A large body of work has tried to attribute the remarkable growth of Chinese agriculture between 1979 and 1984 to the dismantling of collectives. This paper critically reviews the evidence and finds that decollectivisation did not contribute to agricultural growth in the early 1980s. In particular, its response to Lin (1992) challenges the consensus and argues that decollectivisation was largely irrelevant to the exceptional growth in this period. It is held that a more intensive application of modern inputs and favourable weather conditions accounted for most of the spurt in growth.

Fertilizer has been the key input in augmenting foodproduction in India. However, fertilizer use in India is skewed, high in a few states having adequate irrigation and dismally low in the NE states. There is also imbalanced use of N, P and K. Deficiency of secondary nutrient sulphur and micronutrient zinc is widespread in the country and boron deficiency is reported from the eastern states.

Carrying capacity (CC) in the context of Indian agriculture, denotes the number of people and livestock an area can support on a sustainable basis. CC is dynamic in nature, varying from time to time based on utilization of resources, technology application and
management. In India, rainfed agriculture occupies nearly 58% of the cultivated area, contributes 40% of country’s food production, and supports 40% of the human and 60% of the livestock population.

India is the largest producer, consumer, importer and processor of pulses in the world. Ironically, the country’s pulse production has been hovering around 14–15 Mt, coming from a near-stagnated area of 22–23 M ha, since 1990–91. For meeting the demand of the growing population, the country is importing pulses to the tune of 2.5–3.5 Mt every year. Strong upward trend in the import of pulses is a cause of concern, since an increase in demand from India has shown to have cascading effect on international prices, thus draining the precious foreign exchange.

After much debate, the Cabinet cleared the food security bill. Will it really ensure food for every Indian? The bill seeks to address widespread hunger in the country through food support programmes and provides eligible beneficiaries the legal right to receive foodgrains at subsidised prices.

Addressing concerns about future food supply and climate change requires management practices that maximize productivity per unit of arable land while reducing negative environmental impact. On-farm data were evaluated to assess energy balance and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of irrigated maize in Nebraska that received large nitrogen (N) fertilizer (183 kg of N⋅ha−1) and irrigation water inputs (272 mm or 2,720 m3 ha−1).

A study of the socio-economic situations of three villages in north-eastern Andhra Pradesh shows that while times and values have vastly changed, not much has been transformed in terms of privileges and opportunities. Those belonging to landowning families have managed to get a good education and secure good jobs or set up businesses. But those from the landless or marginal landowning families and communities have been left far behind. The government’s schemes and promises have more often than not yielded very little.