Is Futures Market Mitigating Price Risk: An Exploration of Wheat and Maize Market

Instability of commodity prices has always been a major concern of the producers as well as the consumers in an agriculture-dominated country like India. Farmers in a bid to avert the price risk often tend to go for distress sale and thereby reduce the potential returns. In order to cope up with this problem, futures trading has emerged as a viable option for providing a greater degree of assurance on the price front. Thus, futures markets serve as a risk -shifting function. In the present study, an attempt has been made to look into the mechanism of movement of spot and futures prices for two important food crops in Indian agriculture. The Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test has been used for both the crops to check the stationarity of the time series data. Most of the series have been observed to follow the stationary pattern at the first difference. The cointegration test has been attempted to find out whether there exists a longrun relationship between spot and futures prices of various contract months for maize and wheat crops. However, there exists a short run disequilibrium between these two. It has been observed that the futures contract behave in an expected manner and there exists a mechanism for long-run equilibrium in the maize as well as wheat crops. This phenomenon of price convergence for both maize and wheat crops clearly states that the farmers are mitigating price risk as spot prices and future prices converges.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Extent of Groundwater Extraction and Irrigation Efficiency on Farms under Different Water-market Regimes in Central Uttar Pradesh

Tube-well irrigation, through modern water extraction mechanisms (WEMs), has been vital to food security and sustainable livelihoods in India. However, due to skewed distribution of WEMs towards large farmers on account of huge investment needs, small and marginal farmers have to rely on owners of WEMs for irrigation water. This has resulted in the emergence of informal water-markets. The present study has examined the groundwater extraction and water-use efficiency under different water-market regimes in the Central Plain Zone (CPZ) of Uttar Pradesh, where water-intensive cropping pattern is followed. The study is based on the primary data collected from 100 farmer-households of Central Plain Zone in the year 2007. Most of the farmers in the study domain are small and marginal, having less than 2 ha land. These resource-poor farmers buy water from the WEM–owners. Thus, groundwater market has been found to provide them easy accessibility to irrigation water and helps them in realizing better yields. The popularity of water-intensive crops, such as paddy, wheat and sugarcane, is responsible for the depleting groundwater tables in the region. Estimates of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) have shown that both buyers and owners of WEMs are technically inefficient in water–use, as the actual use of irrigation water has been found much higher than the optimum level. However, ‘Buyers have been found comparatively more efficient than ‘Owners’ in water utilization. Overexploitation of groundwater resources raises concerns about the future sustainability of agriculture. It is, therefore, becoming increasingly important that groundwater is used efficiently and groundwater market can emerge as a better tool for improving the efficiency of irrigation water across farm-sizes and crops. Based on the results, the study has made some policy suggestions also for an equitable and sustainable development of agriculture in the region.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Concerns of Groundwater Depletion and Irrigation Efficiency in Punjab Agriculture: A Micro-Level Study

The present study, conducted during 2005-06, in two districts, viz. Amritsar and Faridkot of Punjab, (former having pre-dominantly tubewell-irrigated area and the latter having canal + tubewell irrigation facilities) has assessed the extent of water depletion and has measured irrigation efficiency at the farm level. Due to profitability and availability of water at shallow depths during 1970s, paddy and wheat (two of the high water-consuming crops) replaced other crops like maize, groundnut and pulses in the entire state. The area under these two crops increased from 7.22 per cent to 32.92 per cent for paddy and from 37.12 per cent to 43.53 per cent for wheat, from TE 1965 to TE 2005. Consequently, the problem of groundwater depletion has become severe in the Amritsar district, with a fall of 77cm/ annum in watertable. In the district of Faridkot, this fall has been of 33cm/annuum. The technical efficiency of irrigation on farms estimated through Data Envelopment Analysis, has indicated the mean irrigation efficiency of 57 per cent and 65 per cent in paddy production and 61 per cent and 68 per cent in wheat production, in tubewell-irrigated and canal+tubewell irrigated farms, respectively. It has clearly indicated that there is potential to improve irrigation efficiency by 39 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively in the sample farms. To sustain production system in the state, there is an urgent need to (i) do away with the rice-wheat cropping system in the regions where groundwater depletion is very severe, (ii) evolve regulation for use of groundwater and conjunctive use of surface water, and (iii) disseminate improved agronomic practices for increasing use-efficiency of water and other inputs.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Diversification of Indian Agriculture: Composition, Determinants and Trade Implications

