INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE
Globalization, privatization and scientific advancements pose new challenges and opportunities for the development of Indian agriculture. The emerging paradigm shifts focus to creation and application of new knowledge for agricultural development and global competitiveness. To facilitate this shift and realize greater economic efficiency, a new set of responsive institutions should emerge. This volume discusses the direction of institutional change in Indian agriculture. The roles of the state, markets and collective actions are examined for evolving the knowledge-intensive agriculture. The contributed papers from a number of leading researchers cover the institutions for R&D, land and water resources, credit, marketing, trade and agro-processing.
Institutional Changes in Delivery of Agricultural Inputs and Services to Farm Households in India
This paper has examined the major institutional changes in agricultural input markets and use of inputs across the farming community of the country in the previous decade. More specifically, it discusses the three aspects of inputs: (i) trend in major agricultural inputs use, (ii) their accessibility to small farmers, and (iii) institutional changes in the delivery of input and services. The study has sourced the data from various government reports mainly from NSSO, input survey and CACP. A significant growth in input-use has been recorded in the previous decade and a noticeable change has been observed in the shares of public and private sectors in the factor markets. Accessibility to institutional credit has been limited for marginal and small farmers; however, chemical fertilizer and pesticide use has been found highest among these farmers vis-a-vis other category of farmers. About 40 per cent of the farmers have access to information on modern technology from any source and progressive farmers have emerged as the major source. Easing procedural norms in accessing institutional credit is essential for inclusion of marginal and small farmers in the formal credit system. In addition, extension system should be rejuvenated with recent developments of information and communication technologies for better dissemination of farm information, particularly among the remotely located farm households.
Agriculture and Intellectual Property Rights: Economic, Institutional and Implementation Issues in Biotechnology
1: Introduction, V Santaniello et al. 2: Patent and Other Private Legal Rights for Biotechnology Inventions (Intellectual Property Rights - IPR), D D Evenson, P.L.L.C., Washington, USA 3: Intellectual Property Rights of Plant Varieties and of Biotechnology in the European Union, V Santaniello 4: Intellectual Property Rights under the Convention on Biological Diversity, W Lesser, Cornell University, USA 5: An Economic Approach to Identifying An `Effective Sui Generis System' for Plant Variety Protection Under TRIPS, W Lesser 6: Recent Intellectual Property Rights Controversies and Issues at the CGIAR, S H Bragdon, IPGRI, Rome, Italy 7: Economics of Intellectual Property Rights for Agricultural Technology, R E Evenson 8: The Market Value of Farmers' Rights, R Mendelsohn, Yale University, USA 9: International Crop Breeding in a World of Proprietary Technology, B D Wright, University of California, USA 10: Knowledge Management and the Economics of Agricultural Biotechnology, D Zilberman and C Yarkin, University of California, USA and A Heiman, Hebrew University, Israel 11: Comparing Allocation of Resources in Public and Private Research, S Lemarie, Universite Pierre-Mendes, Grenoble, France 12: Biotechnology Inventions: What Can We Learn From Patents?, D K N Johnson, Wellesley College, Massachusetts, USA and V Santaniello 13: Biotechnology Inventions: Patent Data Evidence, A Zohrabyan, Yale University, USA and R E Evenson 14: Property Rights and Regulations for Transgenic Crops in North America, G Carlson and M Marra, North Carolina State University, USA 15: Intellectual Property Rights, Canola and Public Research in Canada, P W B Phillips, University of Saskatchewan, Canada