Agricultural Land Market Transactions in Chhattisgarh : A Case Study

In the newly born state of Chhattisgarh a large number of land buyers have become actively engaged in the villages located along the national highway and at the periphery of Raipur city, the capital of Chhattisgarh to purchase prime agricultural land. In view of the fast emerging land markets after the formation of the state, it is imperative to understand the role of market and non-market forces in transaction of prime agricultural land for non-agricultural uses and transactions within the agriculture sector. This study is an attempt in this direction. The study has been conducted in the Jora, Labhandi, Serikhedi and Dharampura villages of Dharsiwa block in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh state. These villages are located on both sides of Mumbai-Raipur-Kolkatta National Highway No.6 and are in the close periphery of the Raipur city. Two-stage least square technique of simultaneous equation system has been used to estimate demand and supply relationship in land market. Total owned land of seller and the price of land have been reported as the two important determinants of supply relations in land sale market. Similarly, the ownership of total owned land of buyers and non-farm income of buyer are major determinants of demand for agriculture land. Also, distances from National Highway, revenue grades and land sold under distress have been found important factors. The linear trends in land sale and land prices have indicated that area of the land for sale has increased year after year. Prices of land have also increased year after year. The most important factors which have forced the farmers to sell out their lands have been identified as functioning of aggressive land market forces, extremely poor capital base of the farmers, desire to construct their houses, increasing addiction to alcohol and inclination towards starting non-agricultural enterprises or professions, landhunger tendency of urban businessmen and colonizers. The study has suggested that certain effective legislations and institutional measures will have to be introduced and enforced for non-transfer of agricultural land.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Economics and Marketing of Aromatic Rice - A Case Study of Chhattisgarh

In recent years there has been a serious concern among the farmers, scientists, policymakers and environmentalists regarding the continuous erosion of genetic biodiversity of rice cultivars in Chhattisgarh which has traditionally been known as bowl of scented rices in central India. In view of India’s potential competitiveness in aromatic rices in the international market, it is imperative to understand the dynamics of domestic trade in aromatic rice. In this study, marketing and price-spread patterns of aromatic rice in the state of Chhattisgarh have been examined. A few policy interventions have been suggested for promoting aromatic rices in the state.Crop Production/Industries, Marketing,

Transforming Institutions for Sustainable Development of Natural Resources Programmes

In India, the natural resources development programmes are manages under different property regimes, viz, state, common property or private property regimes. The failures of purely community and solely government controlled natural resources management has led to the distributed or shared governance. In this paper, the outcome of the renewable common property resources (CPRs) development programmes has been presented under different property regimes for the upliftment of rural poor with examples from the newly created state of Chhattisgarh. The role of the institutional arrangement, types of property rights regimes and authority systems in managing the renewable CPRs development programmes has been analysed based on the studies conducted by the author during the last 15 years in this region of Chhattisgarh. The sites of the case studies were visited by the author during the initial stages of the programme implementation and were revisited in May/June 2004. Through these case studies, the efficacy of alternative management systems or alternative governance structures in managing CPRs-based development programmes has been assessed in a dynamic framework. The case studies discussed are: (i) Micro-Minor Irrigation Tanks, (ii) Village Woodlots, (iii) Community Fish Ponds, (iv) Non-Timber Forest Products, and (v) Participatory Irrigation Management. The outcomes of these case studies have suggested that the policy designers of institutional arrangements for CPRs development programmes in the rural areas should have in-depth understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the alternative property rights regimes. Distributed governance though seems to be the most appropriate for designing CPRs management programmes, serious theoretical and empirical studies are needed for testing the efficacy of the alternative models