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Showing posts with the label soil fertility

Decision Making as Output and Bounded Rationality

  The classical economics theories proceed on the assumption of rational agents. Rationality implies the economic agents undertake actions or exercise choices based on the cost-benefit analysis they undertake. The assumption further posits that there exists no information asymmetry and thus the agent is aware of all the costs and benefits associated with the choice he or she has exercised. The behavioral school contested the decision stating the decisions in practice are often irrational. Implied there is a continuous departure from rationality. Rationality in the views of the behavioral school is more an exception to the norm rather a rule. The past posts have discussed the limitations of this view by the behavioral school. Economics has often posited rationality in the context in which the choices are exercised rather than theoretical abstract view of rational action. Rational action in theory seems to be grounded in zero restraint situation yet in practice, there are numerous restra

Green Revolution and Indian Agriculture

As Larry Lessig puts forth in ‘CODE’, the policy makers use four means to influence allocation of resources. Green Revolution represented the architecture or the product being changed to influence the increase in food supply in the country. It was in 1967-1978 that India began the transformation from endemic famine hit nation to one of the pioneers in agricultural production.   In the 1970’s while the per capita food production was around 180 kgs, it increased to more than 200 kg by the early 1990s inspite of doubling the population. It was a far cry from the days of the disastrous famine in Bengal in 1943 (caused by state indifference than by shortage of food), which wiped out nearly 4 million people   and 1964-65 when PM Lal Bahadur Shastri appealed to people to fast one day per week to ensure availability of food to all.   Borlaug revolution of hybrid seeds sowed the roots for wheat and paddy production in India. The rise in prosperity among farmers in Punjab, Haryana and