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The Foundation, in practice, functions as a network of academics and scholars working on various aspects of socio-economic life in rural India, and elsewhere in other developing countries. In the past three months, through various initiatives, we were able to strengthen and expand this network.
We met with some of our long-term collaborators as part of our seventh annual retreat and discussed the way forward for our research. One of the many decisions taken at this retreat was to revisit some of the villages that we have surveyed as part of our village studies program. We are actively planning towards that. The retreat was also an opportunity for us to go out of Bengaluru as a team, after a three year hiatus.
The Annual Public Lecture, delivered by Dr Cao Đức Phát, Chair, Board of Trustees of the International Rice Research Institute, was the highlight of the quarter gone by. The lecture, our first in-person event since 2019, allowed us to meet faculties and researchers from different institutions in Bengaluru, including Azim Premji University, Christ (Deemed to be University), Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics University, Institute for Social and Economic Change, National Institute of Advanced Studies, National Law School of India University, R V University, and St Joseph's University, and discuss possibilities of collaboration.
Visits by multiple senior scholars and young collaborators to the office allowed us to discuss with them the village studies database and possible research questions that can be explored together.
In the forthcoming months we are eagerly looking forward to building more such relationships and collaborations through the second edition of the highly successful Young Scholars' Online Seminar Series.
Sandipan Baksi
Director,
Foundation for Agrarian Studies
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FAS - IRRI Collaboration
The Foundation for Agrarian Studies (FAS) undertook a research project titled “Big Data Analysis to Understand Trends in Gender Division of Work and Wages in Rural India, and Trends in Costs and Incomes from Crop Production in India” in collaboration with the Evidence Module of the CGIAR Gender Platform led by the International Rice Research Institute.
Both the work packages, one, that sought to analyze the gender division of work in Indian agriculture, and its implications for gender wage gap and the other, that enquires into the trends in costs, prices, and incomes from crop production have been completed. We look forward to presenting these findings in appropriate academic and policy fora.
Oral Histories Project on the Formation of a Community of Agricultural Scientists in India
As noted in the previous bulletin, the oral histories project aims to critically examine the contributions of the first few generations of Indian agricultural scientists to the science of agriculture and food production, and to the practice of agricultural production in the developing economies.
Following a round of interviews, we are currently in the process of identifying another set of agricultural scientists and administrators to interview.
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Review of Agrarian Studies
RAS Volume 12 Number 2
In March, we published the latest issue (Vol 12 No 2) of our open access journal, Review of Agrarian Studies. The issue contains three editorials of topical importance: the impact the conflict in Ukraine has had on global agriculture, the commercial release of GM Mustard, and the Global Bio-Diversity Framework and the North-South Divide. It also features a tribute to Professor Abhijit Sen, a close friend and mentor to the Foundation.
The issue features four research articles: "Caste and Agrarian Relations in Pre-Modern India", "Financial Inclusion in Rural India: An Assessment Based on Secondary Data", "Rentiers and Contractors: The Future of Agrarian Bangladesh Part 2: The Disappearance of the “Bangladeshi” Farm?", and "Push and Pull Factors in Women's Rural Employment in India Since Covid 19".
It also includes a Research note on "Climate Change Policy in Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use: An Argument for Equity with Differentiated Responsibility" and a review article, "The Intellectual Legacy of an Early Development Economist."
Two book reviews feature in the issue: "A Strategic Myth: Underdevelopment in Kashmir" and " Capitalism and the Sea: The Maritime Factor in the Making of the Modern World".
Print copies of the journal are now available. For further details, visit ras.org.in.
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Public Events
Fourth FAS Annual Lecture | Agricultural Development in Vietnam
On March 29, Dr Cao Đức Phát, Chair, Board of Trustees of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), delivered the fourth FAS Annual Oration at St Joseph's University (SJU), Bengaluru. The lecture was organised by the Foundation in association with IRRI and SJU. This was our first in-person event since 2019.
An audience of over 120 people, senior researchers, young scholars, and students, heard Dr Phát outline the comprehensive reforms, called Doi Moi in Vietnamese, that led to a spectacular agricultural growth in Vietnam. He also highlighted some of the challenges that characterise the development process in Vietnam today. Dr Phát stressed on the necessity for further improving productivity, efficiency, and farm incomes to arrest the widening rural-urban divide.
Professor Madhura Swaminathan from the Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore Centre and a trustee of the Foundation for Agrarian Studies presided over the lecture. The lecture was followed by the remarks of noted development economists, Professors Venkatesh Athreya and R. Ramakumar, and a Q&A session.
A brief report of the proceedings can be found on our website. A recording of the event is also available on our YouTube channel.
In-house Events
In-house Seminar on Agricultural Commodity Production and Exchange
In January, Kunal Munjal, PhD Scholar at the Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore Centre, in two in-house seminars, presented the findings from his field visits to Bijnor in Western Uttar Pradesh and Karnal in Haryana. In his presentations, Kunal showed how and where different trade intermediaries are situated in the respective commodity value chain and their strategies for bargaining to exchange agricultural commodity products with farmers.
In-house Seminar on the Project on Agrarian Relations in India
In January, Arindam Das, Joint Director of the Foundation, and the lead of the Project on Agrarian Relations in India, threw light upon various data collection, data processing and analysis methods that the Project has adopted over its lifetime.
Discussion on paths to optimise the village studies exercises followed.
Seventh Annual Retreat of the Foundation
In February, we took a short pause from our daily activities to take stock of the work we have done over the past year and formulate plans for the next. The retreat in Kerala, with the technical proceedings, fun-filled activities and sight-seeing, also proved to be an opportunity to build strong relationships among our in-office team and close collaborators.
Visits by Scholars
In the past three months, multiple scholars from across the world visited the Foundation's office in Bengaluru. Some of the scholars that visited us include, Aritri Chakravarty, Assistant Professor, Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics University, Bengaluru, Juhi Chatterjee and Rakesh Nannewar, PhD Scholars from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Mihika Chatterjee, Lecturer in International Development, University of Bath, Aravindhan Nagarajan, Paaritosh Nath, and Srishti Yadav, Assistant Professors at Azim Premji University.
The FAS team also visited R V University and got an opportunity to meet many faculty members and discuss possibilities for future collaboration. This interaction was coordinated by Soundarya Iyer.
Scholars at FAS were also fortunate to have discussions with Professors Judith Heyer and Barbara Harriss-White, during their respective visits to Bengaluru.
These visits were an opportunity for us to forge new collaborations and deliberate on various research ideas that we at the Foundation are working on and potentially can work on, moving forward.
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FAS Podcast
As this bulletin goes to post, a new season of the Foundation's podcast is being produced. This time, the five-part season will take a new form to deliberate on some of the important issues in Agrarian Studies. The series will air in the coming month.
Meanwhile do listen to the previous two seasons on our website and Spotify.
FAS Young Scholars' Online Seminar Series 2022-23
We are currently working on the logistics of the second edition of our Young Scholars' Online Seminar Series. This season, we will be coming to you with topics whose scope and geography are wider than last year.
Stay tuned!
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