Cart

default logo

EA - Volume 62 - Issue 2

[<<< GO BACK ][ VOLUME 62 - ISSUE 2 ]

Title: Contents Volume 62 Issue 2
Abstract :

Contents

Title: Hayride Participation in the Mid-Atlantic States: A Logistic Approach
Abstract :
The primary objective of this study was to develop and econometric model to identify a prospective participant who is likely to participate in the hayride agritourism activity. An Internet survey was conducted in the mid-Atlantic United States to collect information from those who participated in direct marketing, visits to agritourism operations and farm events. This study examined the influence of demographic characteristics on the likelihood of participants to engage in a hayride event during an agritourism visit. A total of 1,134 respondents from New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania completed the survey. A logit model developed to predict demographic characteristics of participants who are likely to participate in the hayride agritourism activity. Approximately 67% of respondents participated in hayrides during agritourism visits, and based on model results, respondents were more likely to participate if they lived in suburban areas, were male, between age 21 and 50, had a two-year college degree, and had an annual household income between $40,000 and $59,999. However, those who lived in urban areas, have lived at their current residence for more than 20 years, were under age 20, and who have a graduate degree were less likely to participate in a hayride agritourism activity. Hence, famers may be able to target these subgroups of general population to improve participation in hayride agritourism activity at their farm.
Title: Impact of Market-Based Financial Structure on the Growth of Nigerian Economy: An Econometric Analysis
Abstract :
Market-based financial structure plays a key role in the growth and development of all the leading economies in the Western World. The dismal performance of the market-based financial structure calls for concern in Nigeria. The objective of this paper is the examination of the impact of market-based financial structure on the growth of Nigerian economy, with emphasis on market capitalization, total value of transactions, total listed equities and government stocks and total new issues. The paper employs time series data from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin from 1980-2014. Econometric techniques are used to test the time series properties of the data and error correction mechanism is used for the estimation of the variables. The findings of this paper reveal that market-based financial structure significantly impacted on the growth of Nigerian economy. The joint performances of the variables in the model hold positive value for economic growth in Nigeria. The policy recommendation of this paper is that the government should make policy that will encourage firms listing in the capital market so as to improve on market capitalization and value of transactions in the market.
Title: A Study of Agricultural Productivity and Agricultural Intensity in Kaimur District, Bihar
Abstract :
Agricultural development and agricultural productivity have been increased after the introduction of green revolution. In the present paper an attempt has been made to analyse the agricultural productivity and agricultural intensity in Kaimur district of Bihar for two time periods that is 2001 and 2011. Productivity and intensity has increased tremendously due to the use of modern equipments, application of high yielding varieties (HYV) of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc. From the foregoing results it is clear that cropping intensity has increased with the use of modern agricultural inputs. There is a wide regional disparity exists in productivity and intensity for both time periods. Blocks which have good irrigation facility, use HYV seeds in agriculture have high cropping intensity and productivity. On the other blocks having less.
Title: Present Scenario of Agricultural Sector of Manipur
Abstract :
The present study based on secondary data reveals that the net sown area, gross cropped area and cropping intensity have increased over the period of T.E. 1986-87 to T.E. 2012-13, despite of deceleration in gross irrigated area. Land holding pattern have remained more or less unchanged over the entire period and characterised by the domination of marginal and small farmers. Food grains continue to dominate the cropping pattern, but its share has declined by 15.56% and the high valued fruits, vegetables and spices
have consolidated position by increasing share to the tune of 14.78% of the gross cropped area. Per ha Consumption of nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilizers has reduced and the use of potassic fertilizers has been more than doubled during this period. All the major crops have registered significantly positive growth rates with varying magnitudes in area,
production and productivity, but associated with moderate to high instability. Area effect is the primary source of output growth for food grains crops and total vegetables except rice whereas yield is the major contributor to the production increase of total fruits and total spices. Development of region specific crop varieties and production techniques and extensive training programmes along with improvement in irrigation, communication and marketing facilities are urgently needed to accelerate the growth with more stability in agricultural sector of the state.
Title: Price Integration Analysis of Major Groundnut Domestic Markets in India
Abstract :
Market integration is a good proxy for measuring efficiency in the marketing system, whereby the underlying infrastructure is best put to use coupled with effective resource allocation. This way, the emerging price signals from the markets can be utilized to benefit both producers and consumers alike. The present study examines the performance of major groundnut domestic markets viz. Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), Rajkot (Gujarat) and Villupuram (Tamil Nadu) in terms of market integration by using Engle- Granger bivariate co-integration test and Johansen multivariate co-integration test. The findings revealed the existence of long-run equilibrium between the markets in such a way that a 1% price rise in Kurnool market leads to 1.22% price rise in Villupuram market. Similarly, for every 1% price rise in Rajkot market, price in Villupuram market increases by 1.13%. Besides, causality test indicated the existence of feedback relationship between Kurnool and Rajkot market, Kurnool and Villupuram market and the presence of
unidirectional relationship between Rajkot to Villupuram market. The presence of short run disequilibria between market pairs was also captured using Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and the findings revealed that almost 11 to 37% of the short-run fluctuations get corrected with a month. Overall, the results signified effective price transmission mechanism in the domestic markets and any further boost to the existing infrastructure will only help in improving both producer’s and consumer’s surpluses.
