Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faculty Publications Book Chapter Faculty Publications- Book Chapter Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dasgupta, Anirban Title A name given to the resource For Food and Livelihood: Rethinking the Role of Agriculture in Indias Capitalist Development Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 01-01-2025 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Contradictions of Democracy, Development and Inequality: A Case of India;pp.137-149 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003527978-12" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003527978-12</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105016669932?origin=resultslist" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105016669932?origin=resultslist</a> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Dasgupta A., Christ University, Bengaluru, India Description An account of the resource In India, agriculture continues to provide a source of livelihood to almost half of the employed labour force, and recent evidence (over the last 15 years) clearly indicates that the income from farming is grossly inadequate for basic sustenance for the vast majority of the agrarian population. We start our analysis by establishing some salient features of Indian agriculture, which are key in foregrounding any serious discussion on the subject. First, based on the framework proposed by Dorin, Hourcade and Benoit-Cattin, India is shown to be a country in the so-called Lewis trap zone with a simultaneous increase in agricultural population (albeit at a decreasing rate) and a growing divergence in income between agriculture and the non-agricultural sector over the last 50 years. It is argued that this phenomenon can be understood as one of perverse structural transformation in opposition to the virtuous Lewisian path that is based on the historical trajectory of Western European economies. Second, despite the persistence of low levels of productivity in most segments of agriculture, India has emerged in recent years as a food-surplus country in a net sense with significant food exports. As mentioned earlier, this self-sufficiency in food production has been achieved in a period when the majority of the farming community has undergone severe impoverishment due to the economic unviability of crop production. Based on these two observations, the chapter argues for a fundamental rethinking of agricultures role in the long-term development process in a labour-surplus economy such as India. Unlike the classical/Lewisian process of structural transformation, which is predicated on a rapid rate of labour transfer out of agriculture in combination with a corresponding increase in agricultural productivity, agriculture in countries such as India is likely to play a critical role in providing the means of social reproduction for a large mass of surplus humanity in the foreseeable future. This livelihood function of agriculture, along with its essential role in supplying food for the rest of the economy (which is in line with the Mellor-Johnston thesis), constitutes the defining elements of the future of agriculture in typical labour-abundant economies such as India. The challenge, however, is to improve the economic and ecological conditions under which agrarian livelihoods are reproduced. This will involve a fundamental change in societys recognition and valuation of the functions that farming performs and remunerating farmers appropriately for these functions. This transfer of resources to agriculture should not be seen as a mere subsidy for agriculture but as fair compensation for its essential economic and ecological services. 2026 selection and editorial matter, Sejuti Das Gupta, Shouvik Chakraborty and Taposik Banerjee; individual chapters, the contributors. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Taylor and Francis Relation A related resource ISBN: 978-104038875-4; 978-103229188-8; Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Book chapter Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource online