IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ind/igiwpp/2007-014.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Risks, farmers' suicides and agrarian crisis in India: Is there a way out?

Author

Listed:
  • Srijit Mishra

    (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

Abstract

Poor returns to cultivation and absence of non-farm opportunities are indicative of the larger socio-economic malaise in rural India. This is accentuated by the multiple risks that the farmer faces - yield, price, input, technology and credit among others. The increasing incidence of farmers' suicides is symptomatic of a larger crisis, which is much more widespread. Risk mitigation strategies should go beyond credit. Long term strategies requires more stable income from agriculture, and more importantly, from non-farm sources. Private credit and input markets need to be regulated. A challenge for the technological and financial gurus is to provide innovative products that reduce costs while increasing returns. The institutional vacuum of organising farmers needs to be addressed through a federation of self-help groups (SHGs) or alternative structures.

Suggested Citation

  • Srijit Mishra, 2007. "Risks, farmers' suicides and agrarian crisis in India: Is there a way out?," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2007-014, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    • Handle: RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2007-014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2007-014.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1993. "Credit Market Constraints, Consumption Smoothing, and the Accumulation of Durable Production Assets in Low-Income Countries: Investment in Bullocks in India," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 223-244, April.
    2. Srijit Mishra, 2007. "Agrarian Scenario in Post-reform India - A Story of Distress, Despair and Death," Development Economics Working Papers 22338, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    3. Singh, J.P., 2006. "Changing Agrarian Relationships in Rural India," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 61(01), pages 1-29.
    4. V.M. Rao, 2007. "Sustainability of Indian Agriculture: Towards an Assessment," Working Papers id:1163, eSocialSciences.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gaurav, Sarthak, 2015. "Are Rainfed Agricultural Households Insured? Evidence from Five Villages in Vidarbha, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 719-736.
    2. Kakarlapudi, Kiran Kumar, 2012. "Agricultural Growth Deceleration In India: An Enquiry Into Possible Explanations," Journal of Regional Development and Planning, Rajarshi Majumder, vol. 1(1), pages 25-40.
    3. Kakarlapudi, Kiran Kumar, 2010. "Agricultural Growth Deceleration in India: A Review of Explanations," MPRA Paper 35865, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jan 2012.
    4. Varun Kumar Das & A. Ganesh Kumar, 2017. "Drivers of Farmers' Income: The Role of Farm Size and Diversification," Working Papers id:12104, eSocialSciences.
    5. Jing Li & Tsun Se Cheong & Wenyang Huang & Wai Yan Shum, 2022. "Examining the Regional Disparity of Agricultural Development: A Distribution Dynamics Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Sowmya Dhanaraj & Vidya Mahambare & Pragati, 2021. "Are India’s farm debt waivers a political tool that impacts government finances?," Working Papers 2021-211, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    7. Sreenivasulu, Y., 2023. "Forced Tenancy as a Trajectory of Tenant Farmers’ Suicides: A Study of Two Mandals in Nalgonda District (Telangana)," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), June.
    8. Nalini Bikkina & Rama Mohana R. Turaga & Vaibhav Bhamoriya, 2018. "Farmer producer organizations as farmer collectives: A case study from India," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(6), pages 669-687, October.
    9. Ali Sher & Saman Mazhar & Hossein Azadi & Guanghua Lin, 2020. "Smallholder Commercialization and Urban-Rural Linkages: Effect of Interest-Free Agriculture Credit on Market Participation of Rice Growers in Pakistan," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-24, December.
    10. Dalwai, Ashok, 2012. "Dynamics of Agricultural Growth in India," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 67(01), pages 1-19.
    11. Mukherjee, Subhankar & Pal, Parthapratim, 2019. "On Improving Awareness about Crop Insurance in India," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 9(01), July.
    12. Sunil Kumar & Ashutosh Verma, 2020. "Empowering Farmers of Madhya Pradesh: An Initiative of Madhya Bharat Consortium of Farmers Producer Company Limited," South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, , vol. 9(1), pages 148-158, April.
    13. Sunil Mitra Kumar, 2016. "Why does caste still influence access to agricultural credit?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-86, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Raman, Rakesh & Kumari, Reena, 2012. "Regional Disparity In Agricultural Development: A District-Level Analysis For Uttar Pradesh," Journal of Regional Development and Planning, Rajarshi Majumder, vol. 1(2), pages 71-90.
    15. Kumar, Ranjit & Kumar, Sanjiv & Yashavanth, B.S. & Meena, P.C., 2019. "Natural Farming Practices in India: Its Adoption and Impact on Crop Yield and Farmers’ Income," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 74(03), July.
    16. U. Vindhya & Sunayana Swain & Praful Kapse & Nachiket Sule, 2022. "Farmers’ Suicides and Psychosocial Intervention," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 34(1), pages 104-124, March.
    17. Varun Kumar Das & A. Ganesh-Kumar, 2018. "Farm size, livelihood diversification and farmer’s income in India," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 45(2), pages 185-201, June.
    18. Sunil Mitra Kumar, 2016. "Why does caste still influence access to agricultural credit?," WIDER Working Paper Series 086, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Serra, Teresa & Poli, Elena, 2015. "Shadow prices of social capital in rural India, a nonparametric approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(3), pages 892-903.
    20. Rajan Sudesh Ratna & Murali Kallummal, 2013. "ASEAN–India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and its Impact on India," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 48(4), pages 481-497, November.
    21. Kurup, Suresh A. & Reddy, A. Amarender & Singh, Dharm Raj & Praveen, K.V, 2021. "Risks in Rainfed Agriculture and Adaptation Strategies in India: Profile and Socio-Economic Correlates," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315127, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    22. Deepak K. Mishra, 2020. "Seasonal Migration and Unfree Labour in Globalising India: Insights from Field Surveys in Odisha," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(4), pages 1087-1106, December.
    23. Mizinksa Daimari & Rajshree Bedamatta, 2021. "The State of Bodo Peasantry in Modern-Day Assam: Evidence from Majrabari Village in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(3), pages 705-730, September.
    24. Arora, Saurabh & Romijn, Henny, 2009. "Innovation for the base of the pyramid: Critical perspectives from development studies on heterogeneity and participation," MERIT Working Papers 2009-036, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    25. Bikkina,Nalini & Turaga, Rama Mohana & Bhamoriya, Vaibhav, 2015. "Farmer Producer Organizations as Farmer Collectives: A Case Study from India," IIMA Working Papers WP2015-01-05, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.

