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Research Seminars &
Workshops
Since 1956 the Society has organised 37 research seminars on specific
topics having bearing on contemporary issues. Reports of 25 Seminars have
been published so far.
Apart from the research findings published in the Society's Journal, the
Society has published in all 58 studies. Four of these studies were also
translated and published in Gujarati.
In addition to the above activities, under a grant received from the
Agricultural Development Council, Inc., New York, the Society organised
during 1964-71 a series of short courses and intensive workshops in Farm
Management and refresher courses on selected subjects with a view to
imparting training to young teachers in the agricultural colleges and
research personnel attached to the agro-economic and farm management
research centres in India. Since 1983, the Society has also organised a
series of regional workshops on "Agricultural Economics
Research" with a view to developing the technical competence of the
younger members of the Agricultural Economics profession for teaching and
research. These regional workshops provided a forum for the researchers
for an in-depth discussion of their papers which were submitted for
publication in the Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics but
could not be accepted for publication, for a variety of reasons. Eight
such regional Workshops were held in the past; the last one was held for
the Southern Region from September 25-27, 1997 . The Workshops were
conducted by a panel of experts from the agricultural economics profession.
In July 1996, the Society also organised a Special Workshop on
"Rural Non-Farm Employment" at National Institute of Public
Finance and Policy, New Delhi , based on selected papers received for
discussion at the 55th Annual conference on the above subject theme but
were accepted for publication only in summary form. Another workshop on
'Livestock Development in India: Issues and an Agenda for Future
Research' was held at Institute of Rural Management, Anand on December
17-18, 1996. These special workshops would, it is hoped, make the younger
members of the profession better aware of the larger issues concerning
their research and would greatly help in stimulating them to continue to
work on the subject and in improving their research competence.
On November 9-10, 2000, the Society organised a Special Workshop on
"Women in Agriculture and Rural Development" jointly with
National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NCAP) and
Delhi School of Economics at New Delhi, based on selected papers received
for discussion at the 59th Annual Conference on the above subject but
were accepted for publication only in summary form. It was felt that many
of the papers presented for discussion at the Conference, though poorly
presented, have good economic content or hard data. The objective of the
workshop was to help the younger members of the profession in improving
the analytical quality and presentation skills. Six authors participated
in the Workshop, in addition to participants from Indian Agricultural Statistics
Research Institute and NCAP. The proceedings and the selected papers
presented at the Workshop have been edited and published as a Supplement
to January-March 2004 issue of the Indian Journal of Agricultural
Economics.
The Society also organised a Seminar on "Remote Sensing Technique
and Agricultural Statistics" in collaboration with the Department of
Space and Department of Statistics, Government of India at the Space
Applications Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation at Ahmedabad on
April 21-22, 1998. The objectives of the Seminar were to discuss the
state of work, potentials and problems in the application of remote
sensing techniques as a source of data on land use, irrigation, cropped
area, cropwise area and other aspects of agriculture. The participants
included officials representing institutions like National Remote Sensing
Agency, Department of Space, Directorate of Economics and Statistics,
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Central Statistical
Organisation, Planning Commission, State Government and eminent
agricultural economists and statisticians.
The proceedings and the selected papers presented at the Seminar have
been edited and published as a Supplement to April-June 2000 issue of the
Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics.
The Society has also organised a regional Seminar on "New Options
for Hill Agriculture" in collaboration with Himachal Pradesh Krishi
Vishvavidyalaya, Regional Research Station, Bajaura at Kullu-Manali on
June 16-17, 2000 . The scholars who have done research on this topic in
the concerned hill regions have contributed papers and participated in
the seminar. The authors who contributed the papers have been advised to
revise their papers in the light of the comments made by the discussants
for possible publication.
The Society organised Regional Seminar on
"Socio Economic Dynamics of Rice Production Systems in Eastern
India" in collaboration with Dr. B.C. Barah and Dr. Sushil Pandey at
National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi
in November 2003.
A Report on the proceedings of the Seminar has been
published in the January-March 2005 issue of the Journal.
