Rural Infrastructure, Land Productivity and Crop Diversification in Odisha, India: An Assessment

Nayak, Chittaranjan (2015): Rural Infrastructure, Land Productivity and Crop Diversification in Odisha, India: An Assessment.

Abstract

Identifying the sources of agricultural growth in India has been an unsettled area of research. The debate mainly centres around the relative efficacy of price and non-price factors. The present study examines the impact of some non-price factors including rural infrastructure. Taking land productivity and crop diversification as the two principal indicators of agricultural growth, the study measures changes in these indicators vis-à-vis the stock of rural infrastructure in Odisha, an eastern Indian state. By using district-wise cross section data for the year 2011-12, indices for rural infrastructure are prepared with help of the Principal Components Analysis, and crop diversity indices are measured by the Theil Entropy formula. The study observes that rural infrastructure has significant positive impact on land productivity. However, along with high yielding variety paddy, infrastructure contributes to concentration rather than crop diversification. In addition, the study also observes persistence of regional divide in infrastructure, which may be considered as a major concern having wider implications.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Agricultural productivity, crop diversification, rural infrastructure, regional disparity, principal component analysis
• Subjects: Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q10 - General; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q15 - Land Ownership and Tenure ; Land Reform ; Land Use ; Irrigation ; Agriculture and Environment; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q18 - Agricultural Policy ; Food Policy

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