    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. Pascaline Dupas & Sarah Green & Anthony Keats & Jonathan Robinson, 2014. "Challenges in Banking the Rural Poor: Evidence from Kenya's Western Province," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume III: Modernization and Development, pages 63-101, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Dean Yang, 2008. "International Migration, Remittances and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants' Exchange Rate Shocks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(528), pages 591-630, April.
    3. Bethelhem Legesse Debela, 2017. "Factors Affecting Differences in Livestock Asset Ownership Between Male- and Female-Headed Households in Northern Ethiopia," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 328-347, April.
    4. Tasso Adamopoulos, 2011. "Transportation Costs, Agricultural Productivity, And Cross‐Country Income Differences," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 52(2), pages 489-521, May.
    5. Carol Newman & Finn Tarp, 2018. "Risk and investment: Evidence from rural Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 122, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Renata Baborska & Emilio Hernandez & Emiliano Magrini & Cristian Morales-Opazo, 2020. "The impact of financial inclusion on rural food security experience: A perspective from low-and middle-income countries," Review of Development Finance Journal, Chartered Institute of Development Finance, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18.
    7. Jin, Ling & Chen, Kevin Z. & Yu, Bingxin & Filipski, Mateusz, 2015. "Farmers' Coping Strategies against an Aggregate Shock: Evidence from the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211814, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Edgar A. Ghossoub, 2009. "Liquidity Risk and Banks’ Asset Composition: Implications for Monetary Policy," Working Papers 0096, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    9. Narayanamoorthy, A. & Hanjra, Munir A., 2006. "Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Output Linkages: A Study of 256 Indian Districts," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 1-16.
    10. Jonathan Temple & Huikang Ying & Patrick Carter, 2014. "Transfers and Transformations: Remittances, Foreign Aid, and Growth," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 14/649, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK, revised 02 Dec 2014.
    11. Molina Millán, Teresa, 2015. "Regional Migration, Insurance and Economic Shocks: Evidence from Nicaragua," IZA Discussion Papers 9494, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Alessandro Federici & Pierluigi Montalbano, 2012. "Macroeconomic volatility, consumption behaviour and welfare: A cross-country analysis," Working Paper Series 3612, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    13. Gottlieb, Charles & Grobovšek, Jan, 2019. "Communal land and agricultural productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 135-152.
    14. Fernando M. Aragón & Francisco Oteiza & Juan Pablo Rud, 2018. "Climate change and agriculture: farmer adaptation to extreme heat," IFS Working Papers W18/06, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    15. Takeshima, Hiroyuki & Hatzenbuehler, Patrick L. & Edeh, Hyacinth O., 2020. "Effects of agricultural mechanization on economies of scope in crop production in Nigeria," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    16. Mariapia MENDOLA, 2005. "Farm households production theories: a review of institutional and behavioural responses," Departmental Working Papers 2005-01, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    17. Chen, Jing & Rozelle, Scott, 2003. "Market Emergence And The Rise And Fall Of Backyard Hog Production In China," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 21969, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    18. Manoj K. Pandey, 2013. "Elderly's Health Shocks and Household's Ex-ante Poverty in India," ASARC Working Papers 2013-01, The Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre.
    19. Kusunose, Yoko & Lybbert, Travis J., 2014. "Coping with Drought by Adjusting Land Tenancy Contracts: A Model and Evidence from Rural Morocco," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 114-126.
    20. Bharat Ramaswami & Shamika Ravi & S.D. Chopra, 2003. "Risk management in agriculture," Discussion Papers 03-08, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Credit burden; Crop loss/yield uncertainty; Market vulnerabilities (price shocks and increasing input costs); Returns to cultivation; Suicide Mortality Rate (SMR);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ind:igiwpp:2007-014. 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: Shamprasad M. Pujar (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/igidrin.html .

    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.