Nasim Ahmad - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Nasim Ahmad

Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research

Background: In India dairy farming is a significant part of the rural population, providing not o... more Background: In India dairy farming is a significant part of the rural population, providing not only supplementary income and nutritional standards but also organic manures and draught power. Andhra Pradesh ranks 5th in total milk production in India with an output of 15.04 million metric tonnes and Chittoor district is one of the leading districts for dairy farming in the state. There is an increasing trend in milk production; however, the main drawback faced by the milk producers in dairy farming is the low productivity of milch animals. Assessing the economics of milk production would be extremely beneficial in planning for the improvement of productivity of dairy animals and framing policies to increase the profitability of dairy farms. Methods: Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh was purposively selected for the present investigation. The primary data was collected from 80 respondents of which 40 each from two villages in the year 2021. The economics of milk production and the ...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017

The nature and extent of crop diversification in the state of Bihar has been analyzed using secon... more The nature and extent of crop diversification in the state of Bihar has been analyzed using secondary data obtained from different publish sources of Govt. of Bihar from 2000-01 to 2014-15 i.e. a period of 15 years. Composite Entropy Index (CEI) and double log stepwise linear regression model was applied to assess the determinants of crop diversification in the state. The results have revealed that in almost all crops group very low diversification indices were observed. The study has suggested that despite plenty of natural resources available in the state, the economic improvement of farmers is in infancy. Prerequisite infrastructural facilities like cheap sources of irrigation water (assured irrigation as the monsoon in the present decade had been erratic and scanty rainfall) and extension of technological know-how (quality seeds and fertilizers), may acts as catalyst in diversification of agriculture towards high-valued crops. These developmental efforts may be helpful in fetching good incomes by the cultivators.

The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences

In the present study, an attempt has been made to test the cost efficiency of cereal crops like p... more In the present study, an attempt has been made to test the cost efficiency of cereal crops like paddy, wheat and maize separately in the state of Bihar using Stochastic Cost Frontier model. It has been tried to determine the determinants of cost inefficiencies. The study is also aimed to know the factors affecting the cost inefficiencies in production of major cereals of the state so as to ascertain proper steps to increase cost efficiency in production. Most important observation emerged that there existed non-linear relationship between cost inefficiency and farm category. Cost inefficiency first increased with the increase of farm size then it decreased. In case of paddy mechanization could negatively affect the cost inefficiency and proportion to family labour in total labour was found positive implying increase in cost inefficiency. But in wheat, family labour showed positive value, indicating thereby increase in cost inefficiency. In case of maize, coefficient of fertilizer us...

Despite of deceleration in area and marginal rise in production due to higher productivity growth... more Despite of deceleration in area and marginal rise in production due to higher productivity growth rate but gross decline in area and production is perceived to be a major threat towards future food and nutritional security of the country as well as the Eastern states. Framing strategies to overcome the present gloomy situation may be considered as a greatest ever challenge faced by policy makers as well as agricultural scientists. The strategies for stepping up domestic production must include development and adoption of modern technology including high yielding varieties, better monetary incentives to farmers to make pulses cultivation more remunerative than competitive crops, assured market which will motivate farmers to allocate more land for pulses cultivation. The minimum support price should be greater coordination with farm harvest price and market price. The Inputs constraints particularly quality seeds, fertilizers and lifesaving irrigation growth are not enough as compared to rice and wheat crops. Liberalized and subsidized import of pulses of India helps to meet demand-supply gaps, which have occurred because of stagnation in the area under cultivation, very slow growth in yield, poor increase in production and speedy increase in population. Ban on export and reexport of pulses make the closure of Indian pulses processing units. Problems of pulses economy can be solved with the increase the sources of production. Effective and continuous efforts are needed to increase the area under cultivation with better technological and logistic support.

Indian Journal of Extension Education, 2022

The study was conducted during 2018-2019 to explore the impact of male migration innorth-Bihar in... more The study was conducted during 2018-2019 to explore the impact of male migration innorth-Bihar in empowering women in different domain of household decisions. Five domainsnamely agricultural production, asset creation, health care, educational decision of childrenand leadership were considered and women empowerment indices were computed for eachdomain. The result revealed that migration of male member adequately empowered only29.44 per cent of women. Larger proportion of women respondents (43.89%) were foundunder moderately empowered category and 29.67 per cent were observed still under lowempowerment group. Women were adequately empowered in studied area to take decisionsrelated to health care, education and agricultural production. The decision to purchase andsale of assets still was under the jurisdiction of male counterpart as the patriarchal systemstill dominated. The role of women in decision making in all the farm activities, fromselection of crops to the sale of farm produce...

