Varshney Deepak, Kumar Anjani, Mishra Ashok K, Rashid Shahidur, Joshi Pramod K
Research Collaborator, International Food Policy Research Institute, South Asia Office New Delhi India.
Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, South Asia Office New Delhi India.
Appl Econ Perspect Policy. 2021 Mar;43(1):248-269. doi: 10.1002/aepp.13144. Epub 2021 Jan 12.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in about a 24% decline in India's GDP during the April-June 2020 quarter, the nation's agricultural sector, somewhat surprisingly, seems to have done remarkably well. This paper examines whether the public transfer program (PMGKY), announced immediately after the lockdown, benefited farmers in dealing with the COVID shock. Overall, 95% of the smallholders received support from at least one of PMGKY's four components. Direct cash transfers had significantly more impact than in-kind transfer schemes. The result shows that farmers receiving cash transfers under PM-KISAN, one component of PMGKY, were more likely to invest in buying seeds. In contrast, farmers receiving cash transfers under PM-UY, another piece of PMGKY, were more likely to invest in fertilizer and pesticides. Finally, smallholders who received benefits from all four components of PMGKY were more likely to invest in purchasing seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides. Findings suggest the fungibility of public cash transfers from the recent PMGKY scheme is significant in alleviating credit constraints and increasing future investments in modern inputs.
尽管2020年4月至6月季度新冠疫情导致印度国内生产总值下降了约24%，但该国农业部门却出人意料地表现出色。本文探讨了封锁后立即宣布的公共转移计划（PMGKY）是否有助于农民应对新冠冲击。总体而言，95%的小农户获得了PMGKY四个组成部分中至少一个的支持。直接现金转移的影响明显大于实物转移计划。结果表明，在PMGKY的一个组成部分PM-KISAN下获得现金转移的农民更有可能投资购买种子。相比之下，在PMGKY的另一部分PM-UY下获得现金转移的农民更有可能投资购买化肥和农药。最后，从PMGKY的所有四个组成部分中受益的小农户更有可能投资购买种子、化肥和农药。研究结果表明，近期PMGKY计划中的公共现金转移的可替代性在缓解信贷约束和增加未来对现代投入品的投资方面具有重要意义。
