Socioeconomics Program, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Texcoco, México CP, Mexico.
Department of Economics, ICFAI Business School (IBS) Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
PLoS One. 2019 Jan 25;14(1):e0210721. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210721. eCollection 2019.
This paper explores the social inclusiveness of agricultural extension services in India. We estimate the probability and frequency of farmers' access to extension services and resulting changes in crop income across different caste groups. The literature suggests that caste-based social segregation manifests in various spheres of life, and perpetuates economic inequality and oppression. An econometric analysis of nationally-representative data from rural India verifies this with respect to the agricultural sector. Farmers belonging to the socially-marginalized castes are found to have a lower chance of accessing the public extension services, primarily due to their inferior resource-endowment status. Contacting extension agents at least once increased the average annual crop income by about 12 thousand Indian rupees per household, which is equivalent to 36% of the annual crop income of those without access to extension services. There exists significant impact heterogeneity. Farmers from the socially-marginalized castes hardly benefited from accessing the extension services. Based on these observations, we have developed a number of policy recommendations that could improve the social inclusiveness of agricultural development strategies in rural India.
本文探讨了印度农业推广服务的社会包容性。我们估计了农民获得推广服务的概率和频率，以及不同种姓群体的作物收入变化。文献表明，基于种姓的社会隔离表现在生活的各个领域，导致经济不平等和压迫长期存在。对印度农村全国代表性数据的计量经济学分析证实了农业部门的这种情况。属于社会边缘种姓的农民获得公共推广服务的机会较低，主要是因为他们资源禀赋较差。与推广代理人至少联系一次，每户家庭的平均年收入增加了约 12000 印度卢比，相当于那些无法获得推广服务的家庭年收入的 36%。存在显著的影响异质性。来自社会边缘种姓的农民几乎没有从获得推广服务中受益。基于这些观察结果，我们提出了一些政策建议，可以提高印度农村农业发展战略的社会包容性。
