Ind. Jn. ofAgri. Econ. Vol.56, No.3, July-Sept. 2001 Summaries Page 1. Structure of Employment and Casualisation in• K. Hanumantha Rao 554 Rural India during Pre- and Post-Reforms Regime and K. Rajyalakshmi 2. Economic Liberalisation, Multi-National Agri- Sukhpal Singh 554 businesses and Rural Employment in Punjab 3. Effects of Changes in Output Prices, Land Use K.S. Birari, 555 and Cropping Pattern on Farm Income and D.S. Navadkar and Employment in Western Maharashtra D.V. Kasar 4. Determinants of Agricultural Employment in K.N. Rai, S.P. Singh, 556 India S.N. Singh and R.K. Grover 5. Diversification of Agriculture in District R.B.Singh, 557 Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh (An Economic Anurag Saxena, Analysis) S.R. Yadav and YS. Chauhan 6. Agricultural Wages and Employment during Post- A. Narayanamoorthy 558 Reforms Period: Statewise and Cropwise and Atul R. Evidence Deshpande 7. Impact of Economic Reforms on Rural R. Rajesh and 559 Employment in Tamil Nadu — An Analysis N. Chitra 8. Changing Scenario of Employment in Agriculture B. V. Pagire and 559 and Allied Sectors in Maharashtra H.R. Shinde 9. Changing Scenario of Rural Employment in Dalvir Singh, 560 Diversified Haryana Agriculture U.K. Pandey and R.S. Tripathi 10. Impact of Economic Reforms on Rural A.S. Solanki and 561 Employment — A Case Study of Jhakam Irrigation P.M. Sharma Project, Rajasthan 11. Status of Diversification, Wage Rates and R.K. Khatkar, 562 Employment in Agriculture in Haryana V.K. Singh and B.S. Tomar 12. Effects of Economic Reforms on Female Employ- Usha Tuteja 563 ment in Rural India Ind. Jn. ofAgri. Econ. Vol.56, No.3, July-Sept. 2001 Structure of Employment and Casualisation in Rural India during Pre- and Post-Reforms Regime K. Hanumantha Rao and K. Rajyalakshmi* The impact of new economic reforms was studied following a comparative static framework using several indicators, viz., rates and growth of labour force and workforce, status of employment, incidence of casualisation among different categories of employed, distribution of workforce across sectors, average number of days employed and (real) wage rates of casual workers. The main database for analysis is National Sample Survey Organisation's Employment and Unemployment Surveys for the years 1983, 1993-94 and 1999-2000. The fall in female labour force participation rates (LFPRs) in some of the major states and in all age-groups resulted in a decline in of LFPRs in 1999-2000. The improved school enrolment rates of children and adolescents could be some of the plausible reasons for the fall in LFPRs. The deceleration of employment growth and rise in un- and under-employment rates during the reform period, more so, among females were observed. The high levels of casualisation among female workers and rural labourers are some of the adverse consequences of reforms, regime. Though real wages had gone up in the 1990s, the gender disparities in wages, both in agriculture and non-agriculture sectors, confirm that female workers were utterly at a dis-advantage. In fact, the ratios of agriculture wages to non-agriculture wages have been rising for male (casual) workers during 1983 to 1999-2000 while there was a noticeable decline for female workers confirm- ing the gender discrimination. Economic reforms, on the whole, have been found to be unfavourable especially to female workers. Economic Liberalisation, Multi-National Agribusinesses and Rural Employment in Punjab Sukhpal Singht In the new economic environment of liberalisation, privatisation and globalis- ation, the role of the Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) has come under scrutiny once again as their record in the past in terms of contribution to development in general, and rural development in particular, has been less than satisfactory. The * National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad-500 030 (A.P.). t Associate Professor, Institute of Rural Management, Anand-388 001 (Gujarat IMPACT OF ECONOMIC REFORMS ON RURAL EMPLOYMENT 555 agribusiness MNCs are Perceived to be harmful to domestic production and social systems as they affect large sections of the rural economy and society by intervening in the rural production systems. This study looks at the role of two MNCs in employment generation in the agriculturally grown, but stagnating since the early 1980s, rural economy of Punjab. The state was subjected to contract farming under these MNCs in the early 1990s for improving rural employment and incomes. It is found that the MNCs have hardly generated any employment of the kind which was required. Most of the employment generated is on the farms, which is seasonal and low paid and hence, more for women and children. This kind of employment may also disappear as these MNCs are opting for more and more labour saving farm practices. Also, the MNC projects are perpetuating many of the existing problems of the farm sector in the state. The study concludes by suggesting more pragmatic' approach while dealing with the MNCs in