Prof. Dr. Mysore G. Chandrakanth
Prof. Dr. Mysore G. Chandrakanth
Visiting Scholar
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Address
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Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin D-10099 Berlin Germany |
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Phone |
+49-30-2093-6305 |
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Fax |
+49-30-2093-6497 |
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mgchandrakanth (at) yahoo.com / mgchandrakanth (at) gmail.com |
Research Interests
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· Water management and development are equally crucial for both growth and alleviation of poverty. This needs better management of infrastructure through sound principles grounded in natural resource and environmental economics principles. It is only through these theoretical understandings that we can address the critical issue of water and livelihood. Such understanding needs innovative institutions, technologies and markets for achieving efficiency and equity. Water for irrigation through its spread effect on income and employment reduces poverty and improves livelihood in India. The proof is quiet obvious with the fact that the percentage of population BPL has been falling with increase in proportion of irrigated area. The spread effect is recognized, but neither captured empirically nor subject to any documentation process. · Since 84 percent of the increase in net irrigated area (over the last two decades) has been from groundwater wells, this is signaling both physical and economic scarcity due to limiting supplies. Groundwater extraction surpasses 50 percent in hard rock areas fraught with poor recharge forming 60 percent of India’s cultivated area. This brings another dimension of increasing electricity use for pumping water and the associated rise in the electricity subsidy as percentage of gross fiscal deficit. Not only water is becoming implicitly expensive, but it is not adequately serving the purpose of livelihood since most groundwater is being used for cultivating food crops. Among crops, Rice and wheat use the largest volumes of water. About 50 percent of rice area is irrigated and with stagnating productivity the output per unit of water is reducing over time (Fig 1). Thus, water plays a significant role in food production, and also dictates the direction of change in the consumption basket. · But, Man does not live by bread alone and hence water has to further contribute to improving livelihoods. According to the National Commission on Water (1999), the available water is reducing, while the demand for water is increasing, widening the gap. This is resulting in conflicts and tensions among users and uses and transaction costs of water disputes. The poor have been the worst sufferers in the process. On the one hand, those who want ‘more water’ would never even think of paying for it, while on the other, absence of effective institutions and markets are imposing colossal social and economic costs. The supply of water for different uses / users poses challenges in future due to Malthusian (physical limits), NeoMalthusian (environmental limits) and Ricardian scarcities (economic limits) of water. India is water stressed and by 2020, its demand for water will exceed all sources of supply ( http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ INTINDIA/ Resources/ India_Water_Strategy.pdf). · As water shapes the livelihood, necessity for effective innovative institutions for preservation of aquifer and stable water supplies as well as for efficiency and productive use exists. This is corroborated in the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to improve the role of water in poverty reduction by halting unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and improving access to water for productive use to provide livelihood such as irrigation, animal husbandry and domestic use. For livelihood improved water access and water security to the poor are vital. In this proposed research I intend to examine the natural resource and environmental economics and institutional requirements to achieve the MDG goal of improving role of surface water and groundwater in poverty alleviation in India with the following objectives which are presented as Micro and Macro level studies. Towards easing the situation, there have been both public and private investments on irrigation in India. |
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Academic Career
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Since 2006 |
University Professor and Head of Agricultural Economics, UAS, Bangalore, India. |
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2003 - 2006 |
Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, UAS, Bangalore |
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1994 – 2003 |
Professor and Head of Agricultural Economics, UAS, Bangalore, India. |
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1983 – 1994 |
Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India |
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1982 – 1983 |
Assistant Professor, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India |
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1980 – 1982 |
Instructor, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India |
Academic Background
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Ph.D. |
In Agricultural
Economics (Gold Medallist) - 1977-1982; |
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Post Graduation |
M.Sc. (Agri.) in Agricultural Economics :
1974-1976. |
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Bachelor |
B.Sc. (Agri.): 1970-1974, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India. |
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International Education |
Post Doctoral Fellowship from the Ford Foundation and the Ciriacy-Wantrup Post Doctoral Fellowship in the institutional economics of natural resources at the Universityof California, Berkeley (1987 - 1990) for studies on natural resource economics, forestry economics and policy. |
Teaching
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Post graduate courses: Econometrics, Mathematical Economics, Natural Resource Economics I, Research Methodology in social sciences, Agricultural Production Economics. Under graduate courses: Introduction to Agricultural Economics, Forestry Economics, Economics of Sericulture, Recent Advances in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Finance and Credit Institutions. Environmental Research seminar on environmental economics organized by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, (Beijer Institute), Stockholm, Sweden during May 16-21, 1995 at Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Seminar on Methods for Social Science Research on Non-Timber Forest Products", organized by Harvard Institute for International Development, May 18-20, 1992 at Regional Community Forestry Training Center (RECOFTC), FAO, at KasetsartUniversity, Bangkok,Thailand . |
Other Activities
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Projekts handeld |
Sustainable development of watershed program, by Sujala, World Bank assisted project for Rs. 13 lakhs from Govt of Karnataka Team of Excellence in Natural Resource Economics, grant of Rs. 1.10 crores from World Bank. Worked on Economics of groundwater and surface water irrigation in rice based ecosystem of Karnataka Ford Foundation, New York: grant of $ 80,000 to research on “Dynamics of access to water resources - a resource economics study of the watershed development program in Karnataka, 1999-2005 The Ford Foundation, New York provided $ 41,000 to research on “Equity issues in groundwater development - an institutional analysis of failed irrigation wells in Karnataka” 1994 to 1998 The Winrock International, Washington DC, provided $ 1700 to research on the sustainability of management in rehabilitated irrigation tanks in Karnataka. This is a completed project. |
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Project Experiences |
Economics of cultivation and processing of tree based bio-fuelsSimarouba glauca, Jatropha Curcas, Pongamia pinnata, Azadirachta indica, Madhuca indica Resource and Environmental economics of groundwater and watershed development and has been successful in fund raising for research from Ford Foundation and World Bank. Experience in leading research team of diverse cultures and background fulfilling the objectives. Experience in institution building activities and in human resource development Have been responsible in shaping the careers of several students to pursue their graduate program and post doctoral program in coveted Universities in US, Europe and Australia Economics of rice cultivation under groundwater and surface water irrigation incorporating the cost(value) of surface water and groundwater in different agroclimatic zones of Karnataka Economics of SRI (System of Rice Intensification), economics of rice cultivation in groundwater market areas Economics of water Management in rice cultivation in command area. |
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Consultancies |
Training of scientists in the institutes run by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Govt of India, with regard to setting research priority using economic surplus approach. Member, Research Advisory committee, Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Govt of India, Mysore Review of research project proposals submitted by scientists of Institute of Wood Science and Technology under ICFRE, Govt of India, Bangalore. Review of research proposals submitted to South Asian net work of Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE), Kathmandu, Nepal. |
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Special Honours |
Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, Belgium and at Humboldt University of Berlin for the EU’s International Masters in Rural Development program to teach the graduate students under ERASMUS MUNDUS fellowship April to July 2008 Honoured as Member of The Water Policy Law Group of the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. Consultant for SANDEE, (south association net work for development and environmental economics, based in Kathmandu) funded by Rockefeller Foundation. Nominated as Editor for the International Journal of Ecology and Development. Nominated as Vice President of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, (a Professional body of Agricultural Economists in India) for two years from 2000. Nominated as Chairman / Rapporteaur for the session on "Valuation of environmental and natural resources" for papers submitted during the 61st Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, Dec 27-29, 2001, at Gulbarga University, Gulbarga. Principal Investigator, Team of Excellence in Natural Resource Economics, funded by NATP, World Bank, at UAS, Bangalore for 1999-2003. Experience in handling two exclusive research projects relating to groundwater and watershed development funded by the Ford Foundation, New York |
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Visits abroad |
World Bank Visiting Fellowship from April-2001 to June 2001, World Bank Institute, Washington DC, USA. Symposium on Indigenous knowledge systems for plant protection at the Thirteenth International Plant Protection Congress, 2-7th July, The Hague, The Netherlands (CIRAN, Amsterdam). Research seminar on environmental economics organized by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, (Beijer Institute), Stockholm, Sweden during May 16-21, 1995 at Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Research seminar on environmental economics organized by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, (Beijer Institute), Stockholm, Sweden during May 16-21, 1995 at Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Visiting fellow at ANU, Canberra, Australia, May 1992, Australian National University, Australia. Second International Ethnobiology Congress, October 21-26, 1990, Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming, Republic of China. Ninteenth (XIX) International Union of Forest Research Organizations World Congress (IUFRO), Division 4, August 5-11, 1990, Montreal, Canada. Annual meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, July 1988, AAAE, USA. Ford Foundation Post Doctoral Fellowship and Ciriacy-Wantrup Post-doctoral fellowship from August 1987 to September 1990, University of California, Berkeley, USA. Second International Conference on Social Science Resource Management, June 1988, University of Illinois, Urbana? Champaign USA. Eighteenth (XVIII) International conference of Agricultural Economics from August 24, 1982 to September 2, 1982, Jakartha, Indonesia. |
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Other activities |
Responsible for success of around 12 post graduate students in seeking graduate fellowships at Univ of Idaho, Cornell University, Univ of Gent, Belgium, Agricultural University of Norway, South Australia University, Adelaide, in the field of Natural resource and environmental economics and management His current interests are on economics of medicinal plants and their valuation, estimation of negative externalities in groundwater use and estimation of existence value of sacred groves. His hobbies include Karnatak classical vocal music and Gamaka. Click here : KARNATAKA SANGEETHA DHARPANA (English text of Karnatak Classical Music)-Part I and Part II by Thirumalai Sisters Gaanakalaabhooshana Dr. T. Sachidevi & Karnataka Kalaashree, VIDHUSHI T. SHARADA (Retd. Professors of Music). |
Awards and Memberships
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· D. K. Desai award for the best article in Agricultural Economics by Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, for the year 1995, entitled "Low yielding irrigation wells in peninsular India - An economic analysis" (shared with Dr N Nagaraj) · D. K. Desai award for the best article in Agricultural Economics by Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, for the year 1995, entitled "Low yielding irrigation wells in peninsular India - An economic analysis" (shared with Dr N Nagaraj) · Ford Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship for studies in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, 1987-88 · Ciriacy-Wantrup Post-Doctoral Fellowship offered by University of California, Berkeley in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics, 1988-1990 · World Bank Visiting Fellowship, April - June 2001 in Environmental and Resource Economics at Florida International University, Miami, Florida
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Journal Referee
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Ecological Economics |
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Water Policy |
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Agricultural Economics Research Review |
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Journal of social and economic development |
Publications
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Selected Publications
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Organized Session by MG Chandrakanth at the 2008 European Association of Agricultural Economics Conference at Ghent, Belgium for the following paper Shalet K.Varghese, Manjunatha, A.V., Poornima, K.N., Akarsha, B.M., Rashmi, N., Tejaswi, P.B. Saikumar, B.C.,Jeevarani, A.K., Accavva, M.S., Amjath Babu, T.S., Suneetha, M.S., Unnikrishnan, P.M., Deshpande, R.S., Nagaraj, N.,, Chandrashekar, H., Mahadev G Bhat, Chengappa, P.G.,Mundinamani, S.M., Shanmugam, T.R., and Chandrakanth, M.G, (2008), organized session Valuation of externalities in water, forests and Environment for sustainable development, Organized Session, Proceedings of the 12th Congress of the European Association of Agricultural Economists, pp.131-138. Seema, H.M, Chandrakanth, M.G., and Nagaraj, N., (2008), Equity in distribution of benefits from water harvesting and groundwater recharge – An economic study in Sujala watershed project in Karnataka, Proceedings of the 7th Annual Partners’ Meet of IWMI-TATA Water policy program, Vol 2., pp. 720-746, April 2-4, 2008. Suneetha, M.S and Chandrakanth, M.G., (2006), Establishing a Multi-stakeholder Value Index in Medicinal Plants - An economic study on selected plants in Kerala and Tamilnadu States of India, Ecological Economics, Vol. 60, No.1, pp. 36-48. Varuni, C.N., Chandrakanth, M.G., Nagaraj, N. and Srikanthmurthy, P.S., (2006), Externalities of groundwater contamination due to pollution and effects on agriculture and health in Karnataka, Proceedings of the 5th IWMI-TATA Annual partners' meet, March 2006 Chaitra, B.S. and Chandrakanth, M.G. (2005), Optimal extraction of groundwater for irrigation: synergies from surface water bodies in tropical India.Water Policy Journal, IWA Publishing, 7: 597-611 Deepak, S.C., Chandrakanth, M.G. and Nagaraj, N, (2005), Groundwater Markets and Water Use Efficiency: The Case of Karnataka, Water Policy Research Highlight No. 12, Proceedings of the 4th Annual IWMI-TATA partnerships meet, Feb 2005, pp. 1-7. Chandrakanth, M.G., Bhat, Mahadev G. & Accavva, M.S. (2004), Socio-economic changes and sacred groves in South India: Protecting a community-based resource management institution. Natural Resources Forum 28 (2), 102-111 Chandrakanth, M.G., Bisrat Alemu and Mahadev G. Bhat (2004), Combating Negative Externalities of Drought: A Study of Groundwater Recharge Through Watershed, Economic and Political Weekly, 39 (11): 1164-1170, (March 13, 2004), (special article). Nagaraj, N., Shankar K., and Chandrakanth M.G., (2003). Pricing of irrigation water in Cauvery Basin - Case of Kabini Command, Economic and Political Weekly, 4518-4520. Chandrakanth M.G. and Mahadev G. Bhat (2002), Institutions, Markets and the Management of Common Property Sacred Groves in India, Paper presented at World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists, Monterey, California, June 24 - 27. Chandrakanth, M.G. and Jeff Romm, (1991), Sacred forests, secular forest policies and people's actions, Natural Resources Journal, Vol 31, No.4, pp. 741-756, Fall 1991. Chandrakanth, M.G. and Jeff Romm, (1990), Groundwater Depletion in India‑Institutional Management Regimes, Natural Resources Journal, Vol. 30, Summer 1990, pp.485‑501. Chandrakanth, M.G., Keith Gilless, Gowramma, V., and Nagaraja, M.G., (1990), Temple forests in India's forest development, Agroforestry Systems Vol. 11, No. 3, 1990, pp. 199-21
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