Common Property Resources and Dynamics of Rural Poverty: Field Evidence from Dry Regions of India

Abstract

"Despite advances in agricultural technologies, access and availability of external inputs and supplies, income transfers through subsidies, relief etc, locally available biomass continues to be an important element in the fulfillment of basic needs of rural people, especially the poor in several parts of India including the dry tropical regions. In addition to meeting the direct needs of fodder, fuel, food, timber, fencing, thatching, etc, biomass plays crucial role in local resource regenerative processes of farming systems. These benefits not withstanding, the supplies and sources of biomass are rapidly depleting in India. The farm produced supplies suffered due to anti-biomass bias of new crop technologies favoring high grain-stalk ratios, short duration sole cropping systems and emphasis on cash crops. The natural supplies of biomass declined both due to decline in the areas of natural vegetation as well as their productivity. The heaviest burden of these developments have fallen on the rural poor, who do not have enough other options to meet the basic requirements of these products. This is illustrated by the changing situation of rural common property resource (CPRs) on which the poor depend very heavily."