International Journal of Livestock Research, 2020

Livestock is a vital component of Indian economy in general and of agricultural sector in particu... more Livestock is a vital component of Indian economy in general and of agricultural sector in particular. In rural India over 15-20% families are landless and about 80% of the land holders belong to small and marginal farm size groups, livestock provides livelihood to two-third of the rural population. Livestock sector provides employment to about 8.8% Indian population. Contribution of livestock sector in GDP was 4.11% and it contributed 25.6% to the Agricultural GDP during 2018-2019. Livestock production constitutes an important component of Agricultural economy in Bihar as it assists in supply of food and nutrition, enhancement of income, livelihood and diversification of agricultural activities. Meanwhile, the livestock sub-sector contributed about 27% to the agricultural GSDP and 5% to state income or GSDP in 2012. Bihar has made great progress in dairy and is recognized for its high milk production from cows, buffalo and goats. Bihar's milk production increased to 92.41 lakh tonnes in 2017-18 from 71.97 lakh tonnes in 2013-14, indicating an annual growth rate of 6.33%, during the five-year period. Productivity of milk per lactating cattle was found comparatively low as compared to others states Like Punjab, Gujarat, UP and MP. Contribution of livestock share in GVOA was found 25.4% in TE-2002-03 and increased to 31% in TE-2013-14 in Bihar whereas, the all-India share of livestock in GVOA stood at 26% in TE 2013-14. The share of meat in the total value of output from livestock sector has declined while that of milk has increased. The share of milk in GVOA has increased from 14% to 23% between TE-2003-04 and TE-2013-14, while at the all-India level; the share of milk in GVOA remained at 17% during the same period. Bihar has immense potential in livestock and dairy sector. If harnessed properly by suitable policy initiatives could be helpful in augmenting income, generating employment and providing nutritional security to state in particular and nation in general.

Vegetable Science, 2018

The present study was conducted to analyze the comparative production performance of vegetable cr... more The present study was conducted to analyze the comparative production performance of vegetable crops in eastern India and India. In this study compound growth rates of vegetable crops and major vegetables like potato, tomato, onion, brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, okra and pea were calculated byfitting exponential function tovariables like area, production and productivity and tabular analysis was done to arrive at meaningful results. The study was based on macro framed data collected through different published secondary sources like Horticultural statistics of India and Agricultural statistics at a Glance, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. The results pointed out positive growth trends in area, production and productivity of vegetable crops in the region and country during thelast 16 years. Considering remarkable growth trends, vegetable crops may be taken as pathway for income enhancement of farming communities. Being good sources of healthy dietary...

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2020

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2018

Water scarcity has emerged as a common issue in many areas of the world due to ever growing popul... more Water scarcity has emerged as a common issue in many areas of the world due to ever growing population and leaping economic development. Soaring population has led to increased demand for food and farmland expansion, which are hard to be supported by physically limited natural resources. This has resulted into the emergence of various issues for their efficient uses, management and sustainability. Only 2.7 percent of the global water is available as fresh water, out of which only 30 percent can be used for meeting

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020

Understanding the nature of rural landscape change during the urbanization process is vital to fo... more Understanding the nature of rural landscape change during the urbanization process is vital to formulate rural management plans for sustainable development. However, there is little information on how rural landscapes changes and limited evidence as to how it can be improved. There were 244.9 million households in India of which 179.7 million households or 833 million people were in rural areas (SECC Survey 2011). Survey revealed that 87.2 million rural households reported one of more criteria of deprivation, while 92 million households were engaged in casual manual labour and agricultural activities. In agriculture, the role of women cannot be denied. They contribute in every operation of agricultural activities and are also active in allied sectors like cattle management, dairying, beekeeping, goat rearing mushroom production and poultry farming etc. Women participation in total workforce was assessed 27.44% as against 72.56% by male workforce in 2011. Share of women agricultural workforce in total workforce was computed to be 16.57% in 2001 which declined to 6.23% in 2011. Causes of decline may be their participation other sectors with improvement in their literacy rate which rose to 51.50% in 2011 as compared to 33.57% in 2001. The male-female sex ratio has registered a decline of 0.11% as compared to 2001 census. Women holding land account for only 13.31% as against 87.27% by men in Bihar. Share of women agricultural workforce in total agricultural workforce was estimated to be 19.32% as per census 2011. Analysis of CACP unit level data of Bihar for the year 2013-14, revealed that the contribution of women in agricultural activities was assessed to be 35.94%. Women's contribution in agriculture is significant and plays diverse role, still their wages were found 7.04% less than their male counterparts during 2015-16. To strengthen women's participation in agriculture and allied sectors and to improve their access to land, loan and other facilities, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has policy provisions like joint leasing for both domestic and agricultural land under National policy for farmers. Under credit facility provisions government has framed policy for issuing Kisan Credit Cards to women for creating livelihood through livestock practices and agricultural processing. Beside all efforts, there is still a wide gender gap in the state which may be addressed properly for overall development of women and enhancing the rural landscape of the state in particular and nation in general. The paper tries to analyze the role women in agricultural development of Bihar and the issues confronting them.

