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There are ongoing discourses on contract farming across the world. Contract farming is an issue of serious concern in India today, among farmers as well as policymakers. Such farming among small and marginal farmers, who are facing several problems in agriculture, requires special attention. Considering the large presence of small and marginal farmers and PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay model of potato contract farming in the state of West Bengal, which is India’s second largest producer of potatoes, a study is imperative from the perspective of small and marginal farmers and their participation in potato contract farming. The present paper discusses the nature and extent of participation of small and marginal farmers in potato contract farming in the state. Although participation is qualitative and interpretative in nature, the study considers the attributes which are mainly quantitative or measurable. In order to understand the nature and extent of the participation of small and marginal farmers in contract farming, the study also focuses on the participation of other stakeholders such as vendors and non-marginal and small farmers, and a comparison of socioeconomic conditions between the contract and non-contract farmers is undertaken.

In the context of ongoing discussions of the erosion of indigenous knowledge, this report provides an analysis of how the factors "external" to a particular society may interact with "internal" (localized) factors to affect such knowledge, with a case study of the Konda Reddi of Andhra Pradesh, India. The external factor of market-oriented developmental intervention in the form of the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) is affecting the local forest resources and the knowledge related to them. The GCC interplay with the local environment has affected the minor forest resources, subsequently eroding and changing that knowledge. [traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous knowledge, minor forest produce, knowledge loss, Konda Reddis]

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Though resettlement and rehabilitation is considered to offer a development opportunity for project-displaced people, such people are often not cared for and continue to be disregarded by the powerful governments in India in their ‘development’ projects. Oustees in India continue to be one of the most deprived sections of society, and resettlement and rehabilitation is still a critical issue of concern to them. Their basic rights to a decent life are violated in the resettlement and rehabilitation process, although the Indian Constitution guarantees certain rights to its citizens. Such deprivation and violations of rights in resettlement and rehabilitation can be seen particularly in the case of the Gundlakamma Reservoir Project in the State of (undivided and residual) Andhra Pradesh.