HIDING BEHIND THE CLOUDS: EFFICIENT, PRIVACY-PRESERVING QUERIES VIA CLOUD PROXIES

This project proposes PriView, a privacy-preserving technique for querying third-party ser- vices from mobile devices. Classical private information retrieval (PIR) schemes are diffi- cult to deploy and use, since they require the target service to be replicated and modified. To avoid this problem, PriView utilizes a novel, proxy-mediated form of PIR, in which the client device fetches XORs of dummy query responses from each of two proxies and combines them to produce the required result. Unlike conventional PIR, PriView does not require the third-party service to be replicated or modified in any way. We evaluated a PriView implementation for the Google Static Maps service utilizing an Android OS front- end and Amazon EC2 proxies. PriView is able to provide tunable confidentiality with low overhead, allowing bandwidth usage, power consumption, and end-to-end latency to scale sublinearly with the provided degree of confidentiality

Oecd Agricultural Trade Reforms Impact On India’s Prices And Producers Welfare

Rich countries use a combination of domestic market interventions and border protection or export subsidies as a part of their domestic policies. Developed countries such as the United States and the European Union (EU) resort to trade distorting policies to make their crop more competitive both groups maintain high domestic prices for producers, stimulate production, and thus distort prices in the world market. The distorting effects of international trade can be distinguished between consumer surplus, producer surplus and tariff revenue approaches. The present paper emphasizes on the welfare of the producers with the main focus on small farmers. The analysis presented in the paper is an approximation of the general equilibrium analysis. The four parts of this approximation are : first, the estimation of the world price effect of removal of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) distortions; second, estimation of the effects of changes in world prices on domestic prices through a price transmission model; third, estimation of the impact on domestic production through a supply response model; and, four, the estimation of changes in supply and welfare on the poor small farmers. The simulation exercise shows that due to elimination of subsidies in OECD countries the world crop prices are expected to rise. The results confirm that the depressed world prices can be corrected by removal of OECD subsidies, but the challenge for India remains : How much can these price corrections benefit the farmers? Indias domestic price response to this world price change is very small for rice and wheat and slightly better for cotton and sugar. On the production front, with reduction in subsidies and rising of the world price, the production in OECD countries would decline, but it is not very clear if this would have a discernable effect on Indias production. In response to the rise in world price, this paper concludes that this change would have almost negligible impact on Indias production for rice and wheat and a marginal increase in the production of cotton and sugar. The welfare impact on small farmers based on these changes is also estimated. The important fact to be observed in this study is that the developed countries policies protecting their farming sector critically affect the lives of billions of people who depend on agriculture in developing countries.OECD Agriculture, trade policy, Subsidy Elimination, Producer Welfare

OECD Agricultural Trade Reforms Impact on India's Prices and Producers Welfare

Rich countries use a combination of domestic market interventions and border protection or export subsidies as a part of their domestic policies. Developed countries such as the United States and the European Union (EU) resort to trade distorting policies to make their crop more competitive - both groups maintain high domestic prices for producers, stimulate production, and thus distort prices in the world market. The distorting effects of international trade can be distinguished between consumer surplus, producer surplus and tariff revenue approaches. The present paper emphasizes on the welfare of the producers with the main focus on small farmers. The analysis presented in the paper is an approximation of the general general equilibrium analysis. The four parts of this approximation are: first, the estimation of the world price effect of removal of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) distortions; second, estimation of the effects of changes in world prices on domestic prices through a price transmission model; third, estimation of the impact on domestic production through a supply response model; and, four, the estimation of changes in supply and welfare on the poor small farmers. The simulation exercise shows that due to elimination of subsidies in OECD countries the world crop prices are expected to rise. The results confirm that the depressed world prices can be corrected by removal of OECD subsidies, but the challenge for India remains: How much can these price corrections benefit the farmers? India's domestic price response to this world price change is very small for rice and wheat and slightly better for cotton and sugar. On the production front, with reduction in subsidies and rising of the world price, the production in OECD countries would decline, but it is not very clear if this would have a discernable effect on India's production. In response to the rise in world price, this paper concludes that this change would have almost negligible impact on India's production for rice and wheat and a marginal increase in the production of cotton and sugar. The welfare impact on small farmers based on these changes is also estimated. The important fact to be observed in this study is that the developed countries' policies protecting their farming sector critically affect the lives of billions of people who depend on agriculture in developing countries.OECD Agriculture, Trade Policy, Subsidy Elimination, Producer Welfare

Demand-Supply Trends and Projections of Food in India

The present paper presents the supply and demand trends of rice, wheat, total cereals, pulses, edible oil/oilseeds and sugar/sugarcane. It provides the demand and supply projections for food items during 2011, 2021 and 2026. These projections have been based on change in productivity levels, changes in price, growth of population and income growth. A comparison with projections provided by other scholars has also been made in the paper. Subsequently, the future supply-demand gap has been discussed in the light of policy requirements. It is concluded that an increase in total demand is mainly due to growth in population and per capita income. A diversification in consumption basket significantly away from cereals has been observed. On the supply side, production is constrained by low yield growths. This is more specific in context of total cereals and sugarcane. While in the short and medium term, there might be surplus of cereals in the country, these prospects are likely to diminish in the years to come. This situation is even more alarming for edible oil, sugarcane and pulses. To meet the future food requirements, the country shall have to either increase agricultural production, or depend on imports. In this light, the paper suggests that the policy focus needs to be laid, towards productivity enhancement in agriculture, through public investment in irrigation, development of roads, research and extension.Q11, Q18

