Resources, Technology and Sustainability

This book uses sound theoretical frameworks and econometric techniques to rigorously analyze and explain the conditions of sustainable growth in agriculture. It further investigates how management of natural resources and technological advances can enhance productivity and ensure sustainable growth in agriculture. Optimal control theory, dynamic optimization problems and theory of risk and uncertainty are extensively used to create theoretical models for analyzing agricultural growth. The results demonstrate that crop diversification, rainwater harvesting and the use of organic fertilizers can ensure growth in agriculture from a dynamic perspective. Further, they show how excessive depletion of ground water, intensive farming and overuse of chemicals in connection with the adoption of modern technology in agriculture have placed tremendous strains on natural resources like land and water, and have called into question the sustainability of growth in the farming sector.

Analyzes the adoption of modern technology in agriculture using the theory of decision making under risk and uncertainty Explains sustainable growth in agriculture by constructing theoretical models of crop diversification, rainwater harvesting, and conservation of soil health Addresses the contemporary issues of resource degradation, declining productivity in relation to the role of technology, and government policies concerning resource management Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Joydeb Sasmal is a professor of Economics at the Department of Economics with Rural Development, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore (W), West Bengal, India. He obtained his MA, MPhil and PhD degrees in Economics from the University of Calcutta. His research areas are natural resources, agriculture and sustainable growth, public economics, poverty and child labor and economic growth. He has published a number of papers in international and national journals and presented papers at conferences and seminars both in India and overseas. He did his Ph.D under the supervision of Professor Asis Kumar Banerjee, Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. He has worked jointly with Sugata Marjit (CSSSC), Hans-Peter Weikard (The Netherlands), Jorge Guillen (Peru) and Ritwik Sasmal (Germany).

Inhalt
An Overview of the Indian Agriculture.- Technological Change and Productivity Growth in Agriculture.- Use of Water Resource and Sustainability of Growth in Agriculture.- Soil Health and Sustainable Growth in Agriculture.- Competing Uses of Land and Food Security.- **** Summary and Conclusions.