HOW FARMERS CAN REAP THE BENEFITS OF RICE ALTERNATIVES
SCHOOL : Indian School of Business COUNTRY : India
Farmers in India could boost their incomes and curb climate-induced production losses by growing maize instead of rice, according to a new study involving the Indian School of Business (ISB). Ashwini Chhatre, associate professor at the Hyderabad-based school and executive director of its Bharti Institute of Public Policy, is the co-author of a newly published paper in Nature Communications that emphasises the benefits of optimising the distribution of crops in India. The study suggests farmers favour rice cultivation because they believe it to be more economically viable, arguing that any predilections for growing alternative cereals, such as maize and sorghum, are highly sensitive to price changes. However, it is rice that is much more susceptible to conditions brought on by climate change. The researchers calculate that climate-induced production losses could be cut by 11 per cent through strategic switches to growing alternative cereals. This, in turn, could increase farmers’ net profits. The onus, according to the study, is therefore on policymakers to make shifting from rice to crops with greater climate-resilience more attractive to farmers. “This research highlights the need for policymakers to consider the economic factors influencing farmers’ decisions and to implement policies that promote the cultivation of climate-resilient crops,” Chhatre summarised. The study recommends reassessing current pricing structures and government support policies that favour rice cultivation, as well as exploring potential incentives for growing climate‑resilient crops. “By strategically reducing rice cultivation and increasing the cultivation of alternative cereals, India can achieve greater stability in cereal production and improve farmer profitability,” added lead author Dongyang Wei, a recent PhD graduate of the University of Delaware’s Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences and now a post‑doctoral researcher at Colorado State University. TBD
As well as fuelling transportation between towns, motorways and highways have long been linked to the social segregation of cities and communities in the US. For example, a paper authored by David Karas at the University of Delaware entitled Highway to Inequity has previously argued that highways formalised racial boundaries in some urban spaces. A new report involving Corvinus University of Budapest has now sought to delve deeper into the question of whether urban highways continue to cut communities off from one another. It analysed home locations and online social ties of one million X (formerly Twitter) users in 2013, comparing these to the urban highway network in the 50 largest cities in the US. From this raw data, the study’s authors then analysed the influence of highways on social connections. The results showed that urban highways decreased social ties in every city studied, with an average reduction in social connections of between one and 16 per cent. The effects were particularly strong when looking within a five-kilometre radius, aligning with the idea that highways were historically used to deliberately segregate minority communities in the US. The cities of Cleveland and Orlando were identified to have witnessed the largest decrease in social interactions due to highways, whereas Portland and New York were the least impacted. “We expect that the isolating effect of urban highways will be observable not only in the United States but also in other countries, including Hungary. However, further research is needed to confirm this,” elaborated research fellow at the Corvinus Institute for Advanced Studies and study co-author Sándor Juhász. A key takeaway for policymakers and urban planners is to ensure they consider the potential impact of infrastructure on a city’s social fabric and explore ways in which any segregated urban communities can be reconnected. Led by the IT University of Copenhagen’s Luca Maria Aiello, the report was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . EB WHY HIGHWAYS ACCELERATE SOCIETAL SEGREGATION AND BOUNDARIES SCHOOL : Corvinus University of Budapest COUNTRY : Hungary
10 Ambition • ISSUE 2 • 2025
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