Kailas Sarap

Bio: Kailas Sarap is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Debt & Land tenure. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 40 citations.

On the operation of the land market in backward agriculture: Evidence from a village in Orissa, Eastern India

Abstract: Based on original field data this article analyses the implications of different contracts found in the land market in the study village. A variety of tenurial contracts including land mortgage, with different terms and conditions, have been found. However, landless labourers were discriminated against by lessors because of their lack of working capital and inadequate cash to lease in land on a cash payment basis. Land mortgage is resorted to by poor peasant as a strategy to mobilise funds for urgent purposes and thereby to stop land alienation. The behaviour of land sale and purchase transactions showed the sluggish nature of the land market, but distress sale is an important phenomenon found in the village. Both intra‐class and inter‐class land transfer were found and the process of differentiation was complex. Rich farmers have tried to consolidate and enlarge their land holdings through selling of low quality and unfavourably located plots and buying better quality and favourably located plots. The pr...

Transactions in rural credit markets in Western Orissa, India

Abstract: Based on fieldwork in Western Orissa, India, this article examines three aspects of rural credit markets: (a) the pattern of participation of different classes of farm households; (b) types of collateral offered; and (c) rates of interest charged on different types of collateral. Contrary to popular belief, we find that production loans from informal sources are important for poorer farm households. The relatively rich households have access not only to a greater amount of credit (both formal and informal) but also to cheaper credit, thereby perpetuating rural inequality. Lastly, the burden of informal debt on poorer households is much higher than on rich households.

Land policies for growth and poverty reduction

Abstract: Land policies are of fundamental importance to sustainable growth, good governance, and the well-being of, and the economic opportunities open to, both rural and urban dwellers - particularly the poor. To this end, research on land policy, and analysis of interventions related to the subject, have long been of interest to the Bank's Research Department, and other academic, and civil society institutions. The report aims to strengthen the effectiveness of land policy in support of development, and poverty reduction, by setting out the results of recent research in a way that is accessible to a wide audience of policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, academics in the Bank's client countries, donor agency officials, and the broader development community. Its main message rests on three principles: 1) provision of secure tenure to land improves the welfare of the poor, particularly by enhancing the asset base of those whose land rights are often neglected, and, creates incentives needed for investment, paramount to sustainable economic growth; 2) facilitation of land exchange, and distribution, whether as an asset or for current services, at low cost, through markets, and non-market channels, will expedite land access by productive, but land-poor producers, so that once economic growth improves, financial markets would rely on the use of land as collateral; and, 3) governments' contribution to the promotion of socially desirable land allocation, and utilization. The report discusses mechanisms to promote tenure security, demonstrates the importance of rental market transactions, arguing the removal of impediments to these can generate equity advantages, and positive investments. It also illustrates mechanisms, ranging from taxation, to regulation and land use planning to address these issues.

From Peasant Studies to Agrarian Change

Abstract: This inaugural essay surveys themes and approaches in agrarian political economy over the last three decades, especially with reference to contributions to, and debates in, the Journal of Peasant Studies of which T. J. Byres was editor from 1973 to 2000 and Henry Bernstein editor from 1985 to 2000. We indicate intellectual strengths and lacunae, new approaches to longstanding issues, and new concerns which emerged over that period, and which inform the project of this new Journal of Agrarian Change and the challenges it presents.

Land Sales and Rental Markets in Transition: Evidence from Rural Vietnam

Abstract: The extent to which households should be allowed to transfer their land rights in post-socialist transition economies is of considerable policy interest. The authors use data from Vietnam, a transition country that allows rental and sales of land use rights, to identify factors conducive to the development of land markets and to assess the extent to which land transfers enhance productive efficiency and transfer land to the poor. They find that activity in both rental and sales markets has increased rapidly, enhanced by the possession of long-term use rights and off-farm employment, and contributing to greater equity and efficiency of land use. While there is evidence for distress sales by households that experience a shock (death), the scope for such sales is reduced by well-functioning credit markets. Well-defined land rights and appropriate safety nets will thus help transition economies to realize the benefits from the operation of land markets.

Chapter 51 Efficiency and Equity Effects of Land Markets

Abstract: It is widely believed that land markets, including both land sales and tenancy markets, are neither efficient nor conducive to social equity It is often argued that tenants, particularly share tenants, do not have proper incentives to work and invest, partly because of the disincentive effects of output sharing and partly because of the tenure insecurity It is also widely accepted that land sales transactions tend to exacerbate the social equity and rural poverty by facilitating the concentration of land ownership by hands of a few wealthy landlords Based on these presumptions, land reform programs have been implemented in a number of developing countries This article critically reviews these presumptions both theoretically and empirically Firstly, we identify why land tenancy transaction is more common than land sales transactions and why share tenancy is more common than leasehold tenancy Secondly, we critically review the theories of share tenancy, tenure security, and adjustment costs of farm size Thirdly, we empirically review the efficiency and equity effects of land markets as well as the impacts of conventional land reform programs It has become clear from the literature review that land reform polices have generally failed to improve land use efficiency and social equity It is also found that tenancy contracts, including share tenancy, are generally efficient and conducive to social justice In conclusion, we propose to encourage tenancy transactions, in general, and share tenancy, in particular

An Analytical Model of Farmers' Demand for Replacement Seed

Abstract: The purchase of new seed of a variety that a farmer is already growing, varietal replacement in general, and varietal choice during periods of rapid technological change are examples of seed replacement choices. A seed replacement choice differs from decisions about other inputs, such as fertilizer or labor, in that seeds can be repro- duced for the next crop season. Benefits from the purchase of new seed can continue for sev- eral years, and purchased seed is a self-sustain- ing input, although it is subject to depreciation. Replacement seed is, therefore, in some ways analogous to a capital item rather than a variable input. Agricultural economists, in general, have considered only the analysis of varietal choice with rapid technological change. Theoretical (Nowshirvani) and empirical (Herath, Har- daker, and Anderson; Gafsi and Roe) studies of varietal choice tend to model the farmer's de- cision as a single period portfolio allocation of land between modern and traditional varieties. Thus, the attributes of interest are yield, mo- ments of the yield distribution, and occasionally other varietal characteristics. Other approaches to analyzing farmers' choice of seed technology emphasize how a related input (fertilizer, tube- wells) affects the level and riskiness of return (Feder 1980, 1982). Prices, risk, the lumpiness of the associated inputs, and possible credit con- straints determine the portfolio choice over time in these models. In none of these approaches is the more general case of demand for replace- ment seed explicitly recognized. This paper proposes an analytical model of the demand for replacement seed. The model describes the factors that induce a farmer to re- place seed and the optimal frequency of new seed purchase given myopic and infinite time hori- zons. The model is applied to wheat seed de- mand in Pakistan. Conclusions, limitations, and possible extensions of the model are also con- sidered.