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Farmer education and household agricultural income in rural India

Author

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  • Sitakanta Panda

Abstract

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in the rural household agricultural income by farmers’ education while exploiting a nationally representative household survey data set, i.e. the India Human Development Survey-2005, in the rural Indian context. The author seeks to answer the question: how much variation in the household net agricultural income per acre of land cultivated can farmers’ education explain? Design/methodology/approach - – The author has employed the ordinary least squares regression model with village fixed effects. The author also analysed the data using some exploratory statistics. Findings - – The author finds that farmers’ education significantly increases the net household farm income per acre of land cultivated last year. The results are robust to the inclusion of the five educational degree categories (dummies) in lieu of the years of schooling variable. The results are also robust to its decomposition into that for men and for women separately. Women farmers’ education has an amplified impact on farm incomes. The author also confirms the inverse relationship between the household agricultural income and land area cultivated, which is consistent with the huge literature on the negative relationship between land size-class and farm productivity. Practical implications - – In a developing country with a not-so-modernized agriculture sector and low adoption of newer farming technologies, this validated importance of education in explaining the differences in rural farm earnings has guiding policy implications in that a positive return to farmer schooling signals the need for increased investments in the farmers’ education and awareness so as to enhance farm incomes and productivity. The special policy thrust on education of women and women farmers is critical to ensuring higher farm incomes and outcomes. Originality/value - – The literature on the impact of farmers’ education on rural household agricultural income is very sparse. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this issue has not been addressed before in the Indian context. The author explains the contribution of farmer education to farm income in rural Indian households. The author also revisits the negative relationship between farm income and land size holdings in the Indian agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Sitakanta Panda, 2015. "Farmer education and household agricultural income in rural India," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(6), pages 514-529, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijsepp:v:42:y:2015:i:6:p:514-529
    DOI: 10.1108/IJSE-12-2013-0278
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Yu, Lili & Niu, Ziheng & Gao, Yang & Tian, Borui, 2019. "Support policy preferences of grain family farms: evidence from Huang-huai-hai plain of China," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 23(5), October.
    2. Gao, Yang & Zhang, Xiao & Wu, Lei & Yin, Shijiu & Lu, Jiao, 2017. "Resource basis, ecosystem and growth of grain family farm in China: Based on rough set theory and hierarchical linear model," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 157-167.
    3. Muhammad Irshad Ahmad & Les Oxley & Hengyun Ma, 2020. "What Makes Farmers Exit Farming: A Case Study of Sindh Province, Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, April.
    4. Md.Salamun Rashidin & Sara Javed & Bin Liu & Wang Jian, 2020. "Ramifications of Households’ Nonfarm Income on Agricultural Productivity: Evidence From a Rural Area of Pakistan," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    5. Lu, Haiyan & Zhao, Pengjun & Hu, Haoyu & Yan, Jie & Chen, Xiaoping, 2023. "Exploring the heterogeneous impact of road infrastructure on rural residents’ income: Evidence from nationwide panel data in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 155-166.
    6. Bina Agarwal & Ankush Agrawal, 2016. "To farm or not to farm? Indian farmers in transition," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 012016, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    7. Kryszak, Łukasz & Staniszewski, Jakub, 2017. "The Elasticity of Agricultural Income in the EU Member States Under Different Cost Structures," Problems of World Agriculture / Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, vol. 17(32, Part ), December.
    8. Sitakanta Panda, 2022. "Does Local Elite Capture Vary by Levels of Political Connections? Evidence from an Indian Public Housing Program," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(4), pages 1912-1939, August.
    9. Tran, Dai Binh & Tran, Hanh Thi My & Pham, Thao Dinh Ngoc & Nguyen, Thuy Thanh, 2023. "Education and agricultural household income: Comparative evidence from Vietnam and Thailand," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).

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