IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/agspub/v12y2023i4p455-487.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Prevailing Agrarian Relations in Lower Crop Productivity and Profitability: Evidence from Uttar Pradesh, India

Author

Listed:
  • Shinu Varkey

Abstract

This study analyzes the agricultural performance of two regions of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Eastern UP and Bundelkhand, representing two distinct agrarian systems: the former falling mostly within the Gangetic plains and the latter being dry land. Despite the regional differences, it appears that differences in the levels of productivity and net incomes earned in the case of major crops cultivated are more specific to class than region. The study raises the broader question: What explains the lower crop productivity and output and the higher costs of production and meager returns from cultivation of the lower-class cultivators? The mainstream economic explanations for this question are mostly confined to factors related to technology and state policy. While acknowledging that these factors are important, it is argued that the existing agrarian relations also play an important role in lowering crop productivity and profitability in the study areas and, therefore, these must also be considered in an ideal analytical framework for understanding agrarian change in the countryside.

Suggested Citation

  • Shinu Varkey, 2023. "The Role of Prevailing Agrarian Relations in Lower Crop Productivity and Profitability: Evidence from Uttar Pradesh, India," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 12(4), pages 455-487, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:12:y:2023:i:4:p:455-487
    DOI: 10.1177/22779760231207174
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/22779760231207174
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/22779760231207174?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Srijit Mishra, 2007. "Agrarian Scenario in Post-reform India:A Story of Distress, Despair and Death," Working Papers id:1019, eSocialSciences.
    2. Bhaduri, Amit, 1973. "A Study in Agricultural Backwardness under Semi-Feudalism," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 83(329), pages 120-137, March.
    3. Khusro, A.M., 1964. "Returns to Scale in Indian Agriculture," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 19(3-4), pages 1-33.
    4. Bardhan, Pranab K, 1980. "Interlocking Factor Markets and Agrarian Development: A Review of Issues," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 32(1), pages 82-98, March.
    5. Ghose, Ajit K. & Saith, Ashwani, 1976. "Indebtedness, tenancy and the adoption of new technology in semi-feudal agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 305-319, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:phd:pjdevt:jpd_1989_vol__xvi_no_1-a is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Khanna, Madhulika & Majumdar, Shruti, 2020. "Caste-ing wider nets of credit: A mixed methods analysis of informal lending and caste relations in Bihar," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    3. Basu, Santonu, 1997. "Why institutional credit agencies are reluctant to lend to the rural poor: A theoretical analysis of the Indian rural credit market," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 267-280, February.
    4. Oscar Amarasinghe, 1989. "Technical Change, Transformation of Risks and Patronage Relations in a Fishing Community of South Sri Lanka," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 20(4), pages 701-733, October.
    5. Tarp, Finn, 2003. "Udviklingsbistanden i perspektiv," Nationaløkonomisk tidsskrift, Nationaløkonomisk Forening, vol. 2003(1), pages 164-186.
    6. Platteau, J.-Ph. & Abraham, A., 1985. "An Inquiry Into Quasi-Credit Systems In Traditional Fishermen Communities: The Role Of Reciprocal Credit And Mixed Contracts," Discussion Papers 272827, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    7. Shami, Mahvish, 2012. "The Impact of Connectivity on Market Interlinkages: Evidence from Rural Punjab," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 999-1012.
    8. Ghose, Ajit Kumar,, 1980. "Agrarian reform in West Bengal: objectives, achievements and limitations," ILO Working Papers 992032743402676, International Labour Organization.
    9. Carnaje, Gideon P., 2007. "Contractual Arrangements in Philippine Fisheries," Discussion Papers DP 2007-22, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    10. Jean–Philippe Platteau, 1984. "The Drive Towards Mechanization of SmallScale Fisheries in Kerala: A Study of the Transformation Process of Traditional Village Societies," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 65-103, January.
    11. Atiq Rahman, 1992. "The Informal Financial Sector in Bangladesh: An Appraisal of its Role in Development," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 23(1), pages 147-168, January.
    12. Kaushik Basu, 1987. "Technological Stagnation, Tenurial Laws and Adverse Selection," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-1987-014, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Väth, Susanne Johanna & Kirk, Michael, 2013. "Do land ownership and contract farming matter? Evidence from a large-scale investment in Ghana," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161460, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    14. Munir Ahmad & Sarfraz Khan Qureshi, 1999. "Recent Evidence on Farm Size and Land Productivity: Implications for Public Policy," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 38(4), pages 1135-1153.
    15. Sanjib Baruah, 1990. "The End of the Road in Land Reform? Limits to Redistribution in West Bengal," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 21(1), pages 119-146, January.
    16. Ligon, Ethan, 1994. "Risk-Sharing Under Varying Information Regimes: Theory and Measurement in Village Economies," CUDARE Working Papers 201473, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    17. Adjognon, Serge G. & Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O. & Reardon, Thomas A., 2017. "Agricultural input credit in Sub-Saharan Africa: Telling myth from facts," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 93-105.
    18. Steve Boucher & J. Edward Taylor, 2006. "Subsistence Response to Market Shocks," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(2), pages 279-291.
    19. Reardon, Thomas & Barrett, Christopher B. & Berdegué, Julio A. & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2009. "Agrifood Industry Transformation and Small Farmers in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 1717-1727, November.
    20. Jonathan Conning, 2004. "The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom and the Roads to Agrarian Capitalism: Domar's Hypothesis Revisited," Economics Working Paper Archive at Hunter College 401, Hunter College Department of Economics.
    21. Dong, Xiao-Yuan, 1996. "Two-tier land tenure system and sustained economic growth in post-1978 rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 915-928, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:12:y:2023:i:4:p:455-487. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.