The pattern of diversification across states/crops in India has been schematized and various determinants of diversification have been deciphered. To objectively confer the empirical resonance, values of Simpson index have been estimated. The diversification index (SID) has been found to range from 0.47 (WB) to 0.90 (Karnataka) in 1990-91 and from 0.40 (Orissa) to 0.92 (Karnataka) in 2000-01. The increase in diversification Index signifies shift towards non-foodgrain crops. In Karnataka, though the Index has increased, but the similar increases in area under foodgrain imply shift from coarse to fine cereals. Agricultural diversification is influenced by a number of infrastructural and technological factors. The coefficients have indicated that the presence of electricity and road density are negatively associated with the diversification. In the year 2001-02, large share of export earnings has come from non-traditional items, namely rice, fruits, vegetables, livestock and marine products, signifying positive boost to diversification. Indian agriculture has witnessed diversification with impressive improvements in the shares of livestock and fisheries sectors in the total income from agriculture. Within the crop sector, the diversification has largely been in favour of non-foodgrains crops in most of the states. However, diversification in these states has not been essentially for income generation, but also for the risk-mitigating proposition. However, harnessing the potential of diversification presupposes gradual restructuring of diversification hindering market institutions, infrastructure and quality standards.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Technical Efficiency in Maize Production in Madhya Pradesh: Estimation and Implications

The state of Madhya Pradesh is one of the traditional maize growing states, accounting for 13 per cent of the total maize area and contributing equally to the total maize production in the country. However, its productivity when compared to other maize growing states is very low. The study has found that even though a majority of the farmers cultivate improved maize cultivars, the overall technology adoption by them is poor. This may be due to the inability of a majority of farmers to follow the recommended package of practices for the improved cultivars because of the high costs involved in their adoption and lack of infrastructural facilities. Therefore, steps need to be initiated to solve this problem. A comparison of costs on cultivation of traditional, composite and hybrid cultivars has revealed that the cost increases significantly on using the improved cultivars due to higher requirements of fertilizers, irrigation, and plant protection chemicals as compared to those in the traditional varieties. However, with the significant increase in yield, the unit cost of production has been much lower in the case of improved cultivars. The economics of cultivation of maize when compared with its competing crops like paddy and soybean have revealed that the paddy is superior to all the maize cultivars in output/input ratio. The hybrid maize has been found superior to soybean as well as paddy in terms of net returns and hence the farmers could cultivate maize rather than paddy since the latter has higher water requirement. The estimation of technical efficiency of the farmers has revealed that on an average the sample farms operate 23 per cent below the frontier output levels. Hence, it has been observed that the maize output can be increased through adoption of proper technology by the farmers. It requires support from both the state government (in terms of providing infrastructural/ institutional support like drying and storage facilities, arrangement for assured procurement, etc.) as well as the private companies (in terms of supply of quality seeds and chemical pesticides at reasonable prices).Agricultural and Food Policy,

Study of cavitation in hydro turbines - a review

Reaction turbines basically Francis turbines and propeller/Kaplan turbines are suitable for medium and low head hydropower sites. The management of the small hydropower plants is an important factor, for achieving higher efficiency of hydro turbines with time. Turbines show declined performance after few years of operation, as they get severely damaged due to various reasons. One of the important reasons is erosive wear of the turbines due to cavitation. Reaction turbines, however are more prone to cavitation especially Francis turbines where a zone in the operating range is seriously affected by cavitation and considered as forbidden zone. Cavitation is a phenomenon which manifests itself in the pitting of the metallic surfaces of turbine parts because of the formation of cavities. In the present paper, studies undertaken in this field by several investigators have been discussed extensively. Based on literature survey various aspects related to cavitation in hydro turbines, different causes for the declined performance and efficiency of the hydro turbines and suitable remedial measures suggested by various investigators have been discusse