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2018

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

Food security is interlinked with agricultural production. Enhancement in farm productivity and p... more Food security is interlinked with agricultural production. Enhancement in farm productivity and providing diversified demand of food due to growth in per capita income, urbanization and changes in food habit is the major challenges. Study is based on secondary data collected from different published sources for the period from 1988-89 to 2017-18 i.e. for 30 years. Simple tabular analysis and compound growth rates were calculated to draw meaningful conclusion. The findings revealed that growth rate of net sown area for overall period was found negative (-0.05%). In case of gross cropped area, growth rates were found positive for all periods under investigation. The growth was due to more use of land to fulfill the growing demands of food and other agricultural commodities due to rise in population as reflected by growth trend of population. Growth rates for area and production of food grains indicated that area under food grains remained almost stagnant (0.001%) during the period under investigation. But in the last decade production growth was assessed positive (0.41%). Production growth may be attributed to technological change in cultivation practices like use of improved varieties of seeds and use of fertilizers etc. Growth rates of area under cereals were computed to be negative. The reason may be erratic weather condition or may be less remunerative crops or farmers would have shifted cultivated area to high value crops. Due to technological intervention, the productivity was recorded positive. Decrease in area under cereals is of great concern as a study commissioned by the Agriculture Ministry emphasized that given the current rates of population and income growth, India will have to push a growth of 4.2% per annum in cereal production till 2020, instead of the less than 2% as it was achieved in the previous decade.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017

The present investigation was aimed for analyzing comparative value chain addition of rice produc... more The present investigation was aimed for analyzing comparative value chain addition of rice production and marketing in Bihar and Karnataka States, based on primary data having 300 stakeholders selected using random sampling method from two purposively selected districts East Champaran and Davangere of Bihar and Karnataka, respectively, duly categorized into paddy growers, paddy wholesalers, millers, rice wholesalers, rice retailers and consumers. Farmers were the first value adding actors, and earned on an average of the gross return Rs 44,641.8/ha (East Champaran) and Rs 1, 32,117.26/ha (Davangere) by cultivating paddy. They added value of Rs 115.71 per quintal by drying, Rs 86.77 per quintal by selling in markets and Rs 127.27 per quintal by storing (speculation) of produce to sell in future in case of East Champaran district and in case of Davangere district. Paddy wholesalers, the second important key players, and added value of average Rs 65.8 per quintal and Rs 75.67 per quintal in case of both districts under study, respectively. Rice millers were important value adder in rice value chain and added value in three stages purchasing and milling of paddy and selling of rice. The value addition by rice millers estimated about 81.21 per cent and 26.55 per cent, and 60.63 per cent and 32.95 per cent by marketing and milling in East Champaran and Davangere district, respectively. Rice wholesalers were the fourth actor in value chain, value addition by them was about 10.69 per cent and 11.05 per cent in both districts, respectively. The profit earned from rice was Rs 2.38 per kg (East Champaran) and Rs 3.11 per kg (Davangere). Rice retailers, the final value chain actor received less value addition and the profit earned was estimated to be Rs 2.57 per kg and Rs 3.62 per kg in both the districts under study.

Journal of AgriSearch, 2017

The present investigation was carried out to estimate growth in area, production and productivity... more The present investigation was carried out to estimate growth in area, production and productivity and resource use efficiency of maize in Bihar. During the first period (1970-71 to 1914-15, the compound growth rate (CGR) of area for maize was estimated to be negative (-0.023%), whereas it was observed positive for both production (1.367%) and productivity (1.385%) indicating thereby increase in production growth on account of rise in productivity with the introduction of rabi maize. Technical efficiencies at state level in maize production were found to be 64% for kharif maize and 71% in rabi maize, indicating thereby production changes by 36% and 29% in kharif and rabi maize are possible to increase with the available technology. Allocative mean efficiencies for kharif and rabi maize were calculated 68% and 65%, revealing the fact that farmers could reduce costs by 32% and 35% by using optimum proportions of inputs considering it’s prices while selecting it’s quantities. Further th...

