Sreejith Aravindakshan

Impact of informal groundwater markets on efficiency of irrigated farms in India: a bootstrap data envelopment analysis approach

In recent years, the proliferation of private well irrigation systems in South Asia, especially in the hard rock areas of India, has stimulated the growth of informal groundwater markets. These markets allow water-buying farmers, who are unable to invest in wells, to benefit from irrigation while enhancing the economic benefits of water-selling farmers. In this way, they have a positive impact on farm income. On the other hand, they are believed to have contributed to the problem of overexploitation of groundwater aquifers. This study examines the role of groundwater markets in determining the efficiency of irrigated farms. Technical, allocative and economic efficiency of groundwater-irrigated farms is determined, using a bootstrapped data envelopment analysis, and the determinants of the efficiency are explored using a bootstrapped truncated regression. For this purpose, data were collected from three different groups of groundwater-irrigated farmers: (i) a control group of 30 farmers who are neither selling nor buying groundwater; (ii) a group of 30 water-selling farmers; and (iii) a group of 30 water-buying farmers. The results demonstrate that there is substantial technical, allocative and economic inefficiency in the irrigated production due to overuse of inputs and that this inefficiency is higher among the control group farmers followed by water sellers and water buyers. Also in the second-stage regression, participation in the water markets is revealed as an important factor positively affecting efficiency scores. This shows that it is relevant for the government to make appropriate institutional policy interventions to capitalize on the benefits associated with the water markets, while at the same time, ensuring that the negative external effects are avoided.

Collective action on improving environmental and economic performance of vegetable production: Exploring pesticides safety in India

From the chemical input-intensive yield-enhancement practices of the Green Revolution era, agricultural research and development focus is gradually shifting towards establishing Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in fruits and vegetable sector. The dominant problems affecting fruits and vegetables in terms of safety is presence of pesticide residues. Globally, authorities have long highlighted this risk and imposed appropriate maximal limits of residues (MLRs). In spite of imposing MLRs in fresh vegetables, negative health effects of pesticides residue in consumers have been increasingly reported from states of India like Kerala. Along with other factors, food quality and safety declination resulting from inappropriate chemicals and pesticide use during crop production is widely documented as one of the root-causes of the health issues. The weak quality assurance schemes in developing countries impede smallholders’ inclusion in high value chains due to imperfect institutional and governance arrangements throughout the system. Apparently, erstwhile studies have emphasized the significance of collective action among smallholders as a solution to the above constraints. However, past studies on vegetable production in India are either from a horticultural and entomological perspective on increasing production and productivity, pest management or on cost of cultivation and those solely from an econometric, institutional and collective action perspective have been hardly studied. Still lesser are studies understanding the inter-linkages between smallholders’ collective action and pesticides risk reduction in vegetable production of India. In this backdrop, the current study examines various econometric models and suggests suitable models to assess the institutional mechanisms on improving environmental and economic performance of vegetable production in India under collective action.