Small and marginal farmers in India have been vulnerable to risks in agricultural production. Several organizational prototypes are emerging to integrate them into the value chain with the objective of enhancing incomes and reducing transaction costs. Among these are Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). We explore the potential of FPOs as collective institutions through a case study of Avirat, one of the first FPOs in Gujarat. Our analysis suggests that FPOs have the potential to provide benefits through effective collective action. The main challenge, however, is to raise sufficient capital to maximize these benefits. We discuss the implications of our findings to policy.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the role of employee relations and human resource management (HRM) practices on firms' commitment to sustainability in the context of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in India. This paper proposes a theoretical framework, namely “awareness, action, comprehensiveness, and excellence (AACE),” to present the solutions and practices as adopted by MSME firms in meeting their sustainability objectives alongside pluralistic constraints related to human resource, capital and legitimacy risk.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs a cross-case methodology to investigate five food processing MSME firms to understand and delineate the role of employee relations and HRM practices in driving their commitment to sustainability.FindingsThe paper discusses the status of employee relations and HRM practices as practiced by MSME firms, specifically designed to meet their agenda to strengthen their commitment to sustainability. The study proposes a framework constituting four levels, namely “awareness, action, comprehensiveness, and excellence (AACE),” that reflects HRM practices as adopted by MSME firms to develop their commitment to sustainability.Social implicationsMSMEs and food processing industries are critical to the growth of Indian economy and likewise for other emerging and developing economies. They are especially critical for their contribution to overall employment and sustainability comprising the second, third and fourth supplier links in supply chains. They have a major impact on sustainability outcomes and the life quality of employees. This paper makes a contribution in this direction.Originality/valueThe study fulfills the need to explore the role of employee relations and HRM practices to develop “commitment to sustainability” in the context of food processing MSME firms in an emerging economy of India. This paper adds an understanding of people management practices and sustainability in small firms (MSMEs), adding to the existing literature on the domain, which is mostly skewed toward large firms.

Female labour force undeniably constitutes half of the human capital that drives the growth and development of emerging economies. Probing into determinants of female labour force participation decline has gathered momentum in recent past, but there has been no significant breakthrough in resolving the puzzle. Using World Bank’s database of female labour force participation rate of India and China, and the state-wise database for India, this article juxtaposes the intermodal transport trend to examine if the former can be explained by the latter. Decline of female labour force participation in India is a concern from both the demographic dividend aspect and the social inclusion aspect. Twenty-five years’ data of both China and India and 3 year’s data of 18 Indian states show this trend, and this article probes the mobility constraint as the reason behind this phenomenon. Results of this study indicate that lower rail-to-road ratio is exclusionary for women. The findings regarding gendering of mobility and employment would influence important policy towards planning intermodal transport and its share of total transport for a nation. JEL Classification: C25, J12, J16, J21, J22, J130, J220, I38, I180, R48

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