diversification and creation
of employment opportunities in rural areas is recognized.
Besides, it also leads to agro-industries' development
and value addition. In India, horticulture accounts for
8.5% of the gross cropped area and occupies second position
in fruits production and first position in vegetables
production. Although, the state of Assam has the potential
for development of horticulture with its wide range of
topographical and agro-climatic variations, the state
is yet to harness the potentiality. In a flood prone state
like Assam where productivity of major crops like rice
is not stable, increase in production of horticultural
crops can minimize the impact of crop failure and provide
monetary security to the farmers. This paper analyzes
the status, growth trend—in area, production and
productivity—of major horticultural crops of Assam
vis-a-vis India. It also examines whether the area or
productivity is the more influential factor of production
of horticultural crops in the state. The paper highlights
the better prospects of some horticultural crops in Assam,
as their position is advantageous in comparison to India.
There is also a need to increase the production and productivity
by using scientific method of cultivation to have a sustainable
growth in the long run.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
An
Economic Analysis of the Production and Marketing Aspects
of Grape Cultivation in Theni District, Tamil Nadu
-- S
Iyyampillai and P Balamurugan
This
primary study exposes that Theni district in Tamil Nadu
leads with 82.57% share of total production of grape in
the year 2004-05. In a season, the production of small
farmers per acre is 5,484 kg, which is relatively higher
than the medium and large farmers. Further, it is evident
that wholesalers, commission agents and retailers are
involved in the purchase of grapes from the farmers. In
this study, the farmers report that they are facing the
problems like lack of remunerative price for their product
and protecting the grape vineyard from the diseases; where
as the traders complain that there are no adequate infrastructural
facilities such as road, transportation, cold storage,
etc. Therefore, the authors suggest certain measures such
as opening agricultural clinics for the effective pest
management and productivity of the vineyard, provision
of cold storages, support prices for grapes, procurement
centers to purchase grapes from the farmers for export.
Furthermore, training for the proper post harvest handling
of grapes, establishment of information board by the traders
to avoid price differentials, provision of bank loans
to the cultivators and traders, etc., are some steps in
this direction.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Technical
Efficiency of Paddy Cultivation: A Socioeconomic Analysis
of Haryana State
-- Surender
Singh
This
paper investigates farm-specific technical inefficiency
effects of paddy farms in Haryana using stochastic frontier
production function, which incorporates a model for technical
inefficiency effects including age, schooling, access
to institutional credit, extension contacts and level
of farm holding fragmentation. The study reveals that
the traditional average response function was not an adequate
representation of the data. The mean technical efficiency
turns out to be 87%. Thus, yield of paddy in Haryana can
be increased by 13% without increasing the level of inputs,
if the inefficiency is reduced. Medium-size paddy farms
are found more technically efficient as compared to their
large and small-size counterparts. The results further
indicate that technical inefficiency of paddy production
is influenced positively by age and level of fragmentation,
whereas negatively by education, access to institutional
credit and extension contacts. This study suggests the
need to promote young farmers as decision-makers along
with raising the education level of farming community
and also efforts should be made to further strengthen
the extension contacts, access to institutional credit
for farmers and to control the fragmentation of farm holdings.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Heterogeneous
Seasonal Patterns in Agricultural Data and Evolving Splines
- José
Juan Cáceres-Hernández and Gloria Martín-Rodríguez
In
this paper an appropriate model of the seasonal pattern
in agricultural data is proposed, which takes the specific
nature of such a pattern into account. The methodological
proposal is based on evolving splines that are shown to
be a tool capable of modeling seasonal variations in which
either the period or the magnitude of the seasonal fluctuations
do not remain the same over time. This proposal is applied
to capture the movements in a weekly tomato export series
and the analysis is carried out inside the frame delimited
by the structural approach to time series.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Impact
of Agriclinics and Agribusiness Centers on the Economic
Status of the Farmers
-- P
Chandra Shekara and P Kanaka Durga
This
paper examines the impact of Agriclinics and Agribusiness
Centers Scheme on the economic status of the farmers of
Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The present study is based
on the primary data from a sample of 107 farmers from
Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The results of the study
indicated that majority of the sample farmers received
free advisory and quality input supply and more than one
service in time from the Agripreneurs. Cropping pattern
shifts occurred in both the states due to the intervention
of Agripreneurs, and this shift is more in Maharashtra.
Around 90% of the farmers adopted improved technologies
after obtaining services from Agripreneurs. This results
pointed out that the yield of the sample farmers has gone
up due to adoption of better package of practices based
on the advice of Agripreneurs. Income of the sample farmers
has gone up due to intensification, diversification, value
addition, adoption of allied enterprises and better market
linkage. Professionalism in agriculture extension brought
by Agripreneurs contributed to the overall development
of agriculture.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Managing
Risks in Rural Livelihood: Lessons from Women Dairy Project
-- Sanjeev Kapoor
This
paper illustrates how the intervention in dairy project
has influenced the livelihoods of large number of rural
women in a sustainable manner by minimizing the various
risks associated with dairying. It also analyzes the impact
of the dairy enterprise on the income of the rural households
on the one hand, and the process of women empowerment
through dairying, on the other. The findings emphatically
suggests that any project that eliminates marketing and
price risks associated with any economic activity is likely
to succeed, irrespective of its design (whether a cooperative
or non-cooperative model). The best thing is to identify
the constraints in value chain and all the interventions
should be directed towards overcoming those constraints.
It would automatically improve the income of the producers
and would meet the logical end for livelihood promotion.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Perceptions
on the Quality and Perceived Constraints in the Accessibility
of Livestock Services in Tamil Nadu (South India)
-- G
Kathiravan and M Thirunavukkarasu
This
paper on the farmers' perception on livestock services
provision in Tamil Nadu reveals that the home services
rendered by veterinarians as the best one, followed by
private veterinary clinics, home services by Para-veterinarians,
public veterinary centaers and co-operative veterinary
centers. This paper exhibits the major constraints in
availing the public livestock services by the farmers
such as long distance to the public veterinary center,
longer waiting time to attend the case by the service
provider and inadequacy of drugs in the centers. Further,
it concludes that high service charges, expensive drug/semen
and delay in availing appointment of service provider
are the main problems of the private livestock services,
hence, there is a need to provide improved services to
the farmers through regulatory framework.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
