Dairy farmers in Bihar are mostly smallholders having one or two local-bred milch animals, which are raised on crop residues and natural pastures with under-employed family labour. Feeding grains, oil cakes and green nutritious fodder are limited to crossbred cattle. Feed and fodder deficiencies...

The Indian government has provided large subsidies to stimulate the take-off of the cold storage sector. However, the impact of this policy is not well understood. In a case study of the potato sector in Bihar, we find that there have been dramatic increases and rapid up-scaling of cold...

In disadvantaged districts of Bihar, one of the poorest states in India and an area where smallholders dominate, we find that there have been dramatic increases and rapid up-scaling of modern cold storages, triggered by market reform, investment subsidies, and better overall public service...

Changing patterns of food consumption, linked to economic growth, and coupled with demographic changes are resulting in increased demand for livestock products in developing countries. However, one of the key constraints of the dairy development in resource poor areas of India is inadequate...

We survey India’s experience with exporting services. We show that the country’s experience is unique in that modern tradable services are a significantly larger share of GDP than in other countries at comparable levels of economic development. This has not always been the case, however;...

Abstract: Water is essential for human survival but water-related illnesses are the most common health threat in the developing world. An estimated 25 000 people die every day as a result of water-related diseases Human existence depends on water. Water interacts with solar energy to determine...

Potato is the fourth major food crop after rice, wheat and maize in Bihar. It occupies less than 5% of net sown area with production only 4th after rice, wheat and maize. Potato a short duration crop has special significance since it gives exceptionally high yields/unit area/unit time and has...

Election results are generally hard to predict, and India is no exception. This paper discusses the factors that are important in explaining the results of the 2009 parliamentary elections in India. Our results show that the voters prefer the candidates who have served in the parliament before,...

Jharkhand state is carved out from Bihar state in 2000. The state is rich in mineral resources and poor in agricultural production. More than 75% of work force is engaged in agriculture, but generates only 20% of state’s GDP. About 45% area is under non-agricultural use and 32% is culturable...

Introduction. As part of the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP), a potato value chain study was organized in Bihar, in collaboration between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Patna, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International...