Leadership and social intelligence of coconut farmer leaders and implications in extension services

Coconuts cultivated in small and marginal holdings pose social and economic challenges in extension outreach programmes. A study was undertaken during 2016-17 regarding the leadership and social intelligence of coconut farmer leaders, to assess their socio-personal variables and their relationships in two blocks of Alappuzha district. The results showed 46 per cent of producer societies were of five or more years of activities and 86.7 per cent of the leaders holding positions in multiple organizations. Regarding the knowledge levels, 66.61 per cent had a medium level and 94 per cent had more than 15 years of experience in coconut cultivation. Coconut producers' societies could establish only a few linkages and time spent by farmer leaders for societies were found to be very low. Whereas 58 per cent of farmer leaders had a medium level of leadership practices and occupational status, the social intelligence of the leaders was positively correlated with leadership abilities. Social intelligence of 56 per cent of them was in medium level and experience in coconut cultivation was the only variable positively and significantly correlated. This study highlights the importance of identification of training needs in leadership and social skills of farmer leaders, evolving realistic criteria for leader selection, inclusive policy for gender and youth representations in leadership positions and pathways to evolve pro-active power dynamics in grass root level farmer organizations. Doubling farmers' income and enhancing the productivity of small and marginal farmers require vibrant and responsible social support through farmer producers' organizations in the coconut sector

Compliance, competitiveness and market access : a study on Indian seafood industry

This study attempts to estimate the effects of the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures in terms of trade elasticity of regulations and competitiveness of exports. In spite of the gener-alized acknowledgment of growing liberalization of trade between countries, there are still numerous obstacles to trade, more of the non-tariff type. This study aims to contribute to the literature on quantifying the eco-nomic impact of health and environmental regulations expressed in the form of SPS measures on international trade in agro-food products, by taking Indian seafood exports as a case study. The gravity analysis, complemented with the constant market share (CMS) model, helped to obtain an insight into the overall dynamics of the export markets, trade flows and competitiveness of fish and fishery products (aggregate level), shrimps and cephalopods. For the regulatory variable, the maxi-mum residue limit (MRL) on cadmium in the model is used as an independent variable. A detailed study on the micro level dynamics of Kerala seafood export sector has been carried out, particularly to understand the industry level changes experienced during the stringent food safety regime. The results indicate that regulations on cadmium appear to be moderately trade restrictive. At the same time, results are divergent at the disaggregate level, which is significant from the point of view of trade policy. The most important aspect of the existing chain in Kerala’s seafood sector is the gradual disappearance of the independent preprocessing sector which has been an important stakeholder of the seafood value chain in Kerala. The preprocessing node of the value chain is getting integrated to the processing sector causing a major restructuring of the existing value chain. Keywords: Competitiveness, Trade models, Seafood Industry, Value Chain JEL Classification: F14, F18, L15, Q17, Q1

Review of economic history of cocoa with special reference to India

Forceful means of colonialism and imperialism conditioned the local farmers in the tropics to grow cash crops like cocoa for export. Emergence of cocoa cultivation in India indubitably was a part of the commercialization strategy adopted by the Cadbury. During 1970s, attractive prices prevailed in the world market which coupled with cadbury’s aggressive efforts to commercialize the crop, yielded fruitful results in India in the form of high growth rate of area expansion. We found an entirely opposite trend during 1980s when a large number of farmers started cutting down cocoa trees due to the sudden price crash of the crop. The victims of market failure were mainly farmers who did not possess an effective machinery to insure themselves against economic uncertainties. We have made an attempt to view the cocoa development history in India in the perspective of ‘Global Value Chain’. We argue that the governance structure that existed during the initial stage of cocoa commercialization in India was somewhere between captive and hierarchy, which certainly had culminated in unequal exchange of trade. At present, due to concentration in the downstream end of the cocoa value chain, the cocoa producers are marginalized in terms of revenue share and bargaining position in the chain

