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.

The International Conference on Conservation Agriculture was organised at the National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi from February 4-7, 2009. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), ICRAF (World Agro- forestry Centre) and The Indian Society of Agricultural Economics were the co-sponsors of the Conference.

The Society organised a Regional Workshop on “Accelerating Growth in the Horticultural Sector- Challenges and Opportunities for North East India” jointly with the Department of Agricultural Economics, Assam Agricultural University , Jorhat on August 19 and 20, 2008. Dr. B.C. Bhowmick and Dr. C. Hazarika undertook the responsibility of organising this Workshop.

The main objective of the Workshop was to critically analyse the existing problems, potentialities and chalk out strategies to develop the horticulture sector, which in turn would help in formulating policy measures to boost up horticultural production in the north-eastern region.

The Society organised a Regional Seminar on “Farming and Farmer’s Suicide in Punjab” Jointly with the Institute of Development and Planning, Amritsar and the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, Mumbai at the Institute of Development and Planning, Amritsar on November 20-21, 2009. Dr. T. S. Chahal undertook the responsibility of organising this Seminar.

It has been proposed to organise a Seminar on “Rethinking on MICRO FINANCE in the current scenario” at the Oriental Institute of Management, Vashi, Navi Mumbai on 24th and 25th September 2010.  The Oriental Institute of Management, Vashi, Navi Mumbai  and The Indian Society of Agricultural Economics (ISAE) will jointly sponsor the Seminar.

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.