Distress in the Fields: Indian Agriculture after Economic Liberalization

by R. Ramakumar (Editor)

Overview

In 2021, India completed three decades of implementation of economic liberalization policies. This volume is a composite and critical account of Indian agriculture during liberalization. Agriculture was one of the most contentious arenas of policy making in this period, marked by occasional spurts of growth coexisting with acute agrarian distress. From the standpoint of political economy, this volume discusses and analyses a range of themes in Indian agriculture including land ownership, tenancy, public investment and expenditure, prices, international trade, crop incomes and profitability, input subsidies, credit, insurance, marketing and food distribution. A key feature of the volume is its simultaneous focus on both a broader macroeconomic outlook and extensive evidence collected through intensive village surveys.

The contributions to the volume demonstrate that the impact of policies of liberalization on agriculture was uneven and adverse. Even as the growth of large-scale agrarian capital from below was stymied by policy, agrarian transformation continued to be characterized by inequality and differentiation.

The book will serve as essential teaching material and a valuable reference text for students and researchers of Indian agriculture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788195055906
Publisher:	Tulika Books
Publication date:	12/06/2022
Pages:	508
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

R. Ramakumar is a development economist and professor at the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has extensive research experience in agrarian studies, agricultural economics, and rural banking. He is the author of Note-Bandi: Demonetisation and India’s Elusive Chase for Black Money (2018).

Editorial Reviews

The sixteen substantive chapters in the volume cover significant empirical ground across themes such as land inequalities, tenancy rights, credit and insurance, fertiliser production, and the public distribution system. The most remarkable aspect of the volume is the sheer comprehensiveness of its investigation— covering not only oft-discussed issues such as Minimum Support Prices and agricultural credit or land rights, but also less interrogated but crucial issues such as fertiliser prices, pesticide use and insurance cover.

Himal Southasian - Tanya Matthan

Agriculture is more a system than a sector; it is a system of economic interests in conflict. Agricultural policy is more a dynamic contested political process than a technical tool. In this book, a team of expert critical friends of Indian agriculture explain how their unprecedented achievements have driven agriculture into an era of crises. Their analysis of liberalization and the commodification of policy as well as that of all stages of agriculture – upstream as well as downstream – is grounded in history, developed through major policy debates, clearly explained with a treasure chest of evidence and data to help the readers engage and decipher for themselves. Distress in the Fields is a unique and indispensable work of reference for the ‘young and curious’ of all ages.

Barbara Harriss-White Professor Emeritus of Development Studies

The volume will undoubtedly serve as a solid reference text for scholars studying agricultural development and the agrarian crisis in India.

Frontline - Ayesha Minhaz

The volume will undoubtedly serve as a solid reference text for scholars studying agricultural development and the agrarian crisis in India.

AESA Network - Aditya KS and Bhuvana N

Indian agriculture and agricultural policy have recently passed through a major political tumult. Coming against the backdrop of the unkept promise of doubling farm incomes, it has only exposed the contradictions of seeking to bring the sector under a corporate yoke. This book could not, therefore, come at a more opportune moment. It offers a comprehensive and critical consideration of the determinants of long-term agricultural growth and agrarian inequalities, a rich yet distilled view of performance and policy errors of omission and commission, against which the present state and prospects of the sector are fruitfully assessed. A valuable addition for the student and the professional alike, this book is sure to become a benchmark reference and guide on Indian agriculture.

J. Mohan Rao Emeritus Professor

If you are interested in what has happened to Indian agriculture and why, Distress in the Fields is a book you must read. With solidly researched papers from some of the most competent and analytical writers on the subject, the book gives you a long view of the mess we are in. A view that shows our present farm crisis not as an event, but as an outcome of the policies that came with our embrace of the market and liberalization – and the processes those unleashed over at least three decades.

P. Sainath Journalist and Founder Editor

Distress in the Fields is a milestone in the investigation of neoliberal agrarian capitalist development and agrarian crisis in India. Magisterial in its analysis of the longue durée, it provides unique evidence and food for thought on issues ranging from the land question and the worsening inequalities in the countryside, to neo-liberal policy changes on agricultural credit and marketing. This is an indispensable volume for researchers and students alike, by stellar agrarian scholars.

Jens Lerche Reader