Economic Affairs, 2017

This study examined the influence of the respondents' socioeconomic characteristics on their adop... more This study examined the influence of the respondents' socioeconomic characteristics on their adoption of crop insurance schemes. Discriminant analysis based on the criteria values of standardized canonical coefficient and correlation matrix identified that educational level, farm size, satisfaction level, awareness and access to source of credit were positive discriminators while negative coefficients were obtained for age, income level and number of earning members. Awareness about crop insurance scheme, satisfaction level of farmer respondent with respect to the insurance scheme and access to source of credit were the highest discriminant variables. The study made it amply clear that socioeconomic characteristics of farmers exert a significant influence on their adoption of crop insurance schemes. Taking into cognizance the findings of the discriminant analysis it can be inferred that awareness about the schemes and their benefits have to be created among the farmers in order to motivate them to go for insurance of their crops.

Indian Journal Of Agricultural Research, 2018

Endowment of fertile Gangetic alluvial soil and abundant water resources, particularly groundwate... more Endowment of fertile Gangetic alluvial soil and abundant water resources, particularly groundwater resources altogether constitute core components for development of agriculture in Bihar. Efforts have been made in this paper to analyze factors responsible for changes in land use pattern, especially increase in current fallows, shrinking net sown area and shifting of land for non-agricultural purposes in the state. A larger concentration of current fallow lands was accounted for in Gaya, Patna, Purnea, Munger, Jehanabad and Kishanganj districts. The rainfall and road length have significant impact on the level of current fallows. Erratic monsoon and labour scarcity during the study period of present century resulted in accumulation of current fallow lands. It was further observed that the non-agricultural use of land was identified as the dominant factor for changes in common lands as it affected the current fallows negatively. It is a challenging task for policy makers to maximize t...

The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the growth in area, production and productiv... more The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the growth in area, production and productivity and resource use efficiency of maize in various agro-climatic zones of Bihar. The growth pattern in production and productivity were also observed to be positive and statistically significant. The trends in area, production and productivity were also observed positive for both the growth models, linear and compound. The resource use efficiency was evaluated zone-wise and for state as whole levels using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique for the block period 2008-09 to 2010-11. Technical efficiencies at state level in maize production were found to be 64% for kharif maize and 71% in rabi maize. Allocative mean efficiencies for kharif and rabi maize were calculated 68% and 65%, indicating that farmers could reduce costs by 32% and 35% by using optimum proportions of inputs considering it's prices while selecting it's quantities. Farmers of zone-II of Bihar are well known for large scale production of rabi maize, but still there exist technical inefficiency by 24% and AE by 9%. The value of cost efficiency (CE) emphasizes the reduction of cost by 30% to produce exiting level of output at least cost. The farmers of zone-III are more technically sound as compared to zone-I, zone-II and thus, even at state level too, the TE was observed 88% and 87% for kharif and rabi maize, respectively but AE is very less as compared to other zones i.e. 52% for rabi maize

International Journal of Livestock Research, 2020

Livestock is a vital component of Indian economy in general and of agricultural sector in particu... more Livestock is a vital component of Indian economy in general and of agricultural sector in particular. In rural India over 15-20% families are landless and about 80% of the land holders belong to small and marginal farm size groups, livestock provides livelihood to two-third of the rural population. Livestock sector provides employment to about 8.8% Indian population. Contribution of livestock sector in GDP was 4.11% and it contributed 25.6% to the Agricultural GDP during 2018-2019. Livestock production constitutes an important component of Agricultural economy in Bihar as it assists in supply of food and nutrition, enhancement of income, livelihood and diversification of agricultural activities. Meanwhile, the livestock sub-sector contributed about 27% to the agricultural GSDP and 5% to state income or GSDP in 2012. Bihar has made great progress in dairy and is recognized for its high milk production from cows, buffalo and goats. Bihar's milk production increased to 92.41 lakh tonnes in 2017-18 from 71.97 lakh tonnes in 2013-14, indicating an annual growth rate of 6.33%, during the five-year period. Productivity of milk per lactating cattle was found comparatively low as compared to others states Like Punjab, Gujarat, UP and MP. Contribution of livestock share in GVOA was found 25.4% in TE-2002-03 and increased to 31% in TE-2013-14 in Bihar whereas, the all-India share of livestock in GVOA stood at 26% in TE 2013-14. The share of meat in the total value of output from livestock sector has declined while that of milk has increased. The share of milk in GVOA has increased from 14% to 23% between TE-2003-04 and TE-2013-14, while at the all-India level; the share of milk in GVOA remained at 17% during the same period. Bihar has immense potential in livestock and dairy sector. If harnessed properly by suitable policy initiatives could be helpful in augmenting income, generating employment and providing nutritional security to state in particular and nation in general.

Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research

Background: In India dairy farming is a significant part of the rural population, providing not o... more Background: In India dairy farming is a significant part of the rural population, providing not only supplementary income and nutritional standards but also organic manures and draught power. Andhra Pradesh ranks 5th in total milk production in India with an output of 15.04 million metric tonnes and Chittoor district is one of the leading districts for dairy farming in the state. There is an increasing trend in milk production; however, the main drawback faced by the milk producers in dairy farming is the low productivity of milch animals. Assessing the economics of milk production would be extremely beneficial in planning for the improvement of productivity of dairy animals and framing policies to increase the profitability of dairy farms. Methods: Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh was purposively selected for the present investigation. The primary data was collected from 80 respondents of which 40 each from two villages in the year 2021. The economics of milk production and the ...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017

The nature and extent of crop diversification in the state of Bihar has been analyzed using secon... more The nature and extent of crop diversification in the state of Bihar has been analyzed using secondary data obtained from different publish sources of Govt. of Bihar from 2000-01 to 2014-15 i.e. a period of 15 years. Composite Entropy Index (CEI) and double log stepwise linear regression model was applied to assess the determinants of crop diversification in the state. The results have revealed that in almost all crops group very low diversification indices were observed. The study has suggested that despite plenty of natural resources available in the state, the economic improvement of farmers is in infancy. Prerequisite infrastructural facilities like cheap sources of irrigation water (assured irrigation as the monsoon in the present decade had been erratic and scanty rainfall) and extension of technological know-how (quality seeds and fertilizers), may acts as catalyst in diversification of agriculture towards high-valued crops. These developmental efforts may be helpful in fetching good incomes by the cultivators.

The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences

In the present study, an attempt has been made to test the cost efficiency of cereal crops like p... more In the present study, an attempt has been made to test the cost efficiency of cereal crops like paddy, wheat and maize separately in the state of Bihar using Stochastic Cost Frontier model. It has been tried to determine the determinants of cost inefficiencies. The study is also aimed to know the factors affecting the cost inefficiencies in production of major cereals of the state so as to ascertain proper steps to increase cost efficiency in production. Most important observation emerged that there existed non-linear relationship between cost inefficiency and farm category. Cost inefficiency first increased with the increase of farm size then it decreased. In case of paddy mechanization could negatively affect the cost inefficiency and proportion to family labour in total labour was found positive implying increase in cost inefficiency. But in wheat, family labour showed positive value, indicating thereby increase in cost inefficiency. In case of maize, coefficient of fertilizer us...

Despite of deceleration in area and marginal rise in production due to higher productivity growth... more Despite of deceleration in area and marginal rise in production due to higher productivity growth rate but gross decline in area and production is perceived to be a major threat towards future food and nutritional security of the country as well as the Eastern states. Framing strategies to overcome the present gloomy situation may be considered as a greatest ever challenge faced by policy makers as well as agricultural scientists. The strategies for stepping up domestic production must include development and adoption of modern technology including high yielding varieties, better monetary incentives to farmers to make pulses cultivation more remunerative than competitive crops, assured market which will motivate farmers to allocate more land for pulses cultivation. The minimum support price should be greater coordination with farm harvest price and market price. The Inputs constraints particularly quality seeds, fertilizers and lifesaving irrigation growth are not enough as compared to rice and wheat crops. Liberalized and subsidized import of pulses of India helps to meet demand-supply gaps, which have occurred because of stagnation in the area under cultivation, very slow growth in yield, poor increase in production and speedy increase in population. Ban on export and reexport of pulses make the closure of Indian pulses processing units. Problems of pulses economy can be solved with the increase the sources of production. Effective and continuous efforts are needed to increase the area under cultivation with better technological and logistic support.

Indian Journal of Extension Education, 2022

The study was conducted during 2018-2019 to explore the impact of male migration innorth-Bihar in... more The study was conducted during 2018-2019 to explore the impact of male migration innorth-Bihar in empowering women in different domain of household decisions. Five domainsnamely agricultural production, asset creation, health care, educational decision of childrenand leadership were considered and women empowerment indices were computed for eachdomain. The result revealed that migration of male member adequately empowered only29.44 per cent of women. Larger proportion of women respondents (43.89%) were foundunder moderately empowered category and 29.67 per cent were observed still under lowempowerment group. Women were adequately empowered in studied area to take decisionsrelated to health care, education and agricultural production. The decision to purchase andsale of assets still was under the jurisdiction of male counterpart as the patriarchal systemstill dominated. The role of women in decision making in all the farm activities, fromselection of crops to the sale of farm produce...

