Trade liberalization, poverty, and food security in India:

food security, Nutrition, Computable general equilibrium (CGE), Globalization, Markets, trade,

Trade Liberalization, Poverty and Food Security in India

This paper attempts to assess the impact of trade liberalization on growth, poverty, and food security in India with the help of a national level computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. It shows that GDP growth and income poverty reduction that might occur following trade liberalization need not necessarily result in an improvement in the food security / nutritional status of the poor. Evidence from simulations of (partial) trade reforms reflecting a possible Doha-like scenario show that the bottom 30% of the population in both rural and urban areas suffer a decline in calorie and protein intake, in contrast to the rest of the population, even as all households increase their intake of fats. Thus, the outcome on food security / status with regard to individual nutrients depends crucially on the movements in the relative prices of different commodities along with the change in income levels. These results show that trade policy analysis should consider indicators of food security in addition to overall growth and poverty traditionally considered in such studies.Doha negotiations, India trade policy, poverty, food security, CGE model

Applications of molecular markers for bacterial blight resistant varieties in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Bacterial blight is one of devasting disease in almost all rice growing countries. The most effective, eco-nomic and environmental strategy for control of this disease is to develop rice varieties with genetic resistance. However, new pathotype has overcome single gene for resistance in the new cultivars. So, plant breeders are con-centrating to develop high yielding varieties with durable resistance using novel technologies. Molecular marker technology has progressed tremendously in the past decade for genetic improvement of field crops. Molecular markers can improve efficiency of breeding in different ways for trait in segregating population like identify plants with target gene in maximum recovery portion of recurrent parent. The transfer of two or three genes into single variety with the help of molecular marker is expected to lead to more durable resistance. Thus, thus review describes progress made in the development of bacterial blight resistance rice varieties using Marker Assisted Selection

Reforms in Indian Agro-processing and Agriculture Sectors in the Context of Unilateral and Multilateral Trade Agreements

In this paper, we explore the potential impacts of trade and investment-related policy reforms on Indias agro-processing sector. We consider the direct effects of policy reforms within the processing sector, and the indirect effects on agro-processing of policy reforms in the primary agriculture sector, in the Indian economy as a whole, and in a multilateral framework. Towards this, we develop a 22-sector, 16-region version of the GTAP computable general equilibrium (CGE), global model for our analysis. We find that trade and investment-related reforms in agro-processing together can help the sector to grow. Policy reforms that stimulate investment and help to improve productivity will be crucial in offsetting the contractionary pressures of trade reform alone on the production of processed agricultural products. We also find that indirect effects on agro-processing from Indias policy reforms in other sectors are more important than reforms in agro-processing itself. Our findings argue for an economy-wide perspective when targeting reform or development of the agro-processing sector in India. Compared to trade reform, comprehensive domestic reforms in the agro-processing and agriculture sectors relating to investment are critical for achieving growth in agro-processing. However, while the impacts of trade reform per se seem to be small, trade reform - by ushering in a higher degree of competition - could itself be a stimulus for investment and productivity gains in India. At present, unilateral reforms, especially those that improve productivity in agro-processing and in primary agriculture, are more important to agro-processing than multilateral trade reforms. Nevertheless, our findings also suggest the importance of pursuing a domestic reform agenda within a multilateral trading strategy that can accommodate the expected economic growth of India and its future role in global markets, with general equilibrium effects on agro-processingagriculture, Agro-processing, Trade agreements, CGE models

Reforms in Indian agro-processing and agriculture sectors in the context of unilateral and multilateral trade agreements

