At the 11th Ministerial Conference (MC 11) of the WTO in 2017, member countries engaged on eight issues related to agriculture. The possibility of finding a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes failed, as talks at the MC 11 collapsed due to the divergent views of member countries as well as strong opposition by the US.
The performance of the agricultural sector under Narendra Modi would be judged in 2019 by a single indicator: his grand promise to double per capita agricultural incomes between 2015 and 2022. However, available data does not indicate any satisfactory progress towards that goal. The poor growth rate of agriculture in 2017-18 had resonated in the surge of farmer’s protests over the last few months.
Most workers in India are dependent on semi-skilled and unskilled manual work for their livelihoods. According to the latest Rural Labour Enquiry Report, about 40 per cent of rural households derived their income from manual work. In a recent research article, Professor Yoshifumi Usami and I have examined trends in rural wage rates over the last 18 years (Das and Usami, 2017).
Rice cultivation has declined in Kerala for the last four decades. The gross cropped area of rice in Kerala shrunk from around 9 lakh hectares in 1974-75 to less than 2 lakh hectares in 2015-16. There is, however, a traditional rice-growing region where rice cultivation continues, and is characterised by rising levels of productivity.
In 1993, the definition of economic activity in the System of National Accounts (SNA) was extended to include unpaid work. The definition thus covered unpaid operations in agricultural production, along with the collection of firewood and fodder, fetching water, etc., whether for sale or self-consumption.
Ranjini Basu was a participant at the 10th Marx Autumn School organised by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung in Berlin from October 26 to 29, 2017. At one discussion, on the theme of “unfree labour,” a participant from Naples spoke about migrant workers from less developed countries working as tomato pickers on the farms of southern Italy.
Madhura Swaminathan and V. K. Ramachandran attempt to draw the contours of "The Tripura Model" of development based on the study of the three villages in the State of Tripura, conducted by the Foundation for Agrarian Studies in May-June 2016. The note, which has been published in The Hindu is republished here.
Groundwater is a major source of irrigation in West Bengal, with about 65 per cent of irrigated area under tube well irrigation. Under the present government, there has been a rapid hike in power tariffs for agriculture and it has affected the cultivation of summer crops in the State, particularly the cultivation of water-intensive boro (summer) paddy.
Women’s control over land and property is recognised to be an important factor in women’s socio-economic status and empowerment. We report some interesting results on the subject from a quick analysis of data from eight villages (located in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab and Karnataka) surveyed by the Foundation for Agrarian Studies.
Women work for at least 50 hours a week. This is our finding from a one-week labour diary or time-use survey conducted in Siresandra village of Kolar, Karnataka in May 2017. As part of a project on Women in Rural Production Systems, the Foundation for Agrarian Studies team interviewed 14 women on all the activities undertaken every day for a week.
Independent Researcher
Muktha is an Administrative Assistant at the Foundation. She holds a postgraduate degree in Commerce from Bangalore University. Muktha assists the administrative division of the Foundation.
Emeritus Professor and Fellow, Wolfson College, University of Oxford.
Daya is a research intern at the Foundation. She holds a Masters degree in Applied Economics from CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru. Her research interests include Gender and Development in Rural India.
Senior Research Fellow, Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Bengaluru, and PhD Scholar, Department of Economics, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), University of Madras.
PhD Fellow, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
Senior Research Fellow, Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Bengaluru, and Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Liberal Arts, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad.
Dona is a research assistant at the Foundation. She holds a Master's from Azim Premji University in Development. Her research interests include studying agrarian relations, and land tenancy in rural India. She had extensive work experience as a software developer, before shifting to the social sciences.
Rithika is a research assistant at the Foundation. She holds a Master's degree in Applied Economics from Christ (Deemed to be University), Yeshwanthpur Campus, Bengaluru. Her research interests include, agricultural economics and the public policy.
Nency is a research assistant at the Foundation. She holds a Master's degree in Economics from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar School of Economics University, Bengaluru. Her research interests include gender and labour dynamics, particularly in rural contexts.
Parvathi Menon is a writer, and former journalist. She was Resident Editor of The Hindu, Bengaluru, and also served as the London Correspondent of The Hindu.