International Journal of Livestock Research, 2020

Livestock is a vital component of Indian economy in general and of agricultural sector in particu... more Livestock is a vital component of Indian economy in general and of agricultural sector in particular. In rural India over 15-20% families are landless and about 80% of the land holders belong to small and marginal farm size groups, livestock provides livelihood to two-third of the rural population. Livestock sector provides employment to about 8.8% Indian population. Contribution of livestock sector in GDP was 4.11% and it contributed 25.6% to the Agricultural GDP during 2018-2019. Livestock production constitutes an important component of Agricultural economy in Bihar as it assists in supply of food and nutrition, enhancement of income, livelihood and diversification of agricultural activities. Meanwhile, the livestock sub-sector contributed about 27% to the agricultural GSDP and 5% to state income or GSDP in 2012. Bihar has made great progress in dairy and is recognized for its high milk production from cows, buffalo and goats. Bihar's milk production increased to 92.41 lakh tonnes in 2017-18 from 71.97 lakh tonnes in 2013-14, indicating an annual growth rate of 6.33%, during the five-year period. Productivity of milk per lactating cattle was found comparatively low as compared to others states Like Punjab, Gujarat, UP and MP. Contribution of livestock share in GVOA was found 25.4% in TE-2002-03 and increased to 31% in TE-2013-14 in Bihar whereas, the all-India share of livestock in GVOA stood at 26% in TE 2013-14. The share of meat in the total value of output from livestock sector has declined while that of milk has increased. The share of milk in GVOA has increased from 14% to 23% between TE-2003-04 and TE-2013-14, while at the all-India level; the share of milk in GVOA remained at 17% during the same period. Bihar has immense potential in livestock and dairy sector. If harnessed properly by suitable policy initiatives could be helpful in augmenting income, generating employment and providing nutritional security to state in particular and nation in general.

Vegetable Science, 2018

The present study was conducted to analyze the comparative production performance of vegetable cr... more The present study was conducted to analyze the comparative production performance of vegetable crops in eastern India and India. In this study compound growth rates of vegetable crops and major vegetables like potato, tomato, onion, brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, okra and pea were calculated byfitting exponential function tovariables like area, production and productivity and tabular analysis was done to arrive at meaningful results. The study was based on macro framed data collected through different published secondary sources like Horticultural statistics of India and Agricultural statistics at a Glance, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. The results pointed out positive growth trends in area, production and productivity of vegetable crops in the region and country during thelast 16 years. Considering remarkable growth trends, vegetable crops may be taken as pathway for income enhancement of farming communities. Being good sources of healthy dietary...

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2020

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2018

Water scarcity has emerged as a common issue in many areas of the world due to ever growing popul... more Water scarcity has emerged as a common issue in many areas of the world due to ever growing population and leaping economic development. Soaring population has led to increased demand for food and farmland expansion, which are hard to be supported by physically limited natural resources. This has resulted into the emergence of various issues for their efficient uses, management and sustainability. Only 2.7 percent of the global water is available as fresh water, out of which only 30 percent can be used for meeting

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020

Understanding the nature of rural landscape change during the urbanization process is vital to fo... more Understanding the nature of rural landscape change during the urbanization process is vital to formulate rural management plans for sustainable development. However, there is little information on how rural landscapes changes and limited evidence as to how it can be improved. There were 244.9 million households in India of which 179.7 million households or 833 million people were in rural areas (SECC Survey 2011). Survey revealed that 87.2 million rural households reported one of more criteria of deprivation, while 92 million households were engaged in casual manual labour and agricultural activities. In agriculture, the role of women cannot be denied. They contribute in every operation of agricultural activities and are also active in allied sectors like cattle management, dairying, beekeeping, goat rearing mushroom production and poultry farming etc. Women participation in total workforce was assessed 27.44% as against 72.56% by male workforce in 2011. Share of women agricultural workforce in total workforce was computed to be 16.57% in 2001 which declined to 6.23% in 2011. Causes of decline may be their participation other sectors with improvement in their literacy rate which rose to 51.50% in 2011 as compared to 33.57% in 2001. The male-female sex ratio has registered a decline of 0.11% as compared to 2001 census. Women holding land account for only 13.31% as against 87.27% by men in Bihar. Share of women agricultural workforce in total agricultural workforce was estimated to be 19.32% as per census 2011. Analysis of CACP unit level data of Bihar for the year 2013-14, revealed that the contribution of women in agricultural activities was assessed to be 35.94%. Women's contribution in agriculture is significant and plays diverse role, still their wages were found 7.04% less than their male counterparts during 2015-16. To strengthen women's participation in agriculture and allied sectors and to improve their access to land, loan and other facilities, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has policy provisions like joint leasing for both domestic and agricultural land under National policy for farmers. Under credit facility provisions government has framed policy for issuing Kisan Credit Cards to women for creating livelihood through livestock practices and agricultural processing. Beside all efforts, there is still a wide gender gap in the state which may be addressed properly for overall development of women and enhancing the rural landscape of the state in particular and nation in general. The paper tries to analyze the role women in agricultural development of Bihar and the issues confronting them.

