Dr. Viswanathan P. K.

Purpose
Energy-efficiency leads to productivity gains as it can lower operating and maintenance costs, increase production yields per unit of manufacturing input and improve staff accountability. Implementation of energy-efficient technologies amongst industries, the factors influencing them and the barriers to their adoption have been the subject of several studies during the past three to four decades. Though energy-use behaviours of individuals or households are sufficiently explored, industrial energy conservation behaviour is scarcely studied. This study identifies the relationship between the different behavioural elements to open up a door for behaviourally informed intervention research.

Design/methodology/approach
Total interpretive structural modelling technique was used to determine the relationship between different elements of the behaviour of energy managers. Expert responses were collected to understand the relationship between the behavioural elements, through telephone interviews.

Findings
The study identified the relationship between the behavioural elements and found imperfect evaluation as the key element with the highest driving power to influence other elements.

Research limitations/implications
The authors postulate that a behaviourally informed intervention strategy that looks into the elements with high driving power such as imperfect evaluation, lack of focus on energy-saving measures and the lack of sharing energy-saving objectives can lead to: an increase in the adoption of energy efficiency measures and thereby a reduction in the energy efficiency gap; greater productivity gains and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; Preparation of M&V protocol that incorporates behavioural, organisational and informational barriers.

Social implications
Various policy level interventions and regulatory measures in the energy field which did not address the behavioural barriers are found unsuccessful in narrowing the energy-efficiency gap, reducing the GHG gas emissions and global warming. Understanding the key driving factor of behaviour can help to design an effective intervention strategy to address the barriers to energy efficiency improvement.

Originality/value
Understanding the key driving factor of behaviour can help to design an effective intervention strategy to address the barriers to energy efficiency improvement. This study argues that through the systematic analysis of the imperfect evaluation of energy audit recommendations, it is possible to increase the adoption of energy efficiency measures that can lead to greater productivity gains and reduced GHG emissions.

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We investigate the governance sensitivity of foreign institutional investors’ (FII) ownership in a large emerging market setting of India, characterized by highly concentrated insider ownership. More specifically, we focus on the moderating role of firm size and price to book value (PB) in determining the relationship between FII ownership and board characteristics, such as board size, outside director ratio, CEO duality, and board meeting attendance. Our methodology emphasizes the importance of contextual analysis in studies relating to institutional investors’ preferences. We find that FIIs prefer bigger boards and greater board independence in larger and growth firms (higher PB). Further, FIIs prefer firms that have separate CEO and Chairman of the board positions in growth firms.

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Upfront capital costs of micro-irrigation technologies are subsidized across the dark-zone regions of the state of Gujarat, where groundwater was observed as over-extracted, with an anticipation that wide-scale adoption could perhaps reduce pressure on the aquifer. From a macro-perspective, the real water saving potential depends on not only adoption of these technologies but also how best the farmers’ get convinced about the looming water scarcity and try to adapt to the new technologies. While there are several plot-level studies with respect to water consumption, very limited research is being carried out at basin-wide and irrigation system level. The onus of this paper, henceforth, is to examine the impact of micro-irrigation adoption on groundwater utilization at the irrigation system level. In the study regions, either an individual or a group of farmers’ extract water from the common aquifer, and therefore, it is being considered as a proxy for the irrigation system. Empirical observations were based on an in-depth survey of 430 tubewell owning farmers who have adopted micro-irrigation in the dark zone, and the information were collected by considering common aquifer as the unit of analysis rather than individual farm household. The major findings emerging from the study are: (i) micro-irrigation adoption per se was statistically insignificant to make any considerable plunge in the groundwater use, and (ii) technology adoption along with metered power connection leads to a reduction in groundwater extraction. It should be noted that we, based on the finding, do not categorically deny the possibility of declining groundwater use due to large-scale adoption of such technologies since negative coefficient values are found. From a policy angle, the study suggests that the promotion of these technologies may not lead to sustainable groundwater conservation outcomes unless the farmers are made to behave responsibly especially under extreme water scarcity conditions. It is also important that while supporting for the adoption of these innovations, the state also should effectively regulate the pilferages in farm power use by expediting the process of metering of unmetered connections, to achieve the desired goals of sustainable management of groundwater.