Title: Integrated Farming Systems and Income Security: The Case of Arecanut Farmers in Karnataka, India
Abstract :
Surplus farm income and its stability are two important measures of income security of the farmers. These two parameters will have a profound influence on the economic welfare too. This study is an attempt to at evaluate the income security of farmers in areca based integrated farming systems in the state of Karnataka, India. The results revealed no significant difference in profitability among different arecanut based farming systems. The income generated from different areca based farming systems helped the majority of the farmers to cross the poverty line, indicating the role of such farming systems in ensuring income security in the region. Regression analysis of variability in farmers’ income indicated negative association between diversification in income sources and income variability. Hence, it is beneficial for the farmers if they diversify their sources of income.
Title: Changing Pattern in India's Agricultural Exports under WTO
Abstract :
Agriculture came under the WTO regime in 1995 when Agreement on Agriculture was negotiated. In India, agriculture accounts for about 12% of total exports earnings which implies that uncertainty in the world agriculture market will have a great impact on the whole economy. Several studies have compared the trend of India’s agricultural export in the pre and post WTO period but this paper goes a step ahead and apart from comparing the trend, it also brings the commodity wise analysis of agricultural trade in order to have an idea of the changing pattern of trade and most importantly the paper measures the convergence or divergence of agricultural exports over the years through Simpson Index. The study found that in pre WTO period, an attempt was made to achieve specialisation in agricultural exports whereas no such attempt was made in post WTO period. The study concludes that WTO has mixed impact on India’s agricultural exports. It has helped India to improve its position in global agricultural exports but it did not allow her to gain expertise in the exports of agricultural products and specialise in the commodity of its comparative advantage.
Title: Nonfarm based Livelihood in Rural Sikkim: An Analysis
Abstract :
Contemporary literatures on rural livelihoods reveal these days rural livelihoods are highly diversified and largely dependent on nonfarm activities in most of the places. An inquiry of this problem in context of Sikkim has found a similar story. Using data obtained from 300 rural households through multistage random sampling from all four districts of Sikkim, this paper tries to see the situation of nonfarm livelihoods in rural Sikkim. It was found that casual nonfarm employment occupies the most common livelihood source, followed by regular nonfarm employment and self-employment. Nonfarm income occupies a high share in household income in most of the households. Factor causing nonfarm work participation are average education of the households, credits and finance, Household asset possession, family size and operational holdings. Despite farming activities being central to several rural households, nonfarm income occupies a higher share in most of the cases.
Title: Accessibility of Rural Credit among Weaker Section of the Society: A Case Study of South Tripura District of Tripura
Abstract :
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for the majority of the people of India despite rigorous industrialization in the last six decades. Agriculture and allied sector is the major contributor to the India’s national income, therefore, it s said that agriculture is the backbone of the Nation. Although
great development took place in the field of agriculture in the form of green revolution during the last few decades in India but, it was limited to few areas and to a few crops. In fact, Indian agriculture is associated with lots of limitations and problems and lack of access to credit facility is one of the most important. Lacks of access to the credit facilities hamper rural population, especially the weaker section, from growth and prosperity. To overcome with the problem associated with the accessibility of rural credit, organized segment constituted by cooperative banks, regional rural banks, commercial banks, and non-banking financial companies need to establish appropriate procedures and processes. Rural credit is not only the critical input in agriculture but also an effective means for overall development of rural economy. It serves as a tool f
Title: Military Expenditure and Economic Growth Nexus in the Postreform Era of India
Abstract :
The effect of military expenditure on the economy is a controversial area of research among economists. Particularly, in the last four decades, there has been a growing interest in the role of military spending in developing countries. The issue that has received the most attention has been whether military expenditure helps or hinders economic growth. A possible beneficial effect of defense expenditure lies in its role in creating effective demand when there is slack in the economy. Within the Keynesian framework of macroeconomic analysis, government expenditure on goods and services including defense is an important force in the determination of output and employment. On the other hand, military spending cannot contribute to a nation’s ability to produce more economic goods and services in the future. More public expenditure in the military sector leads to crowding out of private investment and less investment on public goods like health, education, infrastructure and research and development. Under these circumstances this paper tries to reinvestigate this relationship in India specially in the post reform era. This study finds defense spending is not significantly helping economic growth of India within the time horizon of the study. On the other hand, capital formation is playing a significant role
for economic growth of India.
