Agricultural Mechanization in India: A Study on the Ownership and Investment in Farm Machinery by Cultivator Households across Agro-ecological Regions

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-186
Author(s):  
Anupam Sarkar

Despite the signs of distress and fatigue in Indian agriculture, the use of machines in crop operations has increased manifold in recent times. Proponents of mechanization argue that mechanization saves time and cost, and improves agricultural productivity. The Government of India has also encouraged mechanization through subsiding farm machinery and establishing custom hiring centres. Earlier studies have found significant regional variation in the spread of agricultural mechanization. Cost of cultivation data collected by Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) reveal that although the share of machine labour in the cost of cultivation per hectare has increased, there exist significant differences across crops in the use of mechanical input. Empirical studies in different regions have found a significant presence of the rental market for services of agricultural machinery. However, in recent years there have been very few studies on the patterns of mechanization based on household-level data on ownership and investment in agricultural machinery and implements. Agro-ecological characteristics of a region are said to have a significant impact on the level of mechanization. Ownership of machinery is also significantly influenced by the factors such as size of landholding, access to irrigation and access to institutional credit. The pattern of investment and ownership of machinery has important implications on the profitability of farming. This article uses unit-level data from the All-India Debt and Investment Survey (NSS 70th round 2013) to study the pattern of agricultural mechanization in India based on the ownership of agricultural machinery and implements. Using ownership and expenditure data it studies the questions of recent patterns in agricultural mechanization across agro-ecological regions and land classes.

Author(s):  
Bo Li ◽  
Ruimei Wang ◽  
Quan Lu

The land system of state-owned farms in China is different from that in rural areas. Whether the land tenure of state-owned farms can play a role in protecting cultivated land is an important issue for the high-quality development of state-owned agriculture in China. This article develops a dynamic model to examine how land tenure influences farmers’ decisions on land improvement. It then analyzes this relationship based on cotton farmers’ household-level data from state-owned farms of Xinjiang in China. We applied methods that take into account the possible endogeneity of the land tenure. The results reveal that the stability of land tenure in the past will not affect the current behavior of farmers for they have a relatively stable expectation of current land tenure and a high degree of trust in the government and its policies. The intergenerational transfer of land tenure is not the key factor that affects farmers’ land conservation, and the relatively long-term duration of land tenure (possibly five years or more) during their careers is more important. Our findings also reveal that non-property factors, such as government intervention (e.g., technology promotion) that alleviates the limited rationality of farmers, cannot be ignored because they played a crucial role in past land improvement when land tenure was less stable.


Author(s):  
Kodrad Winarno ◽  
Amie Sulastiyah ◽  
Muhamad Rusliyadi

Agricultural machinery plays a strategic role in achieving Indonesia’s agricultural development goals. It is considered capable of increasing agricultural production and productivity through managing cultivation, harvest and post-harvest activities. The government has facilitated farmers with agricultural machinery through farmer groups and joint-farmer groups by encouraging them to form Agricultural Machinery Services Provider (AMSP). The purpose of this research is to describe the agribusiness management of AMSP, in terms of organizational, technical and economic aspects. This research was conducted from June 2017 to October 2017 in four districts, namely Bantul, Sleman, Gunung Kidul and Kulon Progo. Purposive sampling was used as a sampling method in this research. There were 32 respondents; 12 from AMSP, 16 from farmers groups, 4 private agricultural machinery service providers. The data analysis used was descriptive and qualitative data analysis. This research concluded that management of AMSP from an organizational perspective in the 4 districts is compatible with the Permentan Nomor 25 2018 guidelines regarding growth and development of AMSP. From the technical aspect, most of the operational agricultural machinery is 2-wheeled and 4-wheeled tractors. From the economic aspect, Earnings are distributed based on 40:60 ratio where AMSP earns 40% and the operator earns 60%. In relation to the cost of land cultivation, AMSP can earn between RP. 600.000,- – Rp. 800.000,- and the operator can earn Rp. 900.000,- – Rp. 1.200.000,-.


2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 527-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUKO NAKANO ◽  
KEIJIRO OTSUKA

ABSTRACTIn order to explore the conditions for successful communal irrigation management, this study investigates the determinants of household contributions to the cleaning of irrigation channels and the availability of water. By using household-level data collected in a large-scale gravity irrigation scheme in Uganda, whose management was transferred from the government to the community, we find that household contributions to the cleaning of irrigation channels are determined by the scarcity of irrigation water, the opportunity cost of labor and the private benefit associated with plot size. We also find that the availability of irrigation water increases in the tertiary irrigation canal where the coefficient of variation of plot size is large, which may indicate that farmers of larger plots are particularly active in water management. These findings suggest that farmers are responsive to private benefits and, hence, the support of the government for communities to implement punishment may be effective for successful irrigation management.