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World agriculture is passing through a distinct phase of transformation, called the ‘second Green Revolution’ or Gene Revolution, in which modern biotechnology enables the production of genetically modified (GM) crops/ foods that are claimed to help resolve the pressing problems of food security, malnutrition and abject poverty in different parts of the world. However, there are apprehensions the world over that the GM technology as it unveils may have harmful consequences on sustainable livelihoods in view of the potential threats to food security and subsequent environmental and health challenges. Set in this broader context of GM tech induced agrarian transformation, this paper tries examining some of the potential challenges emerging from the unscrupulous expansion of GM crops in India with reference to Bt cotton. In doing so, the paper draws useful insights from the empirical evidences of the dynamics of Bt cotton adoption in the dominant cotton rowing states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in India. The analysis is based on farm household data gathered from five leading cotton growing districts in the two states. The paper observes that there is no clear way forward to sustain the initial dynamism cast by the introduction of Bt technology in India. A bright future for Indian agriculture with the presence of GM technology in general and Bt technology in particular, would essentially call for many reforms, development strategies and institutional and policy interventions covering a wide spectrum of activities ranging from restructuring the input markets to the output markets. India need also to learn from the experiences of other countries with respect to the performance of GM technology and evolve carefully devised strategies and action plans, which presuppose creation of new institutional or regulatory regimes or reinventing the existing ones so as to make a sustainable impact of the technology on the livelihoods of millions of cotton farmers as well as the century old cotton production sector in India

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This paper provides a comparative perspective on the performance of smallholder rubber farm livelihood systems based on case studies of two regions in India and Thailand. The analysis of the emerging farming systems in the two countries’ rubber farms reveals that the rubber monocrop system is viable, provided prices remain remunerative and primary markets efficient. Findings further indicate the dominant contribution ofrubber production to the gross household income of the rubber growers in the integrated farming systems. Nevertheless, from a sustainable livelihoods perspective, the socioeconomic significance of the rubber integrated farming systems assumes greater prominence, given the fact that small producers are highly vulnerable to market uncertainties. It has been found that rubber integrated livelihood systems provide the smallholders with ample capability for resilience during crises and ensure a sustained flow of income. The two case studies demonstrate the need to promote and scale up rubber integrated farm livelihood systems in the smallholder-dominated rubber producing countries in the Asian region. The paper also recommends enhancing the capabilities of the smallholders by strengthening their access to the five forms of capital that sustain their livelihood.

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The article analyses the development and growth of the rubber industry in China since the reforms began. It reflects the contradictions arising from the mismatch between growing shortage of rubber vis-à-vis the dynamic and spatial growth of rubber-based industries. The article suggests some important policy options for sustaining the growth dynamism of the rubber industry in China, in the era of economic integration, which calls for a thorough revamping of state policies and evolving (virtually non-existent) institutional intervention strategies addressing a broad spectrum of activities, namely (a) demand and supply management; (b) redefining the status of natural rubber as a strategic commodity and potential industrial raw material; (c) strengthening property rights status of the rubber small producers; and (d) capital investment for research and development (R&D), facilitating the expansion of natural rubber (NR) cultivation to non-conventional areas. Given the fact that the global market integration would continue to stimulate the growth of the domestic rubber industry, the article highlights that the issues at the supply side management are to be tackled on a priority basis. However, addressing the supply side management issues would need China to make a rational choice between, or a combination of, at least four alternatives, namely (a) strengthening the domestic rubber production sector, particularly, NR; (b) continue to import NR and synthetic rubber (SR) from neighbouring countries; (c) invest in NR plantation development programmes in Laos, Vietnam or Myanmar with the involvement of foreign capital; and (d) exploring feasibility of enhanced substitution of NR with SR. The article also brings out the need for achieving synergy between development of natural rubber sector and rubber-based industrialisation processes in the country, so as to make the industry economically sustainable and globally competitive.