Labour Migration in Indo-Gangetic Plains: Determinants and Impacts on Socio-economic Welfare

In India, male out-migration from rural to urban areas has increased in recent years, especially in the Indo- Gangetic regions of the country. This indicates that most of the developed regions of India are utilizing labour force of backward areas. The paper has investigated on labour out-migration from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to find its determinants and its impacts on farm economy. The analysis of determinants shown that the number of members in a family and their educational status have a positive impact on migration. As a result of male out-migration, the women left behind in the villages assume a major role in various farm activities resulting in the so-called ‘feminization of agriculture’. It has also empowered the female members of the migrant households in terms of enhancing their decision-making role in various activities. The study has observed some policy implications in terms of formation of self-help groups or labour societies to help out-migrants, organization of training programmes for capacity building of women, more thrust on education a girl-child and development of infrastructure in the rural areas.Labour migration, Feminization of agriculture, Farm-women empowerment, Impact on farm socio-economy, Agricultural and Food Policy, J61, J23, J31,

Novel symmetries in N = 2 supersymmetric quantum mechanical models

We demonstrate the existence of a novel set of discrete symmetries in the context of N = 2 supersymmetric (SUSY) quantum mechanical model with a potential function f(x) that is a generalization of the potential of the 1D SUSY harmonic oscillator. We perform the same exercise for the motion of a charged particle in the X-Y plane under the influence of a magnetic field in the Z-direction. We derive the underlying algebra of the existing continuous symmetry transformations (and corresponding conserved charges) and establish its relevance to the algebraic structures of the de Rham cohomological operators of differential geometry. We show that the discrete symmetry transformations of our present general theories correspond to the Hodge duality operation. Ultimately, we conjecture that any arbitrary N = 2 SUSY quantum mechanical system can be shown to be a tractable model for the Hodge theory.Comment: LaTeX file, 23 pages, Title and Abstract changed, Text modified, version to appear in Annals of Physic

Effective Extension Strategies and Mobilisation of FPO`s to Market

Small holder farmers are have to suffer market uncertainties as most policies and institutional supports favours large and progressive farmers and smaller farmers are devoid of them increasing wider gap between producers and consumers. In such situation Farmer Produces Organization plays an important role in promoting and strengthening member based institution of farmers. This business form allows 10 or more producers to form an organisation as per its memorandum of association. FPO’s can link smallholder’s farmers to local, regional, national and international markets effectively if there is no political interference. FPOs which are formed as Farmer Producer Company (FPCs) allow its member to access financial and other input services. To surpass this effective and viable profit making FPCs needs to be competent with other companies and rivals in the market and has a huge potential to capture the future food retails not only in India but in the world

Evaluation of Phytochemical and Antistress Activity of Averrhoa carambola L.

In India, the medicinal plant Averrhoa carambola L. has been utilised for centuries to cure a wide range of illnesses and problems. The goal of the current study was to assess the ethanolic seed extract of Averrhoa carambola L. (EEAC) for its phytochemical and anti-stress properties Flavonoids were identified as the main phytoconstituents by EEAC. Studies on acute toxicity were conducted on albino mice. At a level of 2000 mg/kg body weight, the ethanolic extract did not have a deadly effect, and no abnormalities or deaths were seen for a 14-day period. The EEAC effect and the gold standard Ashwagandha were evaluated. The anti-stress potential of this plant was examined using swimming endurance tests, anoxic stress tolerance tests and immobilisation stress models. The findings show that 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg dosages of an ethanolic extract of Averrhoa carambola L. seed significantly reduced stress levels. Based on the findings, it was determined that Averrhoa carambola L. has strong anti-stress properties