In this paper, we explore the potential impacts of trade and investment-related policy reforms on India's agro-processing sector. We consider the direct effects of policy reforms within the processing sector, and the indirect effects on agro-processing of policy reforms in the primary agriculture sector, in the Indian economy as a whole, and in a multilateral framework. Towards this, we develop a 22-sector, 16-region version of the GTAP computable general equilibrium (CGE), global model for our analysis. We find that trade and investment-related reforms in agro-processing together can help the sector to grow. Policy reforms that stimulate investment and help to improve productivity will be crucial in offsetting the contractionary pressures of trade reform alone on the production of processed agricultural products. We also find that indirect effects on agroprocessing from India's policy reforms in other sectors are more important than reforms in agro-processing itself. Our findings argue for an economy-wide perspective when targeting reform or development of the agro-processing sector in India. Compared to trade reform, comprehensive domestic reforms in the agro-processing and agriculture sectors relating to investment are critical for achieving growth in agro-processing. However, while the impacts of trade reform per se seem to be small, trade reform - by ushering in a higher degree of competition - could itself be a stimulus for investment and productivity gains in India. At present, unilateral reforms, especially those that improve productivity in agroprocessing and in primary agriculture, are more important to agro-processing than multilateral trade reforms. Nevertheless, our findings also suggest the importance of pursuing a domestic reform agenda within a multilateral trading strategy that can accommodate the expected economic growth of India and its future role in global markets, with general equilibrium effects on agro-processing.Agriculture, Agro-processing, Trade agreements, CGE models

Management of Bacterial Wilt of Tomato Caused by Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al Using Biological Control Agents

Biological control agents, Glomus mosseae IIHR, Bacillus subtilis IIHR-1, Pseudomonas fluorescens IIHR+3, Trichoderma harzianum IIHR P1 and T. viride IIHR P22 were evaluated against tomato wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum in pathogen-infested plots during 2003-2004. Microbial preparations were applied either as transplant root dips or root dip plus soil drench 30 days after transplanting. Per cent survivability increased with the use of all biological control agents tested. However, G. mosseae treated plants resulted in better survival (25.75 and 28.79% in root dip alone and 60 and 66.67% in root dip plus drench against untreated control 0 and 1.5% during 2003 and 2004 respectively), compared to the rest of the treatments, suggesting G. mosseae amendment to pathogen-infested soil would result in substantially higher plant survival against the untreated controls

Desktop publishing

Information centres (ICs) cater to a multitude of needs of their users. For quite some time now, ICs are depending heavily on information technology to serve their clientele better, faster and in a professional way. Like CD-ROM and video disc technologies, which are being widely accepted as a part of modem information centres, desktop publishing (DTP) also entered the scene with a bang to provide a professional image to the information services. ICs with their diverse nature of functions can make use of DTP as a tool to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of document production in information services. This article briefly overviews various aspects of DTP to provide the user an idea about what it is and where the technology can be used

Policy Dilemmas in India - The Impact of Changes in Agricultural Prices on Rural and Urban Poverty

Trade policy reforms which lead to changes in world prices of agricultural commodities or domestic policies aimed at affecting agricultural prices are often seen as causing a policy dilemma : a fall in agricultural prices benefits poor urban consumers but hurts poor rural producers, while a rise yields the converse. Poor countries have argued that they need to be able to use import protection and/or price support policies to protect themselves against volatility in world agricultural prices in order to dampen these effects. In this paper, we explore this dilemma in a CGE model of India that uses a new social accounting matrix (SAM) developed at the Indira Ghandi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) in Mumbai. The SAM includes extensive disaggregation of agricultural activities, commodity markets, labor markets, and rural and urban households. This SAM includes 115 commodities, 48 labor types and 352 types of households, (classified by social group, income class, region, and urban/rural). The CGE model based on this SAM can be used to explore the linkages between changes in world prices of agriculture and the incomes of poor rural and urban households, capturing rural-urban linkages in both commodity and factor markets. The results indicate that the inclusion of linkages between rural and urban labor markets is necessary to fully explore, and potentially eliminate, the dilemma. A fall in agricultural prices hurts agricultural producers, lowers wages and/or employment of rural labor, and in some cases spills over into urban labor markets, depressing wages and incomes of poor urban households as well. In these cases both rural and urban poverty increases. The paper explores the strength of these commodity and factor market linkages, and the potential spillover effects of policies affecting agricultural prices.Doha negotiations, India trade policy, World prices, Labour Market, CGE model