Title: Marketing Efficiency and Marketing Channels for Paddy Crop in the Eastern Region of Uttar Pradesh
Abstract :
The study was undertaken in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh to examine marketed surplus, marketing surplus, disposal pattern and constraints which are faced by the paddy growers in the study area. A sample of 80 farmers of Deoria district (Uttar Pradesh) was selected from 6 villages of two blocks for the year 2009-10. According to this study, the average marketable surplus per farm was 43.26 quintals per farm and the highest marketable surplus was with the large farm household that is to the tune of 77.03
quintals per farm. The average marketed surplus across the farm size group was 44.38 quintals which was more than marketable surplus. Marketed surplus was lowest with marginal farmers i.e. only 25.92 quintals followed by small (28.85 quintals), medium (48.13 quintals) and large (74.65 quintals) farm households. The average on farm requirement across the farm size group was 15.12 quintals which was highest at large farm households. Due to improper infrastructural facilities farmers were forced to sale their crop produce in the local markets at lower prices. There was existence of distress sale on the marginal farms. Lack of suitable market was quite common problem. Poor storage facility also compelled the farmers to sell their produce just after harvesting. Monopoly of buyers /contractors was also quite common observation in the study area. Inadequate price information system was also found as an important marketing problem experienced by the producer-sellers in the study area.
Title: A Study on Dynamicity of Data on the Import of Fish to Tripura
Abstract :
In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the dynamicity of the data (1998-99 to 2015- 16) on imports of fishes from other states to Tripura. Some time series models such as moving average, exponential smoothing have been tried to capture the trend of imports over the years in order to smooth out short-term fluctuations and highlight longer-term trends or cycles. The appropriate time series model has been identified and it has been evaluated by the model accuracy parameters like bias, Mean Absolute
Deviation (MAD), Mean Squared Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Percent Error (MAPE). It is revealed that the precision levels are much higher when the 2-interval simple moving average is used or the progressively lower values of smoothing constant is employed as it closely fits that actual data. The importance of such studies stems from the fact that the policy makers need the trend/pattern of imports of fishes/various items over the years in advance which helps to determine/regulate the trade policy of such items.
Title: Impact of Urbanization on Land Use Pattern of Rural-Urban Gradient of Bengaluru North: An Economic Analysis
Abstract :
Pressure on farm land is increasing at the periphery of the cities and the developmental pressures led by the urbanization process transforming farm lands into non-agricultural landscapes which is irreversible. Hence the study was conducted along rural-urban continuum of Bengaluru North to analyze the impact of urbanization on land use pattern and production systems. The results of the study revealed that the area under non-agricultural uses is growing significantly with positive trend in the Bengaluru urban and
Bengaluru rural districts and Bengaluru North and Devanahalli taluks where the influence of Bengaluru sprawl is more and in rural gradient its growth is insignificant. The net sown area has recorded significant negative growth in urban gradient and is insignificant in other two gradients. The correlation between area under non-agricultural uses and net sown area was significant and strongly negatively correlated in urban gradient. The extent of their correlation co-efficient decreases as the urban influences decreases.
Field crops have seen devastation in the last decade at urban and peri-urban gradients. Because of ground water shortage and frequent failure of bore wells, the area under vegetable crops and mulberry has reduced at farm level, where as the area of fruit crops under micro irrigation system has increased. Hence in the view of rapid growth of Bengaluru city, there is a need for measures to control irreversible damage of farm lands and agrarian community in the area.
Title: Is MGNREGA a myth for Arunachal Pradesh? Field Evidence
Abstract :
A study on the impact of MGNREGA in the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh was conducted during October, 2014 to March, 2015. The focus was on assessment of the performance of the scheme in terms of job creation, efficiency in creation of durable social assets vis-a-vis work completion rate; efficiency in fund utilization to examine as to which extent this massive flagship programme could attain its promised deliverables during the periods in between 2008-09 to 2013-14. Though an impressive quantum of 240.21 lakh person days could be generated in the state and 10.26 lakh job cards were distributed during the entire span of study period. The work completion rate in the state was found to be very low i.e. 8.05%
as large volume of funds remained being unspent. So the implementing authority in the state, perhaps, cannot avoid the blame for its apathy and non-responsiveness towards its poor people. The revelations made through the study had altogether put a serious question mark on the performance of MGNREGA in the state of Arunachal Pradesh as it grossly failed to guarantee 100 days jobs to the poor people as per promise.
