1. The impact of India’s farm science centers (Krishi Vigyan Kendras) on farm households’ economic welfare: Evidence from a national farmers survey
- Author
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Kumar, Anjani; Singh, A. K.; Saroj, Sunil; Madhavan M., Misha; Joshi, Pramod Kumar, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8920-6598 Kumar, Anjani; http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5820-2092 Saroj, Sunil; http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9637-1767 Joshi, Pramod Kumar, Kumar, Anjani; Singh, A. K.; Saroj, Sunil; Madhavan M., Misha; Joshi, Pramod Kumar, and http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8920-6598 Kumar, Anjani; http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5820-2092 Saroj, Sunil; http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9637-1767 Joshi, Pramod Kumar
- Subjects
- farm science centers; agricultural households; economic welfare; ESR Model; PSM Model, Q12 Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets; Q13 Agricultural Markets and Marketing, Cooperatives, Agribusiness; Q17 Agriculture in International Trade; Q18 Agricultural Policy, Food Policy
- Abstract
Non-PR, IFPRI1; DCA; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; CRP2; Capacity Strengthening; IFPRI-ICAR, SAR; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), The paper examines the impact of access to India’s farm science centers (Krishi Vigyan Kendras, or KVKs) on agricultural households’ welfare using household-level data from the nationally representative Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households conducted by India’s National Sample Survey Office in 2013. Employing different matching techniques and endogenous switching regression models, we find that the KVKs have a positive and statistically significant impact on agricultural households’ economic welfare, although that impact is heterogeneous. Further, the investments made in expansion of India’s network of KVKs have been quite remunerative, as the benefit-to-cost ratio of expenditure on KVKs ranges from 8 to 12. Moreover, our findings suggest that expanding rural formal credit markets and promoting literacy can maximize the potential impact of KVKs on agricultural households’ economic welfare.
- Published
- 2019