23 December is observed as National Farmers’ Day, to celebrate the contribution and importance of farmers to the Indian economy. This page presents selected I4I content – posted over time – on issues that affect the lives of farmers, and related IGC (International Growth Centre) India research and panel discussions.

I4I Reading List

2020 Farm laws

Introduction to e-Symposium: Understanding the new farm laws – Ashok Kotwal (Editor-in-Chief, I4I). Perspectives by Bharat Ramaswami (Ashoka University), Sukhpal Singh (Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad), Sanjay Kaul (former Indian Administrative Officer), Siraj Hussain (ICRIER), Mekhala Krishnamurthy (Ashoka University; Centre for Policy Research), and Shoumitro Chatterjee (Pennsylvania State University).
[Read in Hindi]

Farm laws: Resolving the deadlock - Ashok Kotwal (Editor-in-Chief, I4I), Bharat Ramaswami (Ashoka University).

Agricultural marketing and infrastructure

Moving past the mandis: A revolution waiting to happen - Dilip Mookherjee (Boston University)

Unified agricultural markets: Where are the reforms lacking? - Nidhi Aggarwal (Indian Institute of Management Udaipur), Sargam Jain (World Bank), Sudha Narayanan (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

Grain stocks: Is it a problem of storage capacity? – Bharat Ramaswami (Ashoka University)

Contract farming and the role of government - Smriti Mudgal Sharma (Independent policy analyst)
[Read in Hindi]

Technology, productivity, and resources

Information technology adoption and productivity: Role of mobile phones in Indian agriculture - Apoorv Gupta (Dartmouth College), Jacopo Ponticelli (Northwestern Kellogg School of Management), Andrea Tesei (Queen Mary University of London)

Using science to improve Indian agriculture - Robert S. Zeigler (International Rice Research Institute)

Improving farmers’ income: Learnings from a survey in Jharkhand - Vinod Hariharan (Oxford Policy Management Limited), Jasmeet Khanuja (Oxford Policy Management Limited), Gurpreet Singh (Department of Rural Development, Jharkhand)
[Read in Hindi]

Impacts of water loss on low-income farmers in Karnataka - David Blakeslee (New York University, Abu Dhabi), Ram Fishman (Tel Aviv University), Veena Srinivasan (ATREE)
[Infographic]

Promoting the use of a novel water-saving agricultural technology among Indian farmers - Anil Bhargava (University of Michigan), Kajal Gulati (University of California, Davis), Travis J. Lybbert (University of California, Davis), Nicholas Magnan (University of Georgia), David J. Spielman (IFPRI)

Credit and insurance

Are farm loan waivers really so bad? - Pronab Sen (IGC India)
[Read in Hindi]

How agricultural debt waiver impacts beneficiary households - Mrinal Mishra (University of Zurich)

Crop insurance scheme 2.0: Implementation issues and weaknesses - Ashwini Kulkarni (Pragati Abhiyan)

IGC Research

Ongoing projects

Digital Literacy, Land Rights, and Agricultural Productivity in Bihar - Andre Joshua Nickow (Northwestern University), Sanjay Kumar (Deshkal Society)

The impact of Formal Mechanisation Access on Agricultural Productivity and Informal Rental Markets - Julieta Caunedo (Cornell University), Namrata Kala (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Do Farmers’ Ability and Community Networks matter in Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change? A case study of Bihar - Meeta Keswani Mehra (Jawaharlal Nehru University)
[Video]

Completed projects

Federal versus Regional Control: Implications for Groundwater Resource in India - Sheetal Sekhri (University of Virginia)

Index Insurance to Manage Weather Risk: A Long-Run Experiment - Shawn Cole (Harvard University), Jeremy Tobacman (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania), Raghabendra Chattopadhyay (Indian Institute of Management), Maulik Jagnani (Centre for Micro Finance), Lisa Nestor (University of California - Los Angeles)

Evaluating the Kisan Credit Scheme: Results from Bihar and India - Areendam Chanda (Louisiana State University)

Land Acquisition for Business and Compensation of Displaced Farmers - Maitreesh Ghatak (London School of Economics and Political Science), Sandip Mitra (Indian Statistical Institute), Dilip Mookherjee (Boston University)

Selling Formal Insurance to the Informally Insured – Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak (Yale University), Mark Rosenzweig (Yale University)

Promoting Energy and Water Efficiency in Irrigation through Direct and Indirect Incentives – Michael Greenstone (University of Chicago), Nick Hagerty (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Ariel Zucker (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Can information help reduce imbalanced application of Fertilisers in India: Experimental evidence from Bihar – Ram Fishman (George Washington University), Avinash Kishore (International Food Policy Research Institute), Yoav Rothler (Tel Aviv University), Patrick Ward (International Food Policy Research Institute), RKP Singh (Researcher), Shankar Jha (Researcher)

IGC Panel Discussions

Webinar video will be available soon.

Navigating Covid-19 impact on agriculture supply chains (October 2020) – Panellists: N. Saravana Kumar (Secretary, Agriculture Department, Government of Bihar), Siraj Hussain (Senior Visiting Fellow, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and former Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India), Shekhar Tomar (Assistant Professor, Indian School of Business), Mekhala Krishnamurthy (Associate Professor, Ashoka University).

The impact of Covid-19 on small-holder farmers in India and the way forward (August 2020) – Panellists: Anjani Kumar (IFPRI), J.V. Meenakshi (University of Delhi), S. Mahendra Dev (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research). Webinar video available here

Financing growth and diversification of Bihar’s agriculture (December 2018) – Panellists: Anjan Mukherji (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Mekhala Krishnamurthy (Ashoka University), Avinash Kishore (International Food Policy Research Institute), Bharat Ramaswami (Ashoka University), Pronab Sen (IGC India)