Search

Introduction: There is a global priority to ensure food security, environmental conservation and sustainability. The adoption of inputs such as organic manures, biofertilisers, and biopesticides has been widely promoted as a way to enhