@article{Jose:333707,
      recid = {333707},
      author = {Jose, Monish and Krishna, Vijesh V.},
      title = {Whither Indian Wheat? 
Productivity Plateau, Spatial  Heterogeneity, 
and R&D Targeting},
      journal = {Review of Agrarian Studies},
      address = {2021-06},
      year = {2021},
      abstract = {The productivity plateau of Indian wheat during and after  the 1990s has
attracted significant research and  development (R&D) investment and policy focus.
Our paper  explores the reasons for this phenomenon by analysing the  regional
differences in wheat production in the  Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). We found that
there was only a  small yield gap to bridge in the irrigated, high-input  systems of
the Western IGP States (Punjab and Haryana),  whereas further yield increases, in
the range of 50–100 per  cent, are possible in the Eastern States (Bihar  and
Jharkhand). In the West, wheat farmers require  technologies to enhance the
potential yield, and to curtail  production cost and resource use, whereas
technologies for  minimisation of yield-gap are warranted in the East.  Beyond
designing the interventions, the enhancement of  productivity and profitability
requires more efficient  targeting of innovations and institutional changes  in
marketing the output. Most wheat farmers of the Eastern  IGP States do not
obtain the minimum support price (MSP)  declared by the Government of India.
The lack of access to  government markets might present disincentives to
investing  in wheat in these States, as evidenced by the slow varietal  replacement
rate and low rate of mechanisation of  agriculture. We have identified three areas
for further  study: (i) how output price expectations affect farmer  demand for
newer varieties and the pace of mechanisation in  wheat cultivation; (ii) which
technologies are to be  deployed in order to increase farmers’ income  without
increasing the cost of cultivation; and (iii)  spatial and social targeting of
technologies to reduce  inequalities in agricultural development.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/333707},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.25003/RAS.11.1.0003},
}