Namasivayam is currently a member of the Kerala State Planning Board. He has over 37 years of consulting experience of which over two decades have been spent on leading several large, complex, multi-year reform engagements in various sectors, with a special focus on the electricity sector. He was Deloitte India’s Energy and Resources Industry and Government sector Leader until his retirement in March 2017. Before joining Deloitte, Namasivayam was part of the India leadership team of PwC, and led its Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development service unit and Energy Utility & Mining industries.
Sarita is a special teacher and certified trainer in QST for autism spectrum disorders. She has been working at the Spastics Society of Karnataka from 2007, and is currently the Head of the Autism Spectrum Unit.
Professor, Department of Economics, Meijo University, Japan
Associate Professor, Kanagawa University, Japan
Former ICSSR National Fellow, Former Professor and Head :
1. Department of Economics, University of Madras
2. Dr. Ambedkar Centre for Economic Studies, University of Madras
Yogesh holds an MA (Honours) degree in Economics from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana. He is interested in understanding credit markets and financial inclusion in rural India. Yogesh will be a part of the team involved in the entry and processing of data collected during our recent re-survey in Uttar Pradesh.
Sai Chandan Kotu is a Research Assistant at the Foundation. He holds a Master's degree in Economic Growth, Population & Development from Lund University, Sweden, and an Integrated Master's in Development Studies from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He has previously worked with FAS as an intern and is currently working on the entry and processing of data collected through our recently concluded survey in two Uttar Pradesh villages. Sai is interested in studying farm mechanisation and technology adoption in Indian agriculture.
Utkarsh is the Communications and Events Coordinator at the Foundation. He holds an MA in Global Studies from Ambedkar University, Delhi, and has worked in different capacities, participating in field research, and organising academic and other public events in various organisations. Utkarsh's interests include geopolitics, conflict history, and technology.
B.A. Economics student at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
Komal is an Associate Fellow of the Foundation. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in Sociology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Her research interests include agrarian labour, caste, and gender. Komal is currently working on (un)freedom and labour relations in rural India.
JSPS Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
Kulvinder is a Research Assistant at the Foundation. He holds a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, and an MA in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has previously worked with the Haryana State Government as an Information, Education and Communication Expert, Atal Bhujal Yojana. Kulvinder is interested in studying aspects of agrarian change and rural transformation in India and aspires to do a PhD soon.
Nikita is an Editorial Assistant at the Foundation. She is involved with the coordination of the Review of Agrarian Studies (RAS), the peer-reviewed academic journal of the Foundation. Nikita has extensive experience as a copy editor. She holds a Master's degree in English from The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Lucknow campus.
Research Fellow, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
M.A. Economics student at Ahmedabad University
Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
Assistant Professor, Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics University (BASE), Bengaluru
M.A. Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Retired Professor, Osaka Prefecture University
Consultant, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, and Retired Head of Department, Department of Economics, Bharathidasan University.
Senior Fellow, Climate Change, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai
Former Associate Editor, Frontline magazine, Bangalore.
Research Scholar, Department of Development Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London
Assistant Professor - Sociology, FLAME University, Pune
Garware Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Advanced Study of India, and
Non-Resident Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania
Professor, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Independent Researcher
Postdoctoral Fellow – Gender Research, Sustainable Impact Platform, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
Associate Professor, Bihar Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Patna, Bihar.
Research Scholar, School of Economics, University of Hyderabad, and
Technical Assistant, Office of the Vice Chairperson, Kerala State Planning Board
Department of Economics, Yokohama National University
Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Division of Food and Environmental Economics, Department of Agricultural Engineering and Socio-Economics, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University.
Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University
Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies, PES University, Bengaluru
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics and Finance, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
British Academy Newton International Fellow, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Senior Lecturer, School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
Assistant Professor, Department of Liberal Arts, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad
Master of Social Work. Vijaykumar is part of the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI) team.