2012 ◽  
pp. 9-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Horrell ◽  
Deborah Oxley

Using parish-level information from Sir F.M. Eden's The state of the poor (1797) we can identify typical diets for the counties of England. These diets varied considerably and afforded very different standards of nutrition. We compute a nutritional score for this diet, paying attention to the presence of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients shown to be essential for health and growth in constructing this measure. Other information in the reports allows us to relate county-level nutrition to factors in the local economy. In particular we find nutrition was positively related to the availability of common land in the area and to women's remunerated work if conducted from home. Lack of common land and little local supply of dairy products also pushed households into buying white wheaten bread rather than baking their own wholemeal loaf. Replicating some of this analysis with household-level data confirms these results. Diet also maps onto stature: male convicts to Australia were significantly taller if they originated in a county with a more nutritious diet. This verifies the important impact of nutrition on stature and demonstrates the sensitivity of height as a measure of key aspects of welfare.


Author(s):  
Marii Paskov ◽  
Joan E. Madia ◽  
Tim Goedemé

This chapter complements the income-based measures of living standards on which earlier chapters have focused by incorporating non-income dimensions of economic well-being into its analysis, including indicators of material deprivation, economic burdens, and financial stress. It analyses how working-age households around and below the middle of the income distribution fared in European countries in the years before, during, and after the Great Recession. Harmonized household-level data across the members of the EU are analysed to see whether the evolution of these various non-income measures present a similar or different picture to household incomes over time. To probe what lies behind the patterns this reveals, four quite different countries are then examined in greater depth. Finally, the chapter also explores the relationship between material deprivation for households around and below the middle and overall income inequality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 323-331
Author(s):  
Mohsen pakdaman ◽  
Raheleh akbari ◽  
Hamid reza Dehghan ◽  
Asra Asgharzadeh ◽  
Mahdieh Namayandeh

PurposeFor years, traditional techniques have been used for diabetes treatment. There are two major types of insulin: insulin analogs and regular insulin. Insulin analogs are similar to regular insulin and lead to changes in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. The purpose of the present research was to determine the cost-effectiveness of insulin analogs versus regular insulin for diabetes control in Yazd Diabetes Center in 2017.Design/methodology/approachIn this descriptive–analytical research, the cost-effectiveness index was used to compare insulin analogs and regular insulin (pen/vial) for treatment of diabetes. Data were analyzed in the TreeAge Software and a decision tree was constructed. A 10% discount rate was used for ICER sensitivity analysis. Cost-effectiveness was examined from a provider's perspective.FindingsQALY was calculated to be 0.2 for diabetic patients using insulin analogs and 0.05 for those using regular insulin. The average cost was $3.228 for analog users and $1.826 for regular insulin users. An ICER of $0.093506/QALY was obtained. The present findings suggest that insulin analogs are more cost-effective than regular insulin.Originality/valueThis study was conducted using a cost-effectiveness analysis to evaluate insulin analogs versus regular insulin in controlling diabetes. The results of study are helpful to the government to allocate more resources to apply the cost-effective method of the treatment and to protect patients with diabetes from the high cost of treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-185
Author(s):  
Sung Min Han ◽  
Mi Jeong Shin

AbstractIn this article, we argue that rising housing prices increase voter approval of incumbent governments because such a rise increases personal wealth, which leads to greater voter satisfaction. This effect is strongest under right-wing governments because those who benefit from rising prices—homeowners—are more likely to be right-leaning. Non-homeowners, who are more likely to vote for left-leaning parties, will view rising housing prices as a disadvantage and therefore feel the government does not serve them well, which will mitigate the advantage to left-wing governments. We find support for our arguments using both macro-level data (housing prices and government approval ratings in 16 industrialized countries between 1960 and 2017) and micro-level data (housing prices and individuals’ vote choices in the United Kingdom using the British Household Panel Survey). The findings imply that housing booms benefit incumbent governments generally and right-wing ones in particular.


Author(s):  
Jingjing Wang ◽  
Xueying Wu ◽  
Ruoyu Wang ◽  
Dongsheng He ◽  
Dongying Li ◽  
...  

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has stimulated intensive research interest in its transmission pathways and infection factors, e.g., socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, climatology, baseline health conditions or pre-existing diseases, and government policies. Meanwhile, some empirical studies suggested that built environment attributes may be associated with the transmission mechanism and infection risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, no review has been conducted to explore the effect of built environment characteristics on the infection risk. This research gap prevents government officials and urban planners from creating effective urban design guidelines to contain SARS-CoV-2 infections and face future pandemic challenges. This review summarizes evidence from 25 empirical studies and provides an overview of the effect of built environment on SARS-CoV-2 infection risk. Virus infection risk was positively associated with the density of commercial facilities, roads, and schools and with public transit accessibility, whereas it was negatively associated with the availability of green spaces. This review recommends several directions for future studies, namely using longitudinal research design and individual-level data, considering multilevel factors and extending to diversified geographic areas.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document