Feasibility Check for Diversification towards Horticultural Production

Horticulture can be promoted as a means of agro-diversification for the second green revolution in India, providing the much-needed impetus to the growth of agricultural sector, through increase in trade, income and employment. The Indian agriculture is diversifying towards production of high-value commodities along with the increasing role of smallholding farmers. In this paper, the economic feasibility of diversifying towards horticultural crops has been examined. The benefit-cost analysis has been done and a comparison of commodities of foodgrain and horticultural group has been presented to evaluate the feasibility of diversification. Supply constraints in terms of poor supply-chain management have been highlighted. The BCR of horticulture has been reported to be more than that of cereals. This implies that it is profitable and economically feasible to shift land from cereals to horticultural crops. It has been argued that the reason why the farmers still continue to cultivate the staple foodgrains is their demand for self-consumption. The study has cautioned that the re-allocation/ diversification of land should be done in a manner such that optimal output and income can be generated, keeping in mind the domestic demand, exports target and improvement in the economic conditions of farmers. The diversification plan for the horticultural sector needs to be identified as it offers an attractive option and a major source of pushing up growth of the agricultural sector. The paper has pointed out that the policy issues involved on the production, marketing and policy fronts can bring about the desired growth in the agricultural sector.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Demand-Supply Trends and Projections of Food in India

The present paper presents the supply and demand trends of rice, wheat, total cereals, pulses, edible oil/oilseeds and sugar/sugarcane. It provides the demand and supply projections for food items during 2011, 2021 and 2026. These projections have been based on change in productivity levels, changes in price, growth of population and income growth. A comparison with projections provided by other scholars has also been made in the paper. Subsequently, the future supply-demand gap has been discussed in the light of policy requirements. It is concluded that an increase in total demand is mainly due to growth in population and per capita income. A diversification in consumption basket significantly away from cereals has been observed. On the supply side, production is constrained by low yield growths. This is more specific in context of total cereals and sugarcane. While in the short and medium term, there might be surplus of cereals in the country, these prospects are likely to diminish in the years to come. This situation is even more alarming for edible oil, sugarcane and pulses. To meet the future food requirements, the country shall have to either increase agricultural production, or depend on imports. In this light, the paper suggests that the policy focus needs to be laid, towards productivity enhancement in agriculture, through public investment in irrigation, development of roads, research and extension.Demand Projection, Supply Projection, India, Food grains

Strengthening Backward and Forward Linkages in Horticulture: Some Successful Initiatives

Indian horticulture sector is constrained by low productivity, high cost of production, huge post-harvest losses, inefficient supply chain and poor market intelligence. The present paper has brought forward two case studies of SAFAL Market and Namdhari Fresh which have been successful in over-coming the constraints that horticulture sector is facing in India for fresh fruits and vegetables. Some new marketing initiatives along with the existing supply chain inefficiencies have been highlighted to help formulate strategy and policy to achieve the much-desired second green revolution through horticulture growth.Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries,

Role of Mobile Phone Technology in Improving Small Farm Productivity

Telecommunication, especially mobile phones have the potential to provide solution to the existing information asymmetry in various lagging sectors like agriculture. India’s agricultural sector suffers from low growth rates and low productivity. Issues in access to information are weak points at every stage of the agri-supply chain. For small farmer-based economy like India, access to information can possibly enable better incomes and productivity to the farmers. This paper through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with farmers, has tried to find answers to the use and impact of mobile phones and mobile-enabled services on agricultural productivity. The answers to these questions are of relevance to develop better policy environment conducive for small and medium farmers and have implications for mobile phone operators, information service providers, and policymakers. The study has shown that although, mobile phones can act as catalyst to improving farm productivity and rural incomes, the quality of information, timeliness of information and trustworthiness of information are the three important aspects that have to be delivered to the farmers to meet their needs and expectations. There exist critical binding constraints that restrict the ability of the farming community to realize full-potential gains and it is more so for small than large farmers.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Domestic Market Integration

The paper looks into the level of integration of commodity markets in India, across centres and states using consumer price data. It measures the extent to which domestic markets for goods in India are integrated, and recommends policy options to facilitate integration. The paper addresses questions: Are domestic markets for goods integrated across states? Has market integration increased over time? What are the policy options to facilitate integration? The paper tests the methodology proposed by Bradford and Lawrence (2004) on the consumer prices of goods in major states across India. This is then repeated using consumer price data at two points in time (1994 and 2004), allowing an assessment of whether Indian markets have integrated over time. Market integration is also tested for individual commodities across markets. The annual consumer prices for commodities were compiled from the Labour Bureau series of average monthly consumer prices of commodities for Industrial workers across 70 constituent centres in 18 states and monthly data was compiled from the Indian Labour Journal, a monthly publication from Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour Government of India. Authors are thankful to Labour Bureau, Shimla for providing data on consumer prices at the disaggregated level. This study was commissioned by The World Bank as the background paper on market integration in The World Bank Development Policy Review: Inclusive Growth and Service Delivery: Building on India's Success. July 2006Market Integration, Consumer Prices, Primary Food, Manufactured Goods, India