Changes in dry land agriculture in the semi-arid tropics of India, 1975–2004

Abstract

This paper examines the changes in dry land agriculture between 1975 and 2004, drawing both from macro-level data as well as the Village Level Studies (VLS) data of ICRISAT from six villages in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The long-term panel data facilitate an in-depth analysis of cropping patterns, productivity levels, costs and returns of crop enterprises over time. The contrasting findings about increasing asset prices and declining returns to land and management puzzle the analysts. Equally implausible are the non-viability of agricultural enterprises on one hand and increasing incomes and living standards of the farm house holds on the other. Yet the SAT areas record highest incidence of poverty among the different agro-climatic regions of India. There is a clear dividing line between dry land agriculture and irrigated agriculture in terms of productivity levels, viability, indebtedness and poverty incidence. The government has come out with relief packages for farmers and employment guarantee programmes for the agricultural labourers in these areas. Besides such temporary palliatives, long-term policy biases which caused them need to be set right to make dry land agriculture in the SAT areas viable and competitive.

Cet article observe les changements dans' agriculture de zones arides entre 1975 et 2004 à partir de données d'ICRISAT provenant d'études macro et au niveau du village portant sur six villages du Maharashtra et d'Andhra Pradesh. Les données de panel portent sur le long terme, ce qui facilite une analyse en profondeur du modèle de culture, des niveaux de productivité, des coûts et des rendements des cultures à terme. Nos résultats suggèrent que les rendements déclinent et que l'activité agricole en zone tropicale semi-aride est devenue non viable. De plus, on enregistre dans ces zones les taux de pauvreté les plus élevés de toutes les différentes zones agro-climatiques de l'Inde. Il existe une délimitation claire entre l'agriculture sèche et l'agriculture irriguée en termes de niveau de productivité, de viabilité, d'endettement et d'incidence de la pauvreté. Nous défendons l'idée qu'afin de rendre l'agriculture sèche en zone semi-aride viable et compétitive, il est nécessaire de corriger des distorsions historiques dans la politique agricole indienne.

Keywords:

• dry land agriculture
• semi-arid tropics
• changes in cropping patterns
• village level studies
• India

Acknowledgements

I sincerely thank to Dr. Stefan Dercon, Professor, Oxford University, UK for encouraging me to write this paper and to Dr. D. Kumara Charyulu, Scientific Officer, ICRISAT who assisted me in the analysis of data. My heartfelt thanks to the sample farmers in the six villages who responded to our questions and the investigators who collected the data. My thanks are also due to the anonymous referees whose comments and suggestions were useful. I also thank Dr. Supriya Garikapati for her suggestions, which helped improve the paper.