Propellers of Agricultural Productivity in India

Economic Research Report ERR-203, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 52 pp, 2015

52 Pages Posted: 15 Jan 2016

See all articles by Nicholas Rada

Nicholas Rada

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Economic Research Service (ERS)

David Schimmelpfennig

Economic Research Service (ERS); Science & Technology PPQ; USDA Economic Research Service

Date Written: December 15, 2015

Abstract

India’s decelerating wheat- and rice-yield growth rates have led to questions of whether India’s agricultural sector will be able to meet future food demands. To explore this issue, ERS researchers measure sector-level agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) growth and evaluate how public policies affected TFP from 1980 to 2008. During this period, substantial regional differences in TFP growth emerged: the Indian West and South achieved faster TFP growth than the rest of the country, largely due to rapid growth in horticulture and animal products. Of the policies hypothesized to stimulate TFP, India’s public agricultural research and higher education programs had the greatest effect on TFP growth, followed by public investments in irrigation infrastructure. These effects propelled TFP in Northern and Western India more than in the rest of the country. Groundwater irrigation from wells accelerated TFP more than surface-water irrigation from canals. Other drivers of TFP growth included research investments of international institutions and an emerging private sector. Public investment in rural education has had mixed effects, depending on education levels. These findings support an optimistic view that Indian agriculture will be able to meet the broadening spectrum of future food demands. Critical to that optimism, though, is continued innovation from public and private research systems, especially in seed development, and from irrigation and high-value-commodity production technologies.

Keywords: national agricultural research, returns to research, total factor productivity (TFP), CGIAR, international agricultural research, India, irrigation, education

JEL Classification: O13, O32, O47, O53

Suggested Citation

Rada, Nicholas and Schimmelpfennig, David and Schimmelpfennig, David, Propellers of Agricultural Productivity in India (December 15, 2015). Economic Research Report ERR-203, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 52 pp, 2015, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2715084

Nicholas Rada (Contact Author)

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Economic Research Service (ERS) ( email )

355 E Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024-3221
United States
(202) 694-5202 (Phone)

David Schimmelpfennig

Science & Technology PPQ ( email )

4700 River Road
Riverdale, MD 20737
United States
301-851-2324 (Phone)

Economic Research Service (ERS) ( email )

355 E Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024-3221
United States
202-694-5507 (Phone)

USDA Economic Research Service ( email )

355 E Street SW
Washington, DC 20024-3221
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
111
Abstract Views
713
Rank
444,645
PlumX Metrics