Journal Press India^®

Author Details ( * ) denotes Corresponding author

The present study examines the role of rural infrastructure, and some other factors like seed, fertiliser, marketable surplus and rural credit in crop diversification and land productivity in an eastern Indian state, Odisha. By using district-wise cross section official data for the year 2011-12, an index for rural infrastructure is prepared with help of the Principal Components Analysis, and crop diversity index is measured by the Entropy Index. An attempt has also been made to examine the regional divide in crop diversification and land productivity vis-à-vis rural infrastructure. The study observes that rural infrastructure has significant positive impact on land productivity. However, along with high yielding variety paddy, infrastructure contributes to concentration rather than crop diversification. In addition, the study also observes persistence of regional divide in infrastructure, which may be considered as a major concern having wider implications. However, due to limitations in data, such inferences need micro-level verifications before generalisation.

Keywords

Agricultural productivity, Crop diversification, Regional disparity, Rural infrastructure.

1. Aschauer,  David  A.  (1989).  Is  Public  Expenditure  Productive?.  Journal  of' Monetary    Economics, 23(2), 177-200.
2. Ashok, K.R. & Balasubramanian, R (2006). Role of Infrastructure in Productivity and Diversification of Agriculture. A Research Report,  Islamabad, Pakistan: SANEI.
3. Baulch, B. (1997). Transfer Costs, Spatial Arbitrage, and Testing Food Market  Integration. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 79, 477-87.
4. Bhatia, M.S. (1999). Rural Infrastructure and Growth in Agriculture. Economic and Political Weekly, 34(13), A43-48.
5. Binswanger, H.P., Khandker, S. R. & Rosenzweig, M.R. (1993). How Infrastructure and  Financial Institutions Affect Agricultural Output and Investment in India.  Journal of Development Economics, 41 (2), 337-366.
6. Bliven, Neal, Ramasamy, C. & Wanmali, Sudhir (1995).  Need for Housing Infrastructure, in Wanmali, S and C. Ramasamy  (Ed), Developing Rural Infrastructure, New Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd, 28-51.
7. Chand. R. (1995). Agricultural Diversification and Small Farm Development in Western Himalayan Region. National Workshop on Small Farm Diversification: Problems and Prospects, New Delhi: NCAP
8. Datt, G  & Ravallion, M. (1998). Why have Some Indian States Done Better than Others at Reducing Rural Poverty?. Economica, 65 (1), 17-38.
9. Evenson, R. E., Pray C. E., & Rosegrant, M. W. (1999). Agricultural Research and Productivity Growth in India. Research Report 109, Washington  DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.
10. De, K.U. & Chattopadhyay, M. (2010). Crop Diversification by Poor Peasants and Role of Infrastructure: Evidence from West Bengal. Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics, 2(10), 340-350.
11. Elhance, A.P. & Lakshamanan, T.R. (1988). Infrastructure-Production System Dynamics in National and Regional Systems: An Economic Study of the Indian Economy. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 18(4), 511-531.
12. Evenson, R.E., Pray, C.E. & Rosegrant, M.W. (1999). Agricultural Research and Productivity Growth in India. Research Report-109, Washington, D.C., IFPRI.
13. Fousekis, P & Pantzios, C (2000). Public Infrastructure and Private Economic Performance:    Alternative Measures with an Application to Greek Agriculture. International Review of Economics and Business, 11, 111-128.
14. Ghosh, Buddhadeb & De, Prabir (2004). How Do Different Categories of Infrastructure Affect Development? Evidence from Indian States. Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (42), 4645-57.
15. Gowda, Srinivasa, M. V. & Mamatha, B. G. (1997). Infrastructure-The Concepts, Role, Constraints and Prospects. Infrastructure Development for Economic Growth, Deep and Deep Publications.
16. Hazra, C.R. (2001). Crop Diversification In India, in Papademetriou, Minas K. and Dent, Frank J. (Ed), Crop Diversification in the Asia-Pacific Region, Bangkok, Thailand: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
17. Joshi, P. K., Birthal, P. S. & Minot, N. (2006).  Sources of Agricultural Growth in  India: Role of     Diversification towards High Value Crops,  MTID  Discussion Paper No. 98, November, Markets, Trade and Institutions  Division: IFPRI
18. Kumar, Praduman & Mittal, Surabhi (2006). Agricultural Productivity Trends in India: Sustainability Issues,  Agricultural Economics Research Review, Vol. 19 (Conference No.), 2006,  71-88.
19. Kurosaki, T. (2003). Specialization and Diversification in Agricultural Transformation: The Case of West Punjab 1903-92. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 85(2), 372-386.
20. Lall, Somik V. (1992). Infrastructure Investment and Economic Growth. Journal of Economic Perspective. 6 (4), 189-98.
21. Lall, Somik V. (1999). The Role of Public Infrastructure Investments in Regional Development. Economic and Political Weekly. 34 (12), 717-725.
22. Mamatzakis, E.C. (2003). Public Infrastructure and Productivity Growth in Greek  Agriculture. Agricultural Economics, 29(2), 169-180.
23. Murgai, R., Ali, M., & Byerlee, D. (2001). Productivity Growth and Sustainability in Post Green Revolution Agriculture: The Case of the Indian and Pakistan Punjab. The World Bank Research Observer, 16(2), 199-218.
24. Nayak, C. R. (2008). Physical Infrastructure and Land Productivity: A District Level Analysis of Rural Orissa. ICFAI Journal of Infrastructure, 6(3), 7-21.
25. Nayak, C.R. (2014). Rural Infrastructure in Odisha: An Inter-District Analysis, PRAGATI: Journal of Indian Economy, 1(1), 17-38.
26. Patra, R.N. (2014). Agricultural Development In Odisha: Are The Disparities Growing?. International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics, 2 (3), 129-144.
27. Pinstrup-Andersen, Per and  Satoru Shimokawa (2006). Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Development, Paper presented at the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics, Tokyo, Japan, May 29-30.
28. Rao, V. M. and Deshpande R S (1986). Agricultural Growth in India., Economic and Political Weekly, 21(38-39), A-101 to A-112.
29. Reddy, A. A. (2013). Agricultural Productivity Growth in Orissa, India: Crop Diversification to Pulses, Oilseeds and Other High Value Crops. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 8(19), 2272-2284.
30. Sahoo, Satyananda & Saxena, K. K. (1999-2000). Infrastructure and Economic Development: Some Empirical Evidence. The Indian Economic Journal, 47(2), 54-66.
31. Sharma, Vijay Paul (2011). India’s Agricultural Development under the New Economic Regime: Policy Perspective and Strategy for the 12th Five Year Plan,  W.P. No. 2011-11-01, November 2011, Ahmedabad: Indian Institute Of Management.
32. Sidhu, H. S. (2002). Crisis in Agrarian Economy in Punjab: Some Urgent Steps. Economic and Political Weekly, 37(30), 3132-3138.
33. Takayama, A. & Judge, G. (1971). Spatial and Temporal Price and Allocation  Models, Amsterdam: North Holland.
34. Wanmali, S. & Ramasamy, C. (1995). Developing Rural Infrastructure, New Delhi: Macmillan.
35. Zhang.X. Fan, S., & Fang, C. (2001). How Agricultural Research Affects Urban Poverty in Developing Countries: The Case of China, EPTD Discussion Paper 80. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute.