AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE DETERMINANTS OF DEMAND FOR PALM OIL IN NIGERIA

Henry Egwuma, Mad Nasir Shamsudin, Zainalabidin Mohamed, Nitty Hirawaty Kamarulzaman and Kelly Kai Seng Wong

Page No: 1-12

This paper empirically examines the determinants of palm oil demand in Nigeria. Within a time series framework, we adopted the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique to establish the presence of long-run relationships between palm oil demand and its determinants. We find compelling evidence for the existence of a cointegrating relationship between the variables of interest. Our results further reveal that the price of palm oil and income are the major drivers of both import and domestic demand for palm oil in Nigeria. The study recommends that macroeconomic stabilization strategies and appropriate pricing policies should be designed to ensure the expansion of palm oil market share.

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PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES IN KARNATAKA

Sathyendra Kumar A D and M Devaraj

Page No: 13-20

This survey has been carried out to discuss the Growth in area, production and productivity of agricultural commodities in Karnataka. It analyzed the area, production and productivity of agricultural commodities necessary secondary data were collected for a period of 14 years from 2000-01 to 2013-14. growth rates estimated for changes in area under different crops showed a significant positive growth in area of pulses, commercial crops, while cereals and oil seeds showed significant negative growth area under major cereals and oil seeds like Jowar, Ragi, Bajra and Minor Millets in cereals and Groundnut, Sunflower, Castor in oil seeds are experiencing a substantial annual decrement. Similarly the production of cereals, pulses, commercial crops showed a significant positive growth rate. The production of oilseeds registered insignificant and negative growth. The productivity of pulses, commercial crops, registered significant growth. Productivity of cereals and oilseeds recorded negative and insignificant growth.

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EVALUATION OF RADIATION-BASED REFERENCE EVAPOTRANSPIRATION EQUATIONS VERSUS FAO56-PM EQUATION AT SUB-HUMID HAZARIBAGH REGION, INDIA

Arvind Singh Tomar

Page No: 21-29

In this study, the performance of 20 radiation-based equations for estimating reference evapotranspiration (ET0) was statistically analysed on weekly basis in comparison to widely accepted FAO Penman-Monteith (FAO-56 PM) equation for sub-humid Hazaribagh region of Jharkhand, taken as index method. The respective highest and lowest values of agreement index and root mean square error obtained with FAO24-Radiation method confirms its acceptability. The ratio of ET0 method/ET0 FAO-56 PM was found best (almost equal to 1.00) with Priestley-Taylor method.

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ROLE OF INDIAN LIVESTOCK SECTOR IN RURAL WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Akram A Khan and Sweta Gupta

Page No: 30-41

Livestock sector plays a significant role in the socio-economic development of India. Its growth is pro-poor and inclusive. Livestock helps in generating a continuous flow of income and employment. The sector empowers women as they perform a large number of activities related to livestock production. According to the working group report on animal husbandry and dairying 12th five year plan (2012-17), animal husbandry helps in improving gender equity. More than three-fourth of the labour requirement in livestock production is met by women. The share of women employment in livestock sector is around 90% in Punjab and Haryana where dairying is a major activity. The outstanding demand for livestock products gives considerable opportunities for the rural women to escape poverty by diversifying livestock production. In this backdrop the study aims to highlight the role of Indian livestock sector in empowering rural women. It further estimates the contribution of animal husbandry vis-à-vis other agricultural activities in providing casual, regular and self-employment to rural women. The study uses the data from National Sample Survey Organization. The paper also provides suggestions for structuring the policies that may help in capitalizing the opportunities given by livestock sector for empowering rural women.

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