Title: Resource Use Efficiency in Cultivation of Major Food Crops under Rainfed Conditions in Central Dry Zone of Karnataka
Abstract :
A study was conducted on the resource use efficiency of major food crops under rainfed conditions in Central Dry Zone of Karnataka (CDZ). The major crops of CDZ are ragi, maize and groundnut. The data
was collected from rainfed farmers of CDZ of Karnataka. Cobb-Douglas production analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis was used. The inputs used are human labour, bullock labour, machine labour, seed, fertilizer and farm yard manure (FYM). In rainfed ragi, the regression coefficients for bullock pair (1.27) and FYM (0.94) were positive and statistically significant. In rainfed maize, the elasticity of production for human labour was highest (1.18) followed by production co-efficient of seed (0.98) and fertilizers (0.63).
The elasticity co-efficient in rainfed groundnut with respect to seeds was 0.41, while that of fertilizers was 0.71 indicating the scope for higher use of these inputs from the present level to optimise returns. The ratio of MVP to MFC was differed from unity in all major crops, indicating scope for reallocation of expenditure among various resources. Among the crops technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and economic efficiency scored impressively in rainfed maize was 0.83, 0.69 and 0.6, respectively.
Title: Area, Production, Yield Trends and Pattern of Oilseeds Growth in India
Abstract :
India is the fourth largest producer of oilseeds accounting for about 19% of the global area, 2.7% of global production in the world. The oilseeds crops have registered the significant growth in area and production in last 30 years. However, compare to cereals like paddy and wheat, the growth rate of area
and production of oilseeds is insignificant and there exists wide variability in their yield in different states of the country. The study has explored the growth performance, and dynamics of major oilseeds in different states of the country. Oilseeds exhibited a dismal picture in their production performance both spatially and temporally.
Title: Socio-Economic Status of Livestock Farmers of Ibrahimpur Village, North Goa District: A Benchmark Analysis
Abstract :
A vigilant study of the socio-economic conditions of livestock farmers is a precondition for the appropriate design and successful implementation of Governments’ developmental programmes. The study was conducted in North Goa district of Goa during 2015-16 to investigate the socioeconomic profiles of livestock farmers. For this, primary data was collected through structured questionnaire using a sample size of fifty respondents from Pernem block of North Goa district. Thus study was designed to appraise
the socio-economic profile of livestock farmers in North Goa district. Results of the study revealed that majority of the farmers are maintaining nuclear family with less than five members. Most of the farmers belonged to marginal farmers’ categories who are involved in livestock activities. Majority of the farmers had low level of income, less access to institutional source of finance agricultural extension service and livestock possession. It is observed that more than half of the (69%) of the population are cattle in total livestock population. Livestock farmers have secondary and intermediate school level and more than half of the farmers involved in livestock farming belonged to middle age group. Due to low agricultural profitability, young people are not interested in agriculture and shift towards tourism and tourism related services. Agriculture profitability should be increased to retain the people in farming by providing access to credit, markets, extension service.
Title: Market Arrival and Price Behaviour of Potato in Agra District of Uttar Pradesh
Abstract :
Potato is the major vegetable of India. Variation in output of potato over the years leads to wide fluctuation in its price exposing the growers to a high risk situation. To cope with this, information on potential market and quantum of arrivals and prices of potato in different months of year is necessary for farmers. The current study attempted to analyze the variation in arrivals and prices of potato in highest potato producing district of Uttar Pradesh i.e. Agra. Time series data for last 10 years on area and production as well as market arrivals and prices of potato was collected from various government organizations. The findings indicated that the annual growth rates in area and production of potato during last ten years were significant and positive. However in case of productivity, it was insignificant and negative. The annual compound growth rates of arrivals were comparatively higher than that of market price. Interyear variations in market arrivals and prices of potato were observed. The monthly arrival of potato was highest in the month of January and lowest in the month of October. Accordingly, the market price was highest during October-November and lowest in the month of February. The seasonal index of arrival showed that the arrivals were low during June to November and higher during December to May. The results confirmed that there were both negative and positive relationships across months between market arrivals and prices in terms of correlation coefficients.
Title: Women Participation in Panchayat Raj in West Bengal: An Appraisal
Abstract :
In Indian democracy there is a need to have a federation with substantial degree of decentralization of powers, functions and finances to the local units of governance. Article 40 of the Indian constitution directed the states to “take steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them function as of self government.” There seems to have remained a perceptible reluctance on part of the state governments to set up panchayats on regular basis,
give them legitimacy and due power. The credit goes to 73rd Constitution Amendment Act in 1992 as Panchayati Raj Act, which not only provided autonomy to the grassroots but it also provided reservation of one-third of seats for women in every s for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions. Though the debate for women’s reservation in parliament still continues, a major milestone was achieved in 1992 when parliament passed the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Bill, which sought to bring about and institutional
change that mandated reserving 33 per cent of seat. The women representation has been very encouraging in states like West Bengal, Haryana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.