terms of not being too optimistic about their contribution to rural development, and argues for regulation of such projects and state participation in development projects. Effects of Changes in Output Prices, Land Use and Cropping Pattern on Farm Income and Employment in Western Maharashtra K.S. Birari, D.S. Navadkar and D.V. Kasar* The paper attempts to examine the impact of changes in the output prices, land use and cropping pattern on farm employment and income in Western Maharashtra. The exercise was based on the data collected from 100 farm families each for the years 1993-94 and 1997-98 under the Centrally Sponsored Comprehensive Scheme for Studying the Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops in Maharashtra. The results indicated that the area sown more than once recorded 118 per cent increase during the period under study. The output prices of the entire crops rose from 1993-94 to 1997- 98 with different magnitudes resulting in direct relationship with the area under bajra and gram. The area under these crops increased by over 135 and 71 per cent respectively. A somewhat different trend was noticed in the case ofjowar. There was a tremendous increase in the cropped area of wheat (400 per cent). The farm income showed two-fold increase from 1993-94 to 1997-98. The wage earning increased by 99 per cent and 205 per cent contributed by human labour and bullock labour respectively. Over the period under study, the days of employment for crop production increased for owned and hired human labour by about 31 and 523 per cent respectively. Hired bullock labour employed for crop production increased by 41 per cent in 1997-98 over 1993-94. There was also increase in the employment of hired * Field Officer, Assistant Statistician and Professor and Head, respectively, Department of Agricultural Economics, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri-413 722, Dist. Ahmednagar (Maharashtra). 556 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS human labour for livestock management. It can be concluded that the economic reforms as impacted by changes in output prices, land use and cropping pattern have positively influenced the income and employment of the farm families in the Western Maharashtra region. Determinants of Agricultural Employment in India K.N. Rai, S.P. Singh, S.N. Singh and R.K. Grovert In India the share of income from agriculture in national income declined from about 50 per cent to 26 per cent in 50 years since 1950. However, the dependence of labour force on agriculture in total labour force showed only a small decline. The result is a declining labour productivity in agriculture. More recently, there has been a modest gain in labour productivity in agriculture and a slow transfer of labour away from agriculture. Very few attempts have been made to examine the growth of agricultural employment. Similarly, few attempts have been made to examine the impact of barter terms of trade in agriculture, agricultural wealth and per capita income on agricultural employment and the effect of economic liberalisation on rural labour force. This paper is an attempt in this direction. The present study is based on the secondary data collected from different published sources. The statewise detailed data on labour households in total rural households were drawn from Sarvekshana, Government of India publication. Data on agricultural workers in total workforce in different states as well as the country as a whole were taken from the Census of India. Data for the non-census years and for the year 2001 were generated through successive annual growth rate method. Data on fertiliser prices and procurement prices of agricultural commodities were collected from the publication Fertiliser Statistics for different years, published by Fertiliser Association of India. Diesel and tractor prices data were scanned from the records for the different years maintained by the Director (Farms), CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. Information on gross capital formation at 1980-81 prices were drawn from the publication National Accounts Statistics, published by Central Statistical Organisation, Department of Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Government of India. Per capita income data at 1980-81 prices were collected from different issues of Economic Survey, a Government of India publication. Tabular analysis and regression equations were applied to draw inferences from the study. The share of agricultural labour force in total labour force has declined over the years but the pace of decline was much lower than the decline in its share in total national income. The prices of both agricultural inputs and outputs have increased continuously over the years. However, it is net income from an enterprise, which is ploughed back and which provides incentive to use borrowed capital for its further t Directorate of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana). IMPACT OF ECONOMIC REFORMS ON RURAL EMPLOYMENT 557 development.