Study conducted in Ludhiana and Bhojpur districts.

The book highlights proceedings from the Berlin 2008: Agriculture and Development conference held in preparation for the World Development Report 2008.

This open access book provides an evidence-based roadmap for revitalising Indian agriculture while ensuring that the growth process is efficient, inclusive, and sustainable, and results in sustained growth of farmers’ incomes. The book, instead of looking for global best practices and evaluating them to assess the possibility of replicating these domestically, looks inward at the best practices and experiences within Indian states, to answer questions such as -- how the agricultural growth process can be speeded up and made more inclusive, and financially viable; are there any best practices that can be studied and replicated to bring about faster growth in agriculture; does the prior hypothesis that rapid agricultural growth can alleviate poverty faster, reduce malnutrition, and augment farmers’ incomes stand? To answer these questions, the book follows four broad threads -- i) Linkage between agricultural performance, poverty and malnutrition; ii) Analysing the historical growth performance of agricultural sector in selected Indian states; iii) Will higher agricultural GDP necessarily result in higher incomes for farmers; iv) Analysing the current agricultural policy environment to evaluate its efficiency and efficacy, and consolidate all analysis to create a roadmap. These are discussed in 12 chapters, which provide a building block for the concluding chapter that presents a roadmap for revitalising Indian agriculture while ensuring growth in farmers’ incomes.

This volume looks at the challenges faced by the economy and society in Punjab, India. It probes into the economic issues, institutional development and resources imbalance faced by the Punjab economy. It discusses regional research problems and futuristic approaches for a developing economy. The chapters in this volume: focus on comprehending economic challenges, agrarian structure and development; markets, R&D and public policy; manufacturing sector; opportunities and possibilities; examine labour, caste and gender trajectories, exploring the question of freedom and livelihood; human, social and financial resources development; hunger, diet and disease; challenges for development paradigm; present the macro and micro facets of development processes in the region and offer a way forward for long-run growth, sustainability and inclusiveness amidst the dynamic fast-changing economies across the globe. Comprehensive and analytical in its approach, this volume will be of interest to young researchers, scholars, practitioners and policymakers working in the fields of Development Economics, Regional Economics, Evolutionary Economics, Sustainable Economics, Agrarian Development, Manufacturing and Labour.