Input-use and agriculture in India: an analysis of system of rice intensification using Input/Output approach
Student name: Ms Mahima Vasishth
Guide: Prof Kanchan Chopra
Year of completion: 2014
Host Organisation: TERI University
Abstract: With the backdrop of continued exploitation of the country’s resources for meeting the needs
of present generation, the agriculture sector of India is poised for transformation due to
increasing challenges posed by climate change, environmental degradation and high
economic growth jointly. The role of technological change as an answer to these problems
has been well acknowledged in the realm of policy making. A technological shift in one sector
of the economy has spillover effects on other sectors because of the inter connectedness of the
economy.
The research objective of this paper is to quantify the direct and indirect effects on the input
used in agriculture – fertilizer, pesticide, energy, seed, water and labour – when a
conventional practices of cultivation shifts to a more sustainable one. This shift in technology
is treated as an exogenous one. The case of paddy is selected for this study and System of Rice
Intensification is chosen as the green and sustainable technology in paddy cultivation.
This study finds a direct and indirect reduction in production of fertilizer, pesticide,
electricity, petroleum products, seed and water, and the value of labour employed in the
economy when conventional paddy cultivation shifts to System of Rice Intensification. It is
thus an input efficient and an environmentally sustainable technology.
