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Traditional fuels have both environmental and health impacts. The transition from traditional to clean cooking fuel requires significant public policy actions. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is one of the primary policies launched in India to eradicate energy poverty among households. Past studies have focused on the drivers that motivate rural households to adopt clean energy and identified the bottlenecks for adoption of clean energy in developing countries. PMUY’s success in terms of scale and pace is critical in the national drive to provide access to clean energy fuel to each citizen. The present study focuses on two objectives. First, we investigate the intensity of adoption and refill of LPG under the PMUY scheme. Second, we use household and other demographic characteristics to examine the factors that influence households’ decision on using LPG as a cooking fuel. Empirical results show that rapid growth has been witnessed in the provision of subsidized LPG connections. However, the annual average refill status stands at two LPG cylinders per beneficiary household indicating that the majority of the beneficiaries have failed to refill their LPG cylinders. This imbalance between rapid enrollment of LPG and limited refill among beneficiary households indicate the continued usage of traditional sources of energy for cooking. From the primary survey conducted in the rural tribal communities of Odisha, we observe that household income and education played a significant role in adoption of LPG and continued usage of LPG gas. Additionally, the logit and ordered probit models identify that membership in self-help groups, accessibility and awareness of LPG are the major adoption drivers. In conclusion, policy makers need to address the challenge of refill status among PMUY consumers. Further, educating households on health benefits through SHG and creating accessibility at village level can actively increase the usage of LPG.

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PurposeClimate change is the most concerned issue in the global economy; increase in climate variability and uncertain climate events have caused distress in agriculture sector. The study estimates economic effect of climate change on agriculture income for the Indian state of Karnataka. The study reports the difference of result from past studies, where estimates from present study indicate higher negative impact of rise in temperature.Design/methodology/approachFixed effect panel regression method was used to examine change in agriculture revenue to climate response. Climate variables were classified based on the crop calendar to capture the damage caused by climate change. The authors use fine scale climate data set constructed at regional context for 20 districts and time period of 21 years (1992–2012).FindingsThe result showed that with 1-degree rise in average maximum temperature, the revenue declined by 17–21%. The prediction behavior of the different models was evaluated using out-of-sample forecast approach by training and testing historical data set.Originality/valueThe study adopts recent data sets on agriculture and the updated climate variables to estimate the climate change impact on agriculture. The study yields the better results when compared to previous traditional models applied in literature in Indian context. The study further evaluates the prediction behavior and robustness of the estimated models using out-of-sample forecast method.

The present study focused on evaluating the impact of Covid-19 lockdown on the agriculture system in India. A telephonic interview was conducted with farmers among various states between April to May 2020. A total of 494 farmers participated in the survey identifying the challenges they faced during the lockdown. First, the study has outlined the knowledge and perception of respondents on the Covid-19 virus and second the impact of Covid 19 induced restrictions on the agricultural system and food prices in India has been analyzed. The study classified the impact of lockdown on the agriculture system into four broad classifications - Farm Inputs, Farm Produce and Supply Chain, Agriculture and Allied Activities, Pandemic and Food prices. The detailed analysis across these four dimensions is discussed. Due to the shutdown of many supply routes, the availability of agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and seeds was disrupted, which jeopardized farmers’ investment planning. Furthermore, the seasonal migrants who would work in urban areas enter off-season and return to their native villages for farming could not carry it on. Such a rapid chain of events created massive short-run income shortages for small and marginalized farmers across the country. The special economic package for agriculture empowerment announced by the Government of India in the tune of two lakh crore rupees, equivalent to ten per cent of India’s GDP, has been the government’s first response to deal with this agricultural crisis. Finally, the chapter puts forward policy suggestions to strengthen resource-poor farmers’ capabilities plagued with a low-income-low-yield vicious cycle.