Field sites
Our field sites are spread across the following districts of India:
Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu
MSSRF (Chennai)’s research is focused on the coastal district of Nagapattinam. The site villages here are not only water-scarce but are also experiencing increasing soil salinity. In some parts, paddy cultivation has given way to shrimp farming, leading to new dynamics of capital and labour.
Warangal (Rural), Telangana
ICRISAT (Hyderabad) is conducting fieldwork across three villages in Warangal (Rural) district that are adjacent to an ancient tank site, now being revived under a major state government programme called Mission Kakatiya. This is salient given that the site has experienced recurring droughts in recent years and is rain-fed, some of the important crops being paddy, cotton, maize, groundnut, chillies and some pulses.
Jamui, Bihar
Jamui is one of the most impoverished districts of the state of Bihar and indeed of India, being identified as one of the Aspirational Districts under the Transformation of Agricultural Districts Programme. PRADAN’s work in the area is focussed on four villages across two Gram Panchayats in Chakai block. These villages comprise both farm and forest land and are inhabited primarily by indigenous Santhal people.
Bathinda, Punjab
Bathinda district in Punjab is one of the few remaining cotton-producing districts of the Green Revolution state of Punjab. Shreya Sinha’s work here seeks to explore the shifting socio-economic dynamics of production and marketing as cotton competes with paddy and farmers seek to realise high returns in what is a liberalised global market.