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This paper examines the influence of important socio-economic, institutional/policy level factors in determining the adoption/non-adoption of rubber-integrated farming systems in traditional and non-traditional rubber-growing regions in India. The empirical analysis is based on a survey of rubber growers in the traditional rubber regions of Kerala (south India) and the non-traditional rubber regions of Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura (north east India). In sharp contrast to Kerala, where smallholder responses toward adoption of rubber-integrated farming systems have been lukewarm, the emerging rubber economies (most of which are tribal communities) of north east (NE) India have shown interest in adopting rubber as an integrated farming system along with pre-existing land-use livelihood activities. The study clearly demonstrates contrasting empirical evidence of adoption of rubber-integrated farm-livelihood systems in the rubber-growing regions in Kerala and the NE states in India. The contrasting scenarios of adoption of rubber-integrated farming systems are mostly explained by region-specific factors dominated by socio-economic, institutional variables, and policy-level constraints, as also revealed by multivariate analysis. By and large, the findings of the study have significant bearing on the socio-economic outcomes and the existing institutional development paradigm underlying the rubber-development programmes introduced in India since independence. The study shows that the existing institutional arrangements and policies, which evolved historically to facilitate rubber area expansion in the traditional regions (including Kerala), have been highly instrumental in perpetuating rubber farming as a monoculture system. However, such an institutional mechanism proves to be highly redundant in the context of the NE states which are otherwise diverse in terms of integrated farm-livelihood systems and shifting cultivation.

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This paper assesses the extent of crop loss in rubber plantations in India, measured in terms of loss in latex and timber output and its economic value and examines the comparative economics of plant protection measures against the Phytophtora induced abnormal leaf fall (ALF). It also reflects upon the policy imperatives with respect to region-specific R&D interventions on plant protection measures in India. The study demonstrates significant clonal differences in loss of latex and timber output in the absence of prophylactic spraying against ALF. The study also highlighted the need for evolving R&D interventions and agro-management/ plant protection measures for minimizing the incidence of tree loss in rubber plantations, as it amounts to loss of potential income for the dominant smallholder sector in India.

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This paper discusses the emerging contradictions that may have serious implications for the sustainable growth and performance of China’s rubber industry in the era of internal restructuring and global market integration. The contradictions arise from the growing mismatch between shortage of resources (natural rubber and synthetic rubber) against the ever expanding rubber industry with thin regional spread of manufacturing base.While the dynamic growth of rubber industry in the pre-reforms era was achieved under a heavy import oriented trade policy regime, the sustenance of the same is fraught with serious challenges in the emerging global context affecting the economic performance of the rubber industry. Following a comprehensive analysis of development of rubber industry in retrospect, the paper suggests some important policy options for resolving the impasse and thereby sustaining the growth dynamism of the industry in the country in the era of market integration. Invariably, sustainable growth of the rubber industry in China calls for a thorough revamping of the state policies and devising virtually non-existent institutional development strategies covering a broad spectrum of activities, viz., a) demand and supply management; b) redefining the status of natural rubber as a strategic commodity and industrial raw material; c) strengthening property rights claims of the peasantry; and d) R&D investments facilitating rubber expansion to agro-ecologically suitable areas. Given that the global market integration would continue to stimulate the growth of the domestic rubber industry, the paper highlights that the issues at the production side are to be tackled on a priority basis. However, this would need China to make a rational choice between or a combination of alternatives, viz., a) strengthening the domestic natural rubber production sector; b) continue to follow import of NR and SR;and c) massive launching of rubber investment programmes in the neighbouring regions of the Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines. More »»

This book provides a detailed examination of the impact of globalisation on plantation labour, dominated by women labour, in India. The studies presented here highlight the perpetuation of low wages, inferior social status and low human development of workers in this sector and point out the movement of labour away from this sector and the resultant labour shortage. It also highlights the perils involved in doing away with the Plantation Labour Act 1951 and provides a plausible way forward for improving the conditions of plantation workers.

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This volume is quite unique and timely in terms of consolidating some of the most recent theoretical, R&D as well as empirical analyses of the performance outcomes and farm level responses. It is also timely as it unfolds the debate on the wider adoption of Bt technology, which addresses some of the apprehensions that prevail over the GM crop varieties. The volume provides a holistic perspective on the state of Bt cotton technology in India, in terms of presenting the institutional, R&D, policy regimes and regulatory environments, that are seemingly inadequate to address the veracity of challenges facing the technology and its legitimacy and social relevance in rendering future of cotton farming more sustainable and inclusive. To the best of our understanding, this volume is perhaps the first of its kind that engages with the critical aspects of Bt cotton adoption in India since its introduction in 2003.

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This book examines the inter-face between the apparently divergent processes of irrigation and agricultural development in Kerala state and its implications on land development and water management practices, especially, adoption of On-Farm Development both at the system as well as farm levels. It offers a convincing explanation for the dismal performance of irrigation systems in the state in the context of cropping pattern changes from irrigated crops, mainly, paddy to dry/ perennial cash crops. As irrigation systems in Kerala are designed for rice, the decline in rice area resulted in the poor performance of irrigation systems.

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