“Spatial
Aspects of Production diversification in Indian Agriculture”
Citation: Chatterjee, T. and A. Ganesh-Kumar
(2017). “Spatial Aspects of Diversification in Indian
Agriculture”. In S. Mahendra Dev (Ed.) India
Development Report–2017, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Abstract: In this study we examine spatial dimensions
of agricultural production diversification for 17 major states in India over
the period 1990 to 2010. Simpson’s index of diversification at the national and
state levels for agricultural GDP, value of output from agriculture, value of
crop output, gross cropped area and value of livestock output give evidence in
favour of wide spatial variation in the extent of diversification across
states. Using spatial econometric techniques, we find there is statistically
significant spatial dependence in diversification across states. The main
channels of spatial spill over are relative prices of horticulture commodities
and average daily wage rates of agricultural labour. Other than these spatial
factors, we find that state level urbanization, population density, ground
water, and relative price of horticulture have a positive effect on
diversification, while rainfall deviation from normal, and wage rate have a
significant negative impact.