While India has sustained annual GDP growth rate of over 6 percent over the last more than two decades, the distribution of this growth across various regions of the country has been highly uneven with significant year-to-year variations. Improving agricultural performance is critical to...

Demand estimation for a set of goods is usually an integral part of the planning process. The forecasts should bring out the likely gaps in demand and supply which, in turn, should facilitate the planned enhancement of supplies/or formulation of policies for demand management. This paper review...

Public provision of subsidized or free animal health services has been a major component of livestock development strategy in India. Overtime, the governments (both state and central) have built-up vast networks of physical and human infrastructure to provide these services to millions of...

Bagasse usage as a cellulosic material for paper and newsprint making has been induced by the Government of India. The paper summarizes the relevant policies. Seven caselets pertaining to bagasse based paper and newsprint production have been analyzed. Quantities of i) residual bagasse without...

Livestock are important to millions of poor households across the world not only as a source of income but also as a major source of protein and supplementary nutrition, draft power, fertilizer, fuel and a store of wealth. A large number of rural households across the world own livestock, the...

A large body of empirical literature highlights the need for stakeholder participation within the context of policy change and democratic governance. This makes intuitive sense and may appear to be a straightforward process of managing conflicting interests, building consensus, and lining up...

This paper has presented an economist’s perspective to the institution of agricultural extension and raised some issues that have recently assumed importance. Focusing on three main components of the extension system – the providers, the people and the price, the paper has argued that there...

Animal health policy in South Asia region has been characterized predominantly by direct action by the government either in providing services to livestock farmers or in undertaking livestock productivity enhancing measures. It is a widely held view among policy makers that given the poverty...

Public provision of agricultural support services has been an important component of agricultural development strategy in India. A number of these services have been delivered to the farmers for free or with substantial subsidies. Over the last decade or so, however, serious doubts have been...

Use of bagasse for paper and newsprint making has long since been emphasized in India. Since a major portion of bagasse has been used as fuel by the sugar industry, coal has been suggested as an alternative source of energy. The shift has also been practised to a limited extent. The limited...