V. K. Ramachandran is retired Professor and former Head, Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore Centre. He currently serves as the Vice Chairperson, Kerala State Planning Board. He is one among the Trustees of the Foundation. He is also the Editor of Review of Agrarian Studies. Webpage
Tapas is an Associate Fellow of the Foundation. He has a Ph.D. in Social Science from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. His research interests include the irrigation economy of India, water policies and institutions, agricultural policy, economics of farming, and rural incomes. He is also interested in the use of spatial technology to study the Indian countryside. He leads the Project on Village level Spatial Information using Geographic Information System (GIS), and the Pandemic Study Unit of the Foundation that examined the impact of Covid-19 pandemic in rural India.
Sudha is an Administrative Assistant of the Foundation. She assists the administrative division of the Foundation and also has taken part in fieldwork organised by the Foundation.
Subhajit is a Senior Data Analyst of the Foundation. He has done B. Tech from West Bengal University of Technology. He works primarily on issues related to employment and livestock economy in rural India, and has in-depth knowledge on cleaning and processing of survey data. He has also hands-on experience in the use of R software for data analysis.
Sethu is a Data Analyst of the Foundation. He has done Integrated Masters in Development Studies from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai. He has experience of coordinating a field survey of two villages in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu in 2019. He is interested in agrarian relations in Tamil Nadu and Geographic Information System (GIS).
Sanjukta is a Senior Data Analyst working on the Project on Agrarian Relations in India. She holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Application from West Bengal University of Technology. Her major research interest lies in rural education and schooling. She has experience in working with a web development company prior to joining the Foundation.
Sandipan is a historian of Science, with a Ph.D. from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. His research interest lies in the history of agricultural science in India. He started his professional career as a Software Engineer and a Business Analyst with the Tata Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd, before shifting to social science research. He holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science Engineering, and was a gold medalist for post-graduate studies in School of Development Studies, TISS. He joined the Foundation as the Programme Coordinator in 2016 and became the first Director of the Foundation in 2018. He oversees the work of the Foundation and its various research projects.
M. Sc. in Development Practice. Riya assists in editing the Review of Agrarian Studies and other publications of the Foundation.
M. A. Economics. Ritam works on the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI) team.
Rakesh is a Senior Data Analyst working on the Project on Agrarian Relations in India. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Economics from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)-Pilani, Hyderabad. He works primarily on issues related to migration and employment. Rakesh is also interested in issues related to access to basic amenities in the Indian countryside.
Pinki works as Assistant Manager-Accounts at the Foundation. She has done her Masters in Financial and Management Accounting from Sikkim Manipal University, and Masters in Economics from University of North Bengal. She is experienced in various accounting software packages. She has also been involved in several field work projects of the Foundation.
Noopur Varma is Honorary Consultant, Human Resources at the Foundation. She has more than 30 years experience in the area of Human Resources. She started her career in Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, where she worked for 14 years and her last corporate job was with Deloitte Bangalore. She is currently an independent consultant taking up projects and assignments for companies. She is involved with Strategic Human Resources initiatives of the Foundation.
Nihira graduated from the New School University, New York with M.Sc. in Media Studies. Her educational background is in film-making and audio production with a concentration on South Asian history. She joined the Foundation for Agrarian Studies in August, 2020 as the Online Events Coordinator.
Madhura Swaminathan is Professor and Head, Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore Centre. She is one the Trustees of the Foundation. Webpage
Jayamary is our Office Assistant. She assists the administrative division of the Foundation in maintaining office supplies and in upkeep and maintenance of office premises.
Deepak is an Associate Fellow at the Foundation. He has a Ph.D. in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. As part of his doctoral research Deepak analysed the incomes from rice production in Kerala, and compared the crop incomes in Kerala with the Mekong Delta Region in Vietnam. Deepak is interested in agricultural policy, with a particular focus on agricultural costs and incomes. Data visualisation is another area of his expertise. He has experience of working at an analytics company. He holds an Integrated Masters in Economics from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Arindam is the Joint Director of the Foundation. He is pursuing Ph.D. in Economics from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)-Pilani, Hyderabad. Arindam leads the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI). He has worked at the Foundation from 2011 and has in-depth knowledge about various data management and analysis techniques. His research interests include rural wage rates and its determinants, rural employment, and Economics of farming. He has hands-on expertise in the use of R software for social science research.