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2018

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

Food security is interlinked with agricultural production. Enhancement in farm productivity and p... more Food security is interlinked with agricultural production. Enhancement in farm productivity and providing diversified demand of food due to growth in per capita income, urbanization and changes in food habit is the major challenges. Study is based on secondary data collected from different published sources for the period from 1988-89 to 2017-18 i.e. for 30 years. Simple tabular analysis and compound growth rates were calculated to draw meaningful conclusion. The findings revealed that growth rate of net sown area for overall period was found negative (-0.05%). In case of gross cropped area, growth rates were found positive for all periods under investigation. The growth was due to more use of land to fulfill the growing demands of food and other agricultural commodities due to rise in population as reflected by growth trend of population. Growth rates for area and production of food grains indicated that area under food grains remained almost stagnant (0.001%) during the period under investigation. But in the last decade production growth was assessed positive (0.41%). Production growth may be attributed to technological change in cultivation practices like use of improved varieties of seeds and use of fertilizers etc. Growth rates of area under cereals were computed to be negative. The reason may be erratic weather condition or may be less remunerative crops or farmers would have shifted cultivated area to high value crops. Due to technological intervention, the productivity was recorded positive. Decrease in area under cereals is of great concern as a study commissioned by the Agriculture Ministry emphasized that given the current rates of population and income growth, India will have to push a growth of 4.2% per annum in cereal production till 2020, instead of the less than 2% as it was achieved in the previous decade.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017

The present investigation was aimed for analyzing comparative value chain addition of rice produc... more The present investigation was aimed for analyzing comparative value chain addition of rice production and marketing in Bihar and Karnataka States, based on primary data having 300 stakeholders selected using random sampling method from two purposively selected districts East Champaran and Davangere of Bihar and Karnataka, respectively, duly categorized into paddy growers, paddy wholesalers, millers, rice wholesalers, rice retailers and consumers. Farmers were the first value adding actors, and earned on an average of the gross return Rs 44,641.8/ha (East Champaran) and Rs 1, 32,117.26/ha (Davangere) by cultivating paddy. They added value of Rs 115.71 per quintal by drying, Rs 86.77 per quintal by selling in markets and Rs 127.27 per quintal by storing (speculation) of produce to sell in future in case of East Champaran district and in case of Davangere district. Paddy wholesalers, the second important key players, and added value of average Rs 65.8 per quintal and Rs 75.67 per quintal in case of both districts under study, respectively. Rice millers were important value adder in rice value chain and added value in three stages purchasing and milling of paddy and selling of rice. The value addition by rice millers estimated about 81.21 per cent and 26.55 per cent, and 60.63 per cent and 32.95 per cent by marketing and milling in East Champaran and Davangere district, respectively. Rice wholesalers were the fourth actor in value chain, value addition by them was about 10.69 per cent and 11.05 per cent in both districts, respectively. The profit earned from rice was Rs 2.38 per kg (East Champaran) and Rs 3.11 per kg (Davangere). Rice retailers, the final value chain actor received less value addition and the profit earned was estimated to be Rs 2.57 per kg and Rs 3.62 per kg in both the districts under study.

Journal of AgriSearch, 2017

The present investigation was carried out to estimate growth in area, production and productivity... more The present investigation was carried out to estimate growth in area, production and productivity and resource use efficiency of maize in Bihar. During the first period (1970-71 to 1914-15, the compound growth rate (CGR) of area for maize was estimated to be negative (-0.023%), whereas it was observed positive for both production (1.367%) and productivity (1.385%) indicating thereby increase in production growth on account of rise in productivity with the introduction of rabi maize. Technical efficiencies at state level in maize production were found to be 64% for kharif maize and 71% in rabi maize, indicating thereby production changes by 36% and 29% in kharif and rabi maize are possible to increase with the available technology. Allocative mean efficiencies for kharif and rabi maize were calculated 68% and 65%, revealing the fact that farmers could reduce costs by 32% and 35% by using optimum proportions of inputs considering it’s prices while selecting it’s quantities. Further th...