Sectoral equations of sustainability: Narrative of plantation sector in India

The present article narrates several pressing issues affecting the sustainability of the plantation sector in India and suggests an alternate frame for restructuring the sector towards achieving the goal of sustainability. The narration starts off with quickly traversing through the economic history of plantation crops in India and subsequently discusses the crucial issues to contemplate including cropping patterns, price instability, institutional arrangements, as well as preparedness for the ongoing free trade agreements. Further, sustainability and inclusive growth has been debated in light of existing labour market institutions and the collective bargaining power of the small and marginal holders. The aspect of environment sustainability in terms of loss of biodiversity and soil deterioration with specific crop wise detailing is also attempted in a separate session. The plantation sector in general is far off from inclusive growth, as most of the global value chains are buyer driven and the production node is characterized by the lowest value share accumulation. The article strongly argues for revamping the existing innovation system of the plantation sector in India

Coconut sector in India experiencing a new regime of trade and policy environment: A critical analysis

Of late, Indian coconut sector is facing unprecedented crises on account of various macro and micro level factors. The productivity of the crop is constrained by low input use efficiency in conjunction with other biotic and abiotic stresses, which are priority areas of research. The aspect of mechanization also deserves adequate importance, considering the scarcity of skilled labour. Above all, the most important facet is value addition, which should be strengthened to mitigate the issue of low profitability of the sector. The post-World Trade Agreement (WTA) and ASEAN Treaty regime witnessed integration of plantation economies across the globe that resulted in fierce competition among producing countries. This paper addresses the pertinent issues on various facets of coconut economy by employing appropriate economic tools of analysis. The facets covered include trade aspects, global competitiveness, production economics, price analysis, policy level impediments and marketing issues. We have found that as far as the export markets of coconut value added products are concerned, India is comparatively a very small player with paltry export market shares. However, in recent times, Indian export sector has become vibrant with very high growth rate since Coconut Development Board (CDB) has been upgraded to the status of Export Promotion Council (EPC). Indian coconut sector has huge domestic demand, comparatively higher productivity, strong research support and technology delivery systems. In spite of these positive aspects, concerted efforts are lacking to effectively utilize the possible linkages between them for increasing the production and marketing efficiencies and enter the high value global chains. Sustainable coconut economy could only be achieved through integrated development of cultivation and industry coupled with a stable market

Sustainability of Farmer Producer Organisations - The case of producer organisations involved in the production and marketing of ‘neera’ in the coconut sector

Neera-the coconut inflorescence sap has been promoted as a potential value-added non-alcoholic beverage with abundant health benefits. The concerted effort of the stakeholder agencies could liberate the product from the policy regulations on its production under the excise act (known as ‘Abkari act’ in Kerala). Subsequently, the coconut producer federations (CPFs) in the State were granted licenses for ‘neera’ production and marketing. However, the majority of the CPFs discontinued the ‘neera’ enterprise, which they have initiated with greater enthusiasm. The present study is a modest attempt to trace the reasons for setbacks experienced in the ‘neera’ sector and also to provide a refined framework for revamping the sector. The details of licenses granted to the CPFs were sourced from the Department of Excise, Government of Kerala. The sample size of the study was 95 (13 CPFs who are still active and 82 CPFs who have discontinued). It was observed that the ‘neera’ value chain is in the evolving stage, and the withdrawal of the institutional support had detrimentally affected the confidence of the CPFs ventured into it. The availability of ‘neera’ technicians (tappers) and the high wage rates have evoked concerns on the profitability as well as the assurance of continuous supply of the product. The study categorically highlights the need for a restructured value chain of ‘neera’ with specific roles assigned to the stakeholders through the creation of functional linkages

