ECONOMICS OF HIGHER-YIELDING VARIETIES OF RICE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO A SOUTH INDIAN DISTRICT WEST GODAVARY (ANDHRA PRADESH) By Shobhana Madhavan A Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 1975 ProQuest Number: 10731548 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10731548 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 2 ABSTRACT The thesis is a study, of some economic aspects of higher-yielding varieties of rice with special reference to small farmers in the West Godavary district of Andhra Pradesh* The introduction of higher-yielding varieties represents a major technological breakthrough in Indian agriculture* They are expected to play an important role in increasing food production* The successful cultivation of these varieties depends upon the use of non-conventional inputs like chemical fertilisers and pesticides and the adoption of improved water management practices. The ability to increase rice production by means of these varieties will depend upon the availability of these inputs on farms of all sizes. Rice cultivation in India is undertaken predominantly on small farms. Such farms face several difficulties in acquiring these inputs. Any assessment of the impact of the new varieties in increasing rice production in the country as a whole will require identification of these difficulties* Chapter I contains brief descriptions of the new varieties and of the region studied; the term "small farm" is then defined for the purpose of the present study. Chapter II examines the role of irrigation in the cultivation of the new varieties. Chapter III deals with fertilisers; it explores the factors influencing demand at the micro-level. Ghapter IV examines the nature and implications of the increased application of human labour input on farms resulting from controlled irrigation and high levels 3 of fertiliser use. Chapter V returns to the themes developed in the earlier chapters and presents the demand for and supply of fertilisers and facilities for control of irrigation in the form of a generalised input, namely, credit. The inferior access of small farms to institutional credit is seen as an obstacle to their effective contribution to the programme of increasing rice production. Chapter VI contains the principal conclusion of this thesis: that the potential contribution of small farms to rice production has hitherto received inadequate attention and may be considerably more significant than is at present supposed. k ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Any attempt to apply economic principles to problems of technical change is fraught with temptations; while struggling to come to grips with the economic dimensions of the problem at hand, one is all too readily distracted by the precision of technical details. For saving me from this fate and guiding my research with patience and understanding I wish to thank my supervisor, Mr Terence J, Byres, I would also like to express my appreciation for their kind assistance to the library staff of the School of Oriental and African Studies, the High Commission of India, and the Polytechnic of Central London, especially to Miss M, Travis of the India House Library. I am also grateful for the help and encouragement I received from my colleagues at the P.C.L. Wftile all have contributed to this, it is nevertheless only fair to express my special appreciation to Professor Keith Alan-Smith, Mr D. Croome and Mr L. Ross for their moral support* Finally, I wish to thank Mrs J. Rebello for her expert typing of the thesis and the reprographic unit of the P.C.L. for duplication of the script. 5 CONTENTS Page Title ••*»«.••»*»•*•••• • 1 Abstract . * * ......................................... 2 Acknowledgements ............. • ••*•••• 4 Contents .•.•••.••• 5 Abbreviations and Measurements ........ 7 Introduction 8 I The Background to the Study •.•*••••27 1.1 The New Varieties • * 28 1.2 The R e g i o n ............... 32 1.3 Tenurial Characteristics of the Region * • • 40 1.4 Definition of Small Farms ••••••* 51 II Irrigation .••,••..*••••.61 11*1 Water Requirements of Rice ............... 64 11.2 Factors Making for the Unsuitability of Canal Irrigation • 67 11.3 The Role of Tubewells in the Cultivation of Higher-Yielding Varieties of Rice • 81 11.4 Micro-analysis of Feasibility of Tubewells and Wells . 97 III F e r t i l i s e r s ................ • . .111 111.1 Demand for Fertilisers • 114 111.2 Fertiliser P r i c e s .................. 