Impact Of Globalization On Indian Agriculture Sector

The aim of the research is to critically evaluate the Recent Performance and Prospects in the Wake of Globalization on Agriculture Sector in the parts of India. The researcher of this research himself comes from the both business and agriculture background, and has similar concern and knowledge about the agriculture in India before and after globalization, and wish to gain more knowledge through this research. This research should be useful to make recommendations to the farmers, extension personnel, Agricultural Departments, Government, outside agencies and other Agricultural allied fields throughout the India. This research would help for the future research and to shape up the Indian Agriculture. As an intact, Agriculture in India is the means of livelihood of more or less two thirds of the work force in the country. It has always been INDIA’S most important and desired economic sector.

The aim and objectives of the research are as follows:

2.1 AIM:

The avowed aim of the research is to evaluate “Recent Performance and Prospects in the Wake of Globalization on Indian Agriculture Sector”.

2.2 OBJECTIVES:

The specific objectives of the research on Globalization of Indian Agriculture are

To examine how globalization of agriculture would have an effect on agricultural production, change efficiencies and influence social issues in India.

To take stock of the existing trade models and assess the role of (Research and Development) R&D in agriculture and technology intervention in agricultural trade.

To evaluate whether all resources and appropriate trade models are in use and recommend the one that is most appropriate for the sector.

And also assess how promising technologies, value addition and domestic reforms would promote trade and affect efficiencies and recommend solutions for them.

3 CONTEXT:

From agriculture to internet industry globalization plays a vital role. As mentioned in the introduction, as researcher has certain knowledge about globalization in India and agriculture, has chosen this topic. This influence in the field transferred into passion. In-order to build knowledge about the globalization in Agriculture sector the author selected the topic of “Impact of Globalization on Indian Agriculture Sector”. And the reason for selecting the place is because, it is his home country and being his native place, it will be much better for the author to retrieve information’s than any other.

4 LITERATURE REVIEW:

The Literature review gives us wide band of knowledge about Globalization. Origin of growth of Agriculture sector after globalization can be traced in the literature from the year 1990. The term globalization has come into common practice since the 1980s, reflecting in the technological advances that have made it easier and quicker to complete international transactions flows, both trade and financial. It refers to a greenhouse beyond national borders of the same market forces that have operated for centuries at all levels of human economic activity.

Both turn down of Trade and investments can be listed as the main drivers of globalization. The decline in the trade and investments can directly affect the international trade, foreign direct investments (FDI) of the country, and also the restrictions are being removed from FDI by many countries. Technology in the field plays a significant role in driving globalization as well. Some examples of technology include internet and World Wide Web, transportation, and communication (Hill, 2002, p.8-13).

4.1 Globalization:

Globalization is the process of merging of different countries and accomplishments through advanced foreign trade and foreign investment. Globalization also refers to increased possibilities for actions happenings between and among people in situations where latitudinal and longitudinal position seems unimportant. Region is the sense of a traditional sense of a geographically identifiable location no longer constitutes the whole of social space in which human activity takes places. In the term, globalization refers to the broadening of new forms of non-regional social activity (Ruggie, 1993; Scholte, 2000).

Globalization refers to a lay down of processes that increasingly make the parts of the world interdependently incorporated. It is a historical process, and the result is the human innovation and the technological progress. It refers to increasing integration of economies around the world, particularly through trade and financial flows. (Robert and Hite page 16) 

Many people view globalization in different ways. Some view it as a process that is beneficial and a key to future of world economic development and also certain and irreversible. Some people view it with enmity, even fear, believing that it increases inequality within and between the nations; it threatens employment and living standards of the people. Globalization offers wide-ranging opportunities for truly worldwide development but the fact is that it is not progressing evenly. Some countries are becoming integrated into the global economy more quickly than others. 

4.2 Globalization on Indian Agriculture Sector:

The term “Globalization” has been widely used in the last fifteen years. It is a

Notorious term and has been clearly defined in several ways. Globalization clearly specifies that the world today is more interrelated than before. Globalization in its basic economic sense refers to the acceptance of open and unregulated trading markets through various processes. Large volumes of money improvement, increased volumes of trade, changes in information technology and communication are all integral to the global world. And also there is a significant movement of people from one country to another for trade and work. Such increases in the movement of goods, labor, and services have diluted national barriers and restrictions that are imposed by a nation or state. In the past two decades, economic Globalization has been the driving force behind the overall process of globalization.

Here is what a Nobel Laureate and Economist has to say:

Global interaction, rather than loneliness, has been the basis of economic progress in the world. Trade, by the side of relocation, communication, and propagation of Scientific and technical knowledge now has helped to break the dominance of rampant Poverty and the pervasiveness of lives that characterized the world. Despite all the progress, life is still severely nasty and short for a large part of the world population. The great rewards of globalized trade have come to some, but not to many.”(Amartya Sen, Foreword, Make Trade Fair, Oxfam 2002)

Effects of Globalization:

According to economists, there are a lot of global events connected with globalization and integration. To categorize the changes brought by globalization are

Improvement in trade globally.

Progress in the technology. 

Increasing Influence of the Multinational Companies in the country. 

Power of the WTO, IMF, and WB.

Greater Mobility of Human Resources across the Countries. 

Greater Outsourcing of Business Processes globally. 

Civil Society.

On the other hand, adverse impact of globalization on the disadvantaged sections of the society, masses at large and rural areas in general has been manifold such as:

Abrupt Decline in employment opportunities;

Unreasonable price-rise and identical increase in incomes;

Slow down and decline in the investment in agriculture and hitting hard on the poor, small and marginal peasants and landless labour of the country;

disappearance of village industries and crafts as well as various small industries due to unequal competition;

Ill-planned disinvestment of even profit-making public sector undertakings at throw-away prices resulting in heavy losses;

reduction of expenditure of labours and alternative avenues;

and not the least, attrition of self-confidence, security, and national autonomy.

Globalization does not have positive contact on the agriculture sector. Similarly, it has little damaging effect as government is always willing to import food grains/products, sugar etc whenever there is a increase in price of these commodities. Also Government never thinks to pay more to the farmers so that they can produce more food grains rather it resorts to imports. On the other side, subsidies are declining and eventually the cost of production is increasing. Even farms producing fertilizers have to suffer due to imports policies and there are threats like introduction of GM crops, herbicide resistant crops etc in the market.

4.3 LITERATURE REVIEW CONCLUSION:

The process of globalization not only opened up the economy

but also accelerated the cross-border mobility of persons, goods, capital, data and ideas. Negatively it also opened up the society to infections, diseases and pollution, drugs, criminalization, etc (UNESCO).

The mixed picture that emerges on economic performance and on changes in

Employment, inequality and poverty make it extremely difficult to generalize on what

the impact of globalization has been. This is because globalization is a complex

Phenomenon. Observed outcomes such as changes in the level of unemployment and of

Poverty replicates the results of a complex of factors of which globalization, However broadly defined, is but one. It is important to avoid the Common error of attributing all observed outcomes, positive or negative, entirely to Globalization. (The Financial Express, 2004).

5) RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

5.1 Research Paradigm:

Positivism, believe that realism is stable and can be observed and described with an objective viewpoint (Levin, 1988), i.e. without interfering with the phenomena being studied. Positivism argues that phenomena should be isolated and that observations should be repeatable. This often involves manipulation of reality with variations in only a single independent variable so as to identify regularities in, and to form relationships between two or more constituent elements of the social world.

Predictions can be made on the source of the previously observed and explained realities and their inter-relationships. Positivism has a long and rich historical tradition. It is so entrenched in our society that knowledge claims not grounded in positivist thought are simply dismissed as scientific and therefore invalid (Hirschheim, 1985, p.33). This view in some way is supported by Alavi and Carlson (1992) who, in a review of 902 IS research articles; found that all the practical studies were positivist in approach. Positivism has also had a particularly successful association with the physical and natural sciences.

Phenomenology research is concerned to study a happening/occurance in a very particular way – in the life world as we immediately experience it – in our ordinary, everyday lives – pre-conceptually, pre-theoretically, pre-reflectively (Husserl in van Manen 1990 and Stewart et al 1990). With philosophy we obtain the data/material for our examination, exploration and research by means of a close examination of the lived experience of human beings. There is no other place to find the material because of the very nature of what philosophy is an exploration of the ‘is-ness’ of things which only exist within an experience of the life world.

It has often been observed (e.g. Benbasat et al., 1987) very accurately that no single research methodology is inherently better than any other method. That’s why many authors calling for a combination of research methods in order to improve the quality of research (e.g. Kaplan and Duchon, 1988). And so in order to achieve the aim and objectives for the research both positivism and phenomenology paradigm is to be carried out.

5.2 Research Approach:

Denzin & Lincoln, 1992, p.2 defines Qualitative research as “multiple method in focus involving a direct, naturalistic approach to the key matter of the subject. This means that qualitative researchers would study things in their natural setting and attempting to make sense and read between the lines in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves collection of experimental materials, studied data, case study, personal experience, introspective, life history, interviews, observations, historical, interactions and visual texts that describe the usual and demanding moments and meanings in in the lives of people.

King, Keohane, & Verba, 1994 pp.3-4 states that “Quantitative research always uses numbers and statistical methods in the data analysis. It tends to be based on numerical measurements of specific aspects of phenomenon and it abstracts the data from particular instances to seek general description or to test the causal hypothesis. It best of all things is that it seeks measurements and analyses that are easily replicable by other researchers further.

The two approaches as discussed above, the quantitative approach is concerned with establishing variables and assessing them to an extent, which can be related to the assumptions made primarily. Examples are surveys, and questionnaires. Whereas qualitative is a soft approach that employs the use of interviews and observations to provide the deep knowledge about some concept or phenomenon in any research project.

5.3 Research Method(s):

To gather data from both primary and secondary sources,(i.e.) from respective departments and people in the respective fields. Primary data can be collected by sending questionnaire to selected departments to know their progress, benefits they obtain as a part of globalization and the factors affecting them of being global.

Primary Research will provide information that is needed to support the overall study and any recommendations or arising actions. The questionnaire and interviews will be up to date and specific to the topic of research.

Secondary Research like reading articles related to globalization and agriculture from sources such as newspaper, journals, textbooks and internet will provide in depth knowledge of the field of studies. Secondary data also provides a relatively low cost method and it is limited by the fact that the researcher must use the information that is available rather than the information that is needed.

5.4 Sampling:

For the research the researcher has decided to use every possible ways to take a survey or gather information regardless of age, sex and marital status and religion.

5.5 Methods of analysing primary data eg. use of SPSS, EXCEL, or text analysis, etc.

The researcher has decides to use text analysis by observing the way people interact or by questioning them on their perceptions. It is because qualitative research differs from quantitative research in several ways. As this is a qualitative research is employs with inductive, generating, subjective and non-positivist process.

6) ETHICAL CONSIDERATION & ISSUES:

Bearing in mind the ethical Considerations, Confidentiality Issues, Rights of Human Subjects, and Uses of Monitoring Data in Research and Regulation as a part of my research, the participant’s personal details, comments or answers about questionnaires will not be disclosed under any circumstances to any organizations or individuals.