Evaluating research and education performance in Indian agricultural development

Abstract

India's agricultural research spending has long been regionally uneven. Regional research intensity ratios, which account for size differences, indicate research spending has consistently favored southern and western states over northern, central, and eastern ones. Farm production patterns have, however, changed in recent years and regional output growth is being driven by new commodity mixes. In this article, we ask which region had the highest factor productivity growth and rate of return to investments in public agricultural research and higher education. Our analysis relies on a 1980-2008 Indian agricultural production and policy data set together with a dual heteroscedastic production frontier to decompose total factor productivity (TFP) growth into formal technical progress and efficiency elements. The model's regional flexibility affords region-to-region comparison of multiple research return rates, TFP growth, and the elements influencing them. Regardless of return-rate measure or allocation scenario evaluated, the North has enjoyed the highest return to research spending, and the Central and East the lowest. Factor productivity growth has however been strongest in the South, primarily on account of efficiency gains. Overall, though, the technical progress and productivity growth easily attributable to government-supported research has accounted for about one-quarter of the sector's TFP growth.JEL classifications: O13, Q16, Q18

Assessing Agricultural Extension Support on the Food Security Projects in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa

“…Therefore, proper allocation of inputs is necessary in order to attain the desired yields of sugarcane. The findings of the FPI contribute to the findings by Rada and Schimmelpfennig (2018) and O'Donnell (2012b) that revealed technical progress and productivity growth by stating mixed findings on the role of TFP on agricultural development.…”

Livelihood Asset and Diversity of Agrarian Communities in Ogun State, Nigeria

“…Therefore, proper allocation of inputs is necessary in order to attain the desired yields of sugarcane. The findings of the FPI contribute to the findings by Rada and Schimmelpfennig (2018) and O'Donnell (2012b) that revealed technical progress and productivity growth by stating mixed findings on the role of TFP on agricultural development. Findings on the determinants of TFP growth showed the link between the experience and education of the farmer as well as sustainability investment.…”

Geography of plant breeding systems, agroclimatic similarity, and agricultural productivity: evidence from Nigeria

“…This article contributes to various strands of the literature. First, our article complements similar recent papers in this journal, including Islam and Madsen (), which highlights the R&D knowledge spillovers within ecozones at the global level, and Rada and Schimmelpfennig (), which assesses the intra‐country, state‐level heterogeneity of returns to R&D on productivity and efficiency in India. We show that global‐level findings by Islam and Madsen () also apply to household level productivity variations within a country.…”

“…By focusing on a single country, however, we incorporate richer dimensions of agroecology like soil, topography, and certain climatic factors like solar radiation and wind speed, which are not explicitly considered in Islam and Madsen (). We also complement Rada and Schimmelpfennig () by providing more disaggregated, household‐level determinants of TFP. In addition, we show that in Nigeria, agroclimatic similarity plays critical roles partly because plant‐breeding stations are few and sparsely populated, unlike in India where the agricultural R&D institutions are relatively more densely populated and decentralized, and agroclimatic similarity plays less important roles in the impact of R&D on productivity (Rada and Schimmelpfennig , footnote 5).…”

“…We also complement Rada and Schimmelpfennig () by providing more disaggregated, household‐level determinants of TFP. In addition, we show that in Nigeria, agroclimatic similarity plays critical roles partly because plant‐breeding stations are few and sparsely populated, unlike in India where the agricultural R&D institutions are relatively more densely populated and decentralized, and agroclimatic similarity plays less important roles in the impact of R&D on productivity (Rada and Schimmelpfennig , footnote 5). Furthermore, neither study uses nonparametric methods like DEA, which we do.…”