RA 00015.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

E c o n o m i c s
P r o g r a m
The Economics Program was able to essentially
complete eight major research studies during the
1976-1977 year at ICRISAT. All were aimed at
helping to identify the major socioeconomic and
other constraints to agricultural development in
the semi-arid tropics and to evaluate alternative
technological and/or institutional measures required
to alleviate these constraints. The main
findings from the studies are discussed under the
two subprogram headings of Production Economics
and Marketing Economics.
Production Economics
Resource Base and Cropping Patterns
Results from the Indian village-level studies -
which have been under way in six villages in
three agroclimatic zones since May 1975-
indicate large regional differences in cropping
patterns. In the Sholapur District of Maharashtra,
which generally has deep Vertisols,
farmers plant nearly 60 percent of their crops in
the postrainy season following a rainy season
fallow (Fig 87). In the medium deep Vertisol area
of Akola District, also in Maharashtra, almost
all crops are sown in the rainy season. In the
Alfisol villages of Mahbubnagar District,
Andhra Pradesh, around 85 percent of the
cropped area is sown in the rainy season. In
Shirapur village of Sholapur District, which has
very deep Vertisols, small farmers were found to
keep a much higher proportion (78 %) of their
lands fallowed during the rainy season compared
to large fanners (55 %). If this is representative of
the estimated 18 million hectares of land not
cropped during the rainy season in SAT India,
then technologies which enable crops to be
grown in the rainy as well as the postrainy
season may contribute a proportionately
larger impact on the small farmers, as well as
substantially increasing food production.
Except in villages with little irrigation or
without the very deep Vertisols which store
moisture well for relatively assured postrainy
season cropping, small farmers sow a higher
proportion of their land to intercrop mixtures
than do large farmers (Fig 88). The latter have a
higher proportion of sole crops, but interestingly
enough they grow many more different species of
crops than do the smaller farmers. One might be
tempted to conclude that intercropping research
would hence tend to offer proportionately more
benefits for smaller farmers. However, it was
found that virtually all of the high-yielding
varieties (HYVs) in the six villages were sown as
sole crops. To the extent then that new intercropping
technology will embrace HYVs, it is
not clear that smaller farmers will benefit more.
The question remains as to why the HYVs are
not intercropped, whereas the local cultivars
generally are. Perhaps the HYVs are less risky
than the locals and/or they were never evolved or
recommended under an intercropping situation.
More research is under way to test these
hypotheses.
In the villages with more irrigation (Dokur)
and/or very deep Vertisols (Shirapur), 60 to 100
percent of the land is planted to sole crops. In
Aurepalle, where drought-resistant castor is extensively
grown, the proportion of sole cropping
is also relatively high - m o r e than 40 percent. It
seems from this evidence that the less-assured (in
terms of rainfall) areas could benefit more from
intercropping research. It also suggests that if
improvements in soil- and water-management
technologies enhance the resource base and
make the environment more stable, one may see
more sole cropping practiced. This is because
intercropping seems to be primarily practiced as
a risk-reducing procedure.
In Kalman Village, as many as 60 different
intercrop combinations were grown and 10 to 20
were not uncommon in the other villages (Fig
89). This increased complexity in cropping systems
seemed to be associated with a more
heterogeneous natural resource base. These have
evolved largely through farmers' informal trial-
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