Innovation System Perspective on Agriculture Development in India

The book looks into the history of agriculture development in India. Taking a political economy perspective, it looks at significant institutional and technological innovations in pre- independent and post independent India. It focuses on the Green Revolution in Asia and examines it in a historical perspective, identifying two factors of institutional change and political leadership. Climate change in agriculture development has become a major concern to farmers, researchers and policy makers alike. However, there is little knowledge on the farmers’ perception to climate change and to the extent they coincide with actual climatic data While exploring the adaptation strategies, the section looks into the dynamics of who can afford a particular technology and who cannot and what leads to a particular adaptation decision thus determining the adaptive capacity in water management. The final section looks into the devolution of authority for natural resource management to local user groups through the Water Users’ Associations as an important approach to overcome the long-standing challenges of centralized state bureaucracies in India.