Droughts, Distress and a Conditional Cash Transfer Program to Mitigate the Impact of Droughtin Bihar, India

Avinash Kishore, Pramod K. Joshi and Divya Pandey

No 212009, 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy from International Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Paddy- Bihar's staple crop- is vulnerable to droughts, primarily due to high cost of irrigation. In 2008, Bihar government launched a conditional cash transfer scheme to subsidise diesel for irrigation in drought affected areas. We show that this scheme has not been effective in mitigating the impact of drought on paddy production. A primary survey of potential and actual beneficiaries shows that low awareness and penetration among smallholders, alongside uncertainties and delays in the discursal of the subsidy, make it ineffective. We suggest that in states with limited capacity, such ad-hoc subsidies are unlickely to protect smallholders from weather shocks.

Keywords: Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Land Economics/Use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:iaae15:212009

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.212009

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