Springer Agro and Food Processing Industry in India: Inter-sectoral Linkages, Employment, Productivity and Competitiveness (India Studies in Business and Economics)

This book provides different facets of India's agro and food processing industry in both organised and unorganised segments. It brings forth the topical issues having potential to accelerate the pace of growth in its employment, investment and productivity and strive for improving the global competitiveness. Using advanced quantitative techniques, it brings new evidences on inter-sectoral (agriculture-industry-services) employment and production linkages, contractual arrangements through Farmer Producer Companies, and subcontracting in the processed food sector. It also throws light on India's comparative advantage in export of primary and processed food products.With rising per capita income, urbanisation, and changing food habits of people, India is increasingly striving to improve productivity and competitiveness in agriculture and manufacturing. A concerted policy focus to accelerate private investment in food processing, largely viewed as a sunrise industry, is expected to contribute to large scale job creation and external trade not only in the manufacturing but also in the agricultural sector. Keeping this in mind, considerable insights are featured in the book at the industry and firm levels due to a significant bearing of technological, tariffs and non-tariff barriers and labour regulations on their trade intensity, employment and efficiency. Containing perspectives from the top agriculture and industry economists in the country, the book will be very useful to researchers, academicians, trade analysts and policy makers. From the Back Cover This book provides different facets of agro and food processing industry in both organised and unorganised segments and brings forth the topical ones, each having potential to accelerate the pace of growth in employment, productivity and exports-imports in a free trade regime. Using computable general equilibrium model, input output tables and advanced econometric tools, it brings new evidences on the inter-sectoral (agriculture-industry-services) linkages, and inferences to be competitive in both primary and processed food exports.  India is increasingly striving to improve productivity and competitiveness in agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Taking advantage of the growing per capita income, urbanisation, changing food habits of the people and exports, a concerted policy focus has been to boost private investment in food processing, largely viewed as a sunrise industry. Higher investments and productivity growth in it are expected to contribute to large scale job creation and external trade not only in the manufacturing but also in the agricultural sector.  Keeping this in mind, considerable insights are featured in the book at the industry and firm levels due to a significant bearing of technological, tariffs and non-tariff barriers on their trade intensity, productivity and efficiency. Containing perspectives from the top agro-economists in the country, the book will be very useful to researchers, trade analysts, academicians and policy makers. About the Author Seema Bathla is Professor, Centre for Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. Before joining JNU, she worked in the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), The Energy Research Institute (TERI) and Delhi University, all premium research institutions of India. She obtained her M.Phil. from Delhi School of Economics and Ph.D. from JNU. She has published six books (five co-authored) and more than 60 research articles in refereed national and international journals. Having keen interest in agricultural issues she has carried out several research studies and undertaken assignments for the World Bank, IFPRI, UNCTAD, WWF-India and IASRI. She was conferred Jawaharlal Nehru Award for Outstanding Post-Graduate Agricultural Research by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, New Delhi in 2008. She is also the recipient of Dr. R.T.Doshi a