M. S. Meena

Socio-Economic Determinants of Rural Poverty: An Empirical Exploration of Jharkhand State, India

Poverty has become a general phenomenon that is perceived to mean different things to different people at different times and places. India was the first country in the world to define poverty as the total per capita expenditure of the lowest expenditure class, which is required to ascertain a minimum intake of 2400 kcal/day in rural and 2100 kcal/day in urban areas. However, there exists a substantial interstate and urban rural differential in the cost of goods and services. One in three Indians lives below the poverty line according to the Tendulkar Committee report which used a measurement of goods and services, rather than calorie intake, to calculate poverty. The World Bank estimates that 80% of Indias population lives on less than

Constraints of Rainfed Rice Production in India: An Overview

2 a day which means a higher proportion of its population lives on less than

Decision Process Innovations, Constraints and Strategies for Adoption of Conservation Agriculture

2 per day as compared with sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank identified Jharkhand as one of the most poverty-stricken state in the country with a sharp contrast between rural and urban poverty. Jharkhand is a tribal state which has high incidence of poverty. A majority of OBC, SC and ST population fall under BPL category due to a number of agro-climatic and socio-economic factors. BPL households often live misery and face poor quality of life as they lack the basic amenities. Poverty in the region leads to migration and both migration within the state and out-side state is common. Youth prefers to migrate out-side state but with increase in age within state migration picks up. A good proportion of rural households has connection with the commercial banks, cooperative banks and other financial institutions. The commercial banks have better reach among the rural households and they can be instrumental in poverty alleviation programmes. The important causes/determinants of rural poverty in Jharkhand can be summarized as; lack of education, poor land base with small and marginal land holdings. Lack of employment opportunities at local level and poor infrastructure compounds the problem. In addition to these factors, poor quality of natural resources like; acidic, laterite and red soils, water scarcity leading to mono-cropping in the state have also contributed towards rural poverty. With changing climatic scenario, and undulating terrain lacking capacity to retain rain water forces the farmers to take a single crop in the state, thereby reducing the opportunities to a better livelihood. Information and communication technologies can play a pivotal role as it the common means of seeking information for improved farming practices. People are using modern technologies like mobile phone for the linkage between people and institution for use of agriculture-related technology, knowledge, skills and information. Hence, the technological interventions can integrates farmers, agricultural scientists, extension workers, input dealers and the private sectors to harness the knowledge and information from various sources for better farming and improved livelihoods. There is a considerable potential for establishment of forest based processing units in state, can provide employment to local people and will reduce the migration phenomenon thereby enhancing the livelihoods of rural poor.

Constraints of Rainfed Rice Production in Eastern India: An Overview

Rice is one of the most important crops in eastern India and it will continue to enjoy its leading position so long as it remains the staple food of almost entire of the population of this region. Under the influence of increasing population pressure the demand for rice is expected to rise persistently in coming years. As the land frontier has already been exhausted the future source of growth in this region lies in raising the productivity of rice crop. Even to sustain in food grains production, it is important to give due attention to the eastern India in general and to accord high priority to the constraints of rice production in this region in particular. This can be achieved if rice research helps to reduce production losses due to various biotic and abiotic constraints in rainfed rice ecosystems. Since elimination or partial solution of these constraints would have a major impact on rice production in eastern India because the yield gaps are very high, the major constraints to rice production in eastern India require more objectivity and concerted efforts while addressing them. The major rice production constraints and priority research problem areas of rainfed rice production in eastern India are drought and submergence, bacterial blight, leaf blast, weeds, brown plant hopper and poor soil fertility. Hence, it would be logical to prioritize rice research on the basis of prevailing constraints under rainfed areas of eastern India. Besides, low input use, inappropriate plant spacing, late sowing and selection of wrong cultivars are some of the other technical constraints, which can be effectively reduced through the diffusion of relevant technologies among ultimate users or farmers. It requires further strengthening of linkages between ‘Research & Extension’ that facilitates feed-backs and disseminates technical information.

Dimensions of Poverty in Bihar

Conservation agriculture innovations offer a new paradigm for agricultural research and development. While examining the total innovation-decision process, one can see how the farmers observe innovations (knowledge), relate to images and message within technological innovations (persuasion), formulate a want for item (decision), actively pursue the desire for item (implementation), and ultimately decide whether future uses of technologies / are desirable (confirmation). The adoption of Conservation Agriculture innovations can be facilitated by locally identified and specially trained group leaders or by promoters. For the success, farmers will need to be in forefront for helping in identification, development and deployment of Conservation Agriculture innovations. Developing and promoting RCT systems is highly demanding in terms of knowledge base. This will call for greatly enhanced capacity of scientists to address the prevailing problems / constraints from a systems perspective and be able to work in close partnerships with farmers and other stakeholders. There is also need to strengthen the knowledge and information-sharing mechanisms. Improvement in coordination amongst various stakeholders like research, extension service, farmers, service providers, agricultural machinery, and manufacturers for transfer of technologies will play a pivotal role in accelerating the Conservation Agriculture.

Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainable Natural Resource Management

Rice is one of the most important crops in eastern India and it will continue to enjoy its leading position so long as it remains the staple food of almost entire of the population of this region. Under the influence of increasing population pressure the demand for rice is expected to rise persistently in coming years. As the land frontier has already been exhausted the future source of growth in this region lies in raising the productivity of rice crop. Even to sustain in food grains production, it is important to give due attention to the eastern India in general and to accord high priority to the constraints of rice production in this region in particular. This can be achieved if rice research helps to reduce production losses due to various biotic and abiotic constraints in rainfed rice ecosystems. Since elimination or partial solution of these constraints would have a major impact on rice production in eastern India because the yield gaps are very high, the major constraints to rice production in eastern India require more objectivity and concerted efforts while addressing them. The major rice production constraints and priority research problem areas of rainfed rice production in eastern India are drought and submergence, bacterial blight, leaf blast, weeds, brown plant hopper and poor soil fertility. Hence, it would be logical to prioritize rice research on the basis of prevailing constraints under rainfed areas of eastern India. Besides, low input use, inappropriate plant spacing, late sowing and selection of wrong cultivars are some of the other technical constraints, which can be effectively reduced through the diffusion of relevant technologies among ultimate users or farmers. It requires further strengthening of linkages between ‘Research & Extension’ that facilitates feed-backs and disseminates technical information.

Measurement of Attitudes of Rural Poor Towards SHGs in Bihar, India

The removal of nation wide poverty has consistently been one of the main objectives of Indian policy. The Indian modern history contains several examples of discussion on this topic as far back as 1901. India embarked on a series of Five Year Plans, each containing some kind of poverty eradication or social justice component. The First Five Year Plan was launched in 1951, since then, there have been ten additional plans, the most recent being the Eleventh Five Year Plan launched in 2007. The consideration of economic policies vis-a-vis their impact on the poor highlights a continued emphasis by Indian policy makers on poverty elimination. However, there have been serious shortcomings of government efforts in alleviating poverty during the past few decades. Even after sixty five years of independence, one - fourth of India’s Population still lives in poverty. Bihar is amongst the poorest states in India, with poverty incidence of 42.6 per cent. Per capita net domestic product has been estimated to be

An Economic View to Forage and Fodder Production in Eastern India

446 for Bihar which is about one–third of the corresponding national average (

An Overview of Gender Issues in Agriculture

1220) and less than one-fourth of Haryana (

Agricultural Innovations in India-Experiences of ATMA Model

2052), one of the richest states in India (Government of Bihar, 2011). The recent studies based on primary data dealing with economic and non- economic aspects of poverty are not readily available which are needed to have deeper insights of different dimensions of poverty in Bihar, India. The present study is designed to examine various socio-economic dimensions of poor households in Bihar. the sample consisted of 160 households, 40 each from each sample villages. Data on various socio-economic aspects are being collected through panel interview with the help of well structured schedules by Resident Investigators. In the present study, data collected for the period 2010-2011 have been used for detailed analysis. Data relating to social class, education level, asset, livestock, migration, employment pattern, housing, and drinking water of poor households are considered for meaningful conclusions. This study is based on the information collected from 65 Below Poverty Line (BPL) households of four villages of Bihar. Bihar agriculture was stagnant in eighties and early nineties and observed poor growth up to tenth five year plan. In eleventh five year plan, there has been growth in agriculture sector in Bihar. Bihar is the second poorest state in India. During last 20 years poverty has declined by more than 14 percent but number of poor persons increased during the period. On the basis of analysis of household level data of VDS villages, it may be inferred that the education, land and asset poverty have been prevalent in Bihar villages. Landlessness and low per capita land are also causing poverty in Bihar. The majority of poor persons are getting employment in non-farm sector and migration is main strategy for maintaining livelihood of poor households in Bihar, but majority of persons migrated out-side state and were engaged mainly in non-farm sector. Their access to electricity, improved living condition and sanitation has been very low which may be the cause of their poor health. Despite various programmes of improving access to financial institutions, the majority of poor households of Bihar, particularly of less developed area are still dependents on money lenders for credit facilities. Various poverty alleviation programmes have not been effective in reduction of poverty up to desired level in Bihar. Hence, there is an urgent need to have holistic approach for improving various social and economic dimensions of state for faster reduction in poverty in Bihar.