Review of economic history of cocoa with special reference to India

Not AvailableForceful means of colonialism and imperialism conditioned the local farmers in the tropics to grow cash crops like cocoa for export. Emergence of cocoa cultivation in India indubitably was a part of the commercialization strategy adopted by the Cadbury. During 1970s, attractive prices prevailed in the world market which coupled with cadbury’s aggressive efforts to commercialize the crop, yielded fruitful results in India in the form of high growth rate of area expansion. We found an entirely opposite trend during 1980s when a large number of farmers started cutting down cocoa trees due to the sudden price crash of the crop. The victims of market failure were mainly farmers who did not possess an effective machinery to insure themselves against economic uncertainties. We have made an attempt to view the cocoa development history in India in the perspective of ‘Global Value Chain’. We argue that the governance structure that existed during the initial stage of cocoa commercialization in India was somewhere between captive and hierarchy, which certainly had culminated in unequal exchange of trade. At present, due to concentration in the downstream end of the cocoa value chain, the cocoa producers are marginalized in terms of revenue share and bargaining position in the chain

Crop weather relationship in arecanut

Weather plays an important role in the crop development and yield of any agricultural crops. Even though, arecanut (Areca catechu L.) grows in a wide range of climatic conditions, its performance is greatly influenced by the weather. The effect of weather variables such as maximum temperature, minimum temperature, relative humidity and rainfall at different stages of crop development on the annual yield of arecanut is studied. The study showed that the maximum temperature positively influences the flowering and fruit set in arecanut. Also, high rainfall and relative humidity during the flowering and fruit setting period adversely affect the arecanut yield. The stepwise regression model fitted using the significant weather variables could explain 97 per cent of the yield variation in arecanut

Group approach for enhancing profitability of small holders through technology integration-reflections from coconut farming

Technology integration for enhancing productivity and income from coconut farming, facilitated through stakeholder participation, was a major objective of the NAIP sub-project on ‘Value chain in coconut’ implemented in a consortium mode with ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod as the lead institute. To achieve this objective, 10 clusters of coconut farmers were formed under the project in selected panchayats of Kasaragod district in Kerala state. A total of 534 farmers covering 250 ha participated in the project interventions. Appropriate production technologies were integrated in their holdings which included intercropping, growing of leguminous crops in the coconut basin, organic recycling through vermicomposting and integrated nutrient management. Group action was initiated among the farmers for taking up need-based integrated disease management measures especially to control bud rot disease of coconut. Knowledge and skill upgradation of farmers on the selected technologies were achieved through various institutional and off campus training programmes. The net income from the coconut farming in small and marginal holdings could be increased through the interventions under the project. Technology integration in the holdings also resulted in the increase of coconut productivity from 60 to 112 nuts per palm. Technology integration in small and marginal coconut holdings for higher productivity and income through Community Based Organizations approach is scaled up by other agencies like Coconut Development Board for implementing development/extension programmes

Analyzing the trade competitiveness of Indian coconut sector in the liberalization regime

Coconut export sector in India of late gained an outward orientation, especially since the Coconut Development Board was elevated to the status of export promotion council in the year 2009. In the recent period, the growth rate experienced in the coconut based value added products has been stupendous. Since there is an attempt for global value chain up-gradation at the production node of the sector, it is imperative to analyse our strengths in the world market in comparison with the major competitors. We have used the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) methodology to analyse India’s competitiveness in the exports of major coconut value added products traded across the world. The study revealed that, as far as the coconut value added products are concerned, India is comparatively a very small player with paltry export market shares. The analysis of RCA revealed that comparative advantage of India is lower than the major coconut exporting countries like Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The Philippines is the dominant player with highest RCA indices in most of the coconut value added product lines. The study suggests the need to formulate plausible strategies to reach the overseas market and capture the optimal share in market segments. Though we have a strong domestic market base, it is an indubitable fact that in the near future due to the evolving trade agreements even in the domestic sector we may confront fierce price competition from the overseas imports. Hence we need to chalk out modalities and execution plans to elevate our export competitiveness and comparative advantage