No abstract

The present study assesses the effect of climatic and non-climatic factors on sustainable food security in India. It estimates food security index using composite Z-index technique with panel data of 13 states of India. It reveals that all components of food security have positive and significant association to each other. There exists high food inequality across Indian states. Poverty is the most detrimental factor to sustain food security; it is significantly associated with food insecurity. Therefore, Indian policy makers are desired to implement effective development scheme for poverty eradication. Estimates also imply that per capita food-grain availability negatively impacted due to changing climatic factors and diversity in socioeconomic variables. Hence, there is essential to increase food production through cropping intensity, appropriate irrigation facilities, application of modern technology and high yielding verities of seeds in cultivation; infrastructural development and more public spending in agricultural R&D to achieve sustainable food security in India.

Ensuring farmers' access to agricultural credit market has been prioritized in agriculture finance policies of Pakistan. The main objectives of this study are to explore farmers' access to different formal and informal credit sources, and to investigate their credit adequacy and the role of important socio-economic factors in access to credit. The data were collected from 87 farming households in Mardan Tehsil of Mardan District. Questionnaire was the main tool used to collect the data from farmers. The credit access ratio formula was employed that measured farmers' access, in relative terms, to their landholdings. Likewise, credit adequacy formula was used to investigate farmers' credit adequacy. A probit model was employed to find the important factors affecting access to credit. Results of access to credit ratio showed that small farmers had lower credit access to formal sources compared to medium and large farmers, whereas they had more access to informal sources. Similarly, small farmers have more credit inadequacy compared to medium and large farmers, and most of their credit gap was filled by informal sources. Probit model results showed that experience, education, landholding size and total income had positive relationship with access to credit whereas, age and farmers' group had negative association with access to credit. Our findings suggest that there is a need to revamp the policy to address the interests of small landholders, particularly those who possess land less than 5 acres because they had limited access to formal sources of credit.

No abstract

No abstract