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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Farm crisis: Landless may be better off, but landed are worse off; here is what you should know of rural distress puzzle -Pranjul Bhandari

Farm crisis: Landless may be better off, but landed are worse off; here is what you should know of rural distress puzzle -Pranjul Bhandari

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published Published on Jul 20, 2017   modified Modified on Jul 20, 2017
-The Financial Express

The state of India’s rural economy is puzzling. There is enough evidence to support both opposing statements: one, that the rural economy has improved, and two, that the rural economy is in the doldrums. Some macro indicators have improved, though. The rural unemployment rate has been falling, while rural wages have been rising, particularly on a real basis. Alongside, indicators such as two-wheeler sales and consumer non-durables production have ticked up recently. But, instances of rural distress and farmer suicides are rife. There is a wave of demand for farm loan waivers. Four Indian states have already announced waivers worth ~0.5% of national GDP. Four more are threatening to join the bandwagon, and if they do, waivers could go up to 0.75% of GDP, endangering hard won reduction in debt and deficit ratios (see: A study of India’s state finances: Balloons and rockets, March 30, 2017). Some of this distress is likely to have been triggered by the large fall in food prices and the consequent shifting of the terms-of-trade against rural India. The fall was led by the coming together of the following factors.

Bumper crop: Normal rains in 2016 after two years of drought supported a bumper crop. Alongside the overall increase in food production, in line with the ‘cobweb theory’, those food items where prices had risen sharply in the previous season (for instance, pulses), saw the largest increase in production.

Demonetisation: There is anecdotal evidence that demonetisation hurt the liquidity of food traders, resulting in fire sales.

Early impact of GST: There is some anecdotal evidence that in the run up to GST (implemented from July 1), wholesale traders of food items have been rapidly running down their food stocks.

Measured MSP increases: Excessive MSP increases distort food production and lead to higher inflation (see: India RBI Watch: Every drop counts, June 2, 2016). Thankfully, MSP increases have been kept measured over the last few years.

Structural changes: The current government has undertaken several reforms such as more nimble selling/buying and importing/exporting food items. Clamping down on hoarders and allowing freer trade for perishables for certain states such as Maharashtra have also helped.

Lower global prices: Global food prices are an important driver of domestic prices—given India has started to import/export food items more efficiently in recent years.

Two distinct rural groups explain the puzzle


Breaking down rural households into two distinct parts, ‘landless’ and ‘landed’, helps solve the rural distress puzzle—landless are those owning less than one hectare of land, and landed are those owning more than 1 hectare of land. The landless make up ~70% of rural households while the landed make up ~30%.

This distinction also has three other important characteristics. One, the landless population has a negative income-consumption gap, which basically means that their income is hardly covers their consumption demand each period. On the other hand, the landed have a positive income-consumption gap.

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The Financial Express, 12 July, 2017, http://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/farm-crisis-landless-may-be-better-off-but-landed-are-worse-off-here-is-what-you-should-know-of-rural-distress-puzzle/7596


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