Economic Affairs, 2017

This study examined the influence of the respondents' socioeconomic characteristics on their adop... more This study examined the influence of the respondents' socioeconomic characteristics on their adoption of crop insurance schemes. Discriminant analysis based on the criteria values of standardized canonical coefficient and correlation matrix identified that educational level, farm size, satisfaction level, awareness and access to source of credit were positive discriminators while negative coefficients were obtained for age, income level and number of earning members. Awareness about crop insurance scheme, satisfaction level of farmer respondent with respect to the insurance scheme and access to source of credit were the highest discriminant variables. The study made it amply clear that socioeconomic characteristics of farmers exert a significant influence on their adoption of crop insurance schemes. Taking into cognizance the findings of the discriminant analysis it can be inferred that awareness about the schemes and their benefits have to be created among the farmers in order to motivate them to go for insurance of their crops.

Indian Journal Of Agricultural Research, 2018

Endowment of fertile Gangetic alluvial soil and abundant water resources, particularly groundwate... more Endowment of fertile Gangetic alluvial soil and abundant water resources, particularly groundwater resources altogether constitute core components for development of agriculture in Bihar. Efforts have been made in this paper to analyze factors responsible for changes in land use pattern, especially increase in current fallows, shrinking net sown area and shifting of land for non-agricultural purposes in the state. A larger concentration of current fallow lands was accounted for in Gaya, Patna, Purnea, Munger, Jehanabad and Kishanganj districts. The rainfall and road length have significant impact on the level of current fallows. Erratic monsoon and labour scarcity during the study period of present century resulted in accumulation of current fallow lands. It was further observed that the non-agricultural use of land was identified as the dominant factor for changes in common lands as it affected the current fallows negatively. It is a challenging task for policy makers to maximize t...

The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the growth in area, production and productiv... more The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the growth in area, production and productivity and resource use efficiency of maize in various agro-climatic zones of Bihar. The growth pattern in production and productivity were also observed to be positive and statistically significant. The trends in area, production and productivity were also observed positive for both the growth models, linear and compound. The resource use efficiency was evaluated zone-wise and for state as whole levels using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique for the block period 2008-09 to 2010-11. Technical efficiencies at state level in maize production were found to be 64% for kharif maize and 71% in rabi maize. Allocative mean efficiencies for kharif and rabi maize were calculated 68% and 65%, indicating that farmers could reduce costs by 32% and 35% by using optimum proportions of inputs considering it's prices while selecting it's quantities. Farmers of zone-II of Bihar are well known for large scale production of rabi maize, but still there exist technical inefficiency by 24% and AE by 9%. The value of cost efficiency (CE) emphasizes the reduction of cost by 30% to produce exiting level of output at least cost. The farmers of zone-III are more technically sound as compared to zone-I, zone-II and thus, even at state level too, the TE was observed 88% and 87% for kharif and rabi maize, respectively but AE is very less as compared to other zones i.e. 52% for rabi maize

International Journal of Livestock Research, 2020

Livestock is a vital component of Indian economy in general and of agricultural sector in particu... more Livestock is a vital component of Indian economy in general and of agricultural sector in particular. In rural India over 15-20% families are landless and about 80% of the land holders belong to small and marginal farm size groups, livestock provides livelihood to two-third of the rural population. Livestock sector provides employment to about 8.8% Indian population. Contribution of livestock sector in GDP was 4.11% and it contributed 25.6% to the Agricultural GDP during 2018-2019. Livestock production constitutes an important component of Agricultural economy in Bihar as it assists in supply of food and nutrition, enhancement of income, livelihood and diversification of agricultural activities. Meanwhile, the livestock sub-sector contributed about 27% to the agricultural GSDP and 5% to state income or GSDP in 2012. Bihar has made great progress in dairy and is recognized for its high milk production from cows, buffalo and goats. Bihar's milk production increased to 92.41 lakh tonnes in 2017-18 from 71.97 lakh tonnes in 2013-14, indicating an annual growth rate of 6.33%, during the five-year period. Productivity of milk per lactating cattle was found comparatively low as compared to others states Like Punjab, Gujarat, UP and MP. Contribution of livestock share in GVOA was found 25.4% in TE-2002-03 and increased to 31% in TE-2013-14 in Bihar whereas, the all-India share of livestock in GVOA stood at 26% in TE 2013-14. The share of meat in the total value of output from livestock sector has declined while that of milk has increased. The share of milk in GVOA has increased from 14% to 23% between TE-2003-04 and TE-2013-14, while at the all-India level; the share of milk in GVOA remained at 17% during the same period. Bihar has immense potential in livestock and dairy sector. If harnessed properly by suitable policy initiatives could be helpful in augmenting income, generating employment and providing nutritional security to state in particular and nation in general.