The Society has initiated, in collaboration with the Directorate of
Economics & Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and with financial
support from the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance,
Government of India, a networked project for computerisation and analysis
of primary data from the Cost of Cultivation Surveys (COCS) since their
inception. Until recently research scholars did not have access to the
COCS primary data and even the units which collected the data had not
exploited the potential of the farm and plot level data. Compiling and
analysing the COCS primary data for the past years could make a significant
addition to our knowledge of the structure and dynamics of various
aspects of Indian Agriculture and also open up many new avenues for
enquiry. It is felt that the Society could make a useful contribution by
taking the lead in organising, under its auspices, a collaborative
research programme in this area. The project has been undertaken by five
Centres, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Rahuri (Maharashtra), Trivandrum
(Kerala), Udaipur (Rajasthan) and Hyderabad (A.P.). Except
Trivandrum, the other four Centres submitted their draft reports which
were forwarded to the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance
and Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture,
Government of India. Professor A. Vaidyanathan, the Society's past President,
prepared an analytical report on the basis of tables generated by the
participating Centres and undertook further analysis to bring out the
range of important issues on dynamics of Indian agriculture that can be
explored with the data. Professor Vaidyanathan has prepared an
analytical report based on these tables as a supplement to the reports
prepared by the Centres and the Report is available with the
Society. A Workshop on Cost of Cultivation Survey data was held on
November 22, 2005 at the Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi.
A South Asia Regional Conference on the theme
"Globalisation of Agriculture in South Asia: Has it Made a
Difference to Rural Livelihoods"? was organised by the Society in
collaboration with the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS),
Hyderabad in March 2005.
The Society also organised a Seminar on
"Rationalising Investments and Subsidies in Indian Agriculture"
in collaboration with Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial
Development (CRRID), Chandigarh on April 9-10, 2005. The seminar
deliberated on two critical issues: (i) how to improve quality and equity
of investment in agriculture that raises the effectiveness/productivity
of investments; and (ii) how to reform the key subsidies, such as fertilizers,
power, irrigation, etc.
On
August 1-2, 2007 the Society organised a National Seminar on Agrarian
Distress: Problems and Remedies” jointly with National Centre for
Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NCAP), Pusa, New Delhi at
NCAP, New Delhi. The seminar
sought to address the problems and opportunities in Indian agriculture in
general with special focus on the farmers. The specific objectives of the seminar were (i) to
identify and document sources of agrarian distress; (ii) to explore
demand and supply side opportunities to overcome agrarian distress and
(iii) to suggest appropriate strategies for alleviating agrarian distress
and promote inclusive agricultural growth. The seminar was attended by eminent policy
researchers, policy advisors, bankers, corporate leaders, developmental
workers and farmers’ representatives from different parts of the country.
Papers were presented
by eminent agricultural economists and policy makers. The authors have
been requested to revise their papers in the light of the discussions.
The papers and proceedings of the Seminar would be published as a joint
publication of the Society and NCAP.
Seminar on “Futures Trading in Agricultural Commodities”
The Society organized
a Seminar on “Futures Trading in Agricultural Commodities: Its Impact on
Production and Prices” in collaboration with MCX Academia of Economic
Research, Mumbai and Department of Economics, Mumbai University, at the
Seminar Hall, Department of Economics, Mumbai University, Kalina Campus
on September 28, 2007. The Seminar was inaugurated by Professor S.S.
Johl, President, ISAE and Mr. Jignesh Shah, CEO, Multicommodity Exchange
Ltd. delivered a Valedictory Address. Dr. B.C. Khatua, Chairman, Forward
Markets Commission delivered the Keynote Address. The Seminar was attended
by eminent agricultural economists, policy makers and those who operate
on the futures market.
Research Project on "Computerisation and
Analysis of Cost of Cultivation Survey Data"
The Society has undertaken a research project in 1996-97
with financial support from the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry
of Finance, and sponsored by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics,
Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India to study the structure and
dynamics of Indian agriculture based on computerisation and analysis of
cost of cultivation survey (COCS) data in five Centres located at Tamil
Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore; University of Kerala,
Thiruvananthapuram; Mahatma Phule Agricultural University, Rahuri
(Ahmednagar - Maharashtra); Rajasthan Agricultural University, Udaipur
and Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad (Andhra
Pradesh).
All the selected centres except the University of
Kerala centre have submitted the draft reports based on the analysis of
data for the early eighties and early nineties. The draft reports
received from the Centres did not fully cover all the aspects
adequality. As desired by our former President, Professor A.
Vaidyanathan, an effort has made to generate all the additional data
tables for each of the selected Centres for the early 1980s and early
1990s with the help of Ms. Vijaya Venkatesh of the Society Secretariat
and an analytical report for digitisation and analysis of data based on
these tables was prepared by Professor Vaidyanathan as a Supplement to
the reports prepared by the Centres which is available on our website.
He has undertaken further analysis of the farm and plot level data for
four selected Centres for the early eighties and early nineties with the
help of research staff assistance from Madras Institute of Development
Studies. A workshop was held at the Institute of Economic Growth,
New Delhi on November 22, 2005 to discuss the analysis and broad findings
of the draft reports.
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