130 111.3 Supply and Distribution of Fertilisers * • 138 6 Page XV Employment Aspects of Higher- Yielding Varieties of Rice . 138 XV.1 Factors Responsible for the Employment Potential of Higher-Yielding Varieties • 161 IV.2 Estimates, of Labour Requirements of Higher-Yielding Varieties • 174- IV.3 Composition of Rural Households in West Godavary \tfith Regard to Family Labour and Hired Labour • 188 IV.4- Estimates of Labour Requirements of Traditional and Higher-Yielding Var­ ieties of Rice for West Godavary,1968-69 • 196 V Credit 212 V.1 Demand for C r e d i t ...........................213 V.2 Estimation of Credit Requirements .... 224- V.3 Sources of Credit Supply: Cooperatives • • 232 V.4- Supply of Credit: Agriculturist Moneylenders • 24-9 V.5 The Crop Loan System •••.•••• 237 VI Conclusion 266 Appendix I,.... .............................. 269 Appendix I I .................. 272 Appendix T a b l e s ...................... 277 Chart I ..............................................292 Bibliography .................. 293 7 ABBREVIATIONS AND MEASUREMENTS A In Text AIRCRC All-India Rural Credit Review Committee AIRDIS All-India Rural Debt and Investment Survey ARCS All-India Rural Credit Survey BIS Farm Management Survey HYV Higher-Yielding Varieties HYVP Higher-Yielding Varieties Programme NSS National Sample Survey PEO Programme Evaluation Organisation In Footnotes ARCS All-India Rural Credit Survey AIRDIS All-India Rural Debt and Investment Survey ASI Agricultural Situation in India EFW Economic and Political Weekly FMS Farm Management Survey IF Indian Farming IJAE Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics RAIRCRC Report of the All-India Rural Credit Review Committee RBIB Reserve Bank of India Bulletin C Measurements 1 Measure Paddy ■* 2/5 Cleaned Rice 8 INTRODUCTION Measures designed to increase production of foodgrains were outlined in the Fourth Five Year Plan,"*- The new strategy is to stimulate cultivation of higher-yielding varieties of crops* Due to their inherent genetic ability to absorb high levels of fertilisers, these varieties are capable of producing 2 yields several times higher than traditional varieties* The latter tend to 3 "lodge11 if fertilisers are pushed to high levels* It is this characteristic that has hitherto limited the scope for increasing crop production by means of increased use of fertilisers* ^here is yet another difference between the two varieties* Whereas traditional varieties are products of selection of seeds capable of adaptation to adverse environmental conditions, the new varieties perform well only under conditions of good husbandry such as controlled application of water and the use of plant protection measures*^ 1 Government of India, Planning Commission, Fourth Five Year Plan 196Q-7A* New Delhi, 1970, pp 113-188. 2 The new varieties maintain high levels of yield up to levels of application of fertilisers 3 to 4 times as high as the level at which traditional varieties show a decline in yield* Potential increase in yield is of the order of 200 per cent and more. 3 "Lodging" refers to the state where the plant droops with weight of the ears of grain on account of weak straws thereby resulting in loss of yield, Ghosh,R.L.M., Ghatge,M.B. and Subramanian,V. Rice in India. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, I960, pp 110-117* 4 Swaminathan,M,S. 'Scientific Implications of the Higher-Yielding Varieties Programme,1 Economic and Political Weekly* IV, 1 & 2, Annual Number, Jan. 1969t P 69; Palmer,I. Science and Agricultural Production. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva, 1972, pp 6-8. 9 The implementation of the Higher-Yielding Varieties Programme represents a major technological breakthrough in Indian agricultureDuring the 'fifties, the most important development was the extension of irrigated areas from 51 million acres (1950-51) to 70 million acres (1960-61), an increase of O abour 56 per cent. During the Third Plan period (1961-62 to 1965 -66 ) agri­ cultural development centred around the Intensive Agricultural Districts Programme* The programme aimed to maximum aggregate returns from scarce inputs like fertilisers by concentrating production effort in areas where conditions favoured a quick return to such efforts* The areas chosen were those with assured rainfall or irrigation and least subject to hazards like floods and 3 droughts. In addition, the areas selected for intensive development were those that had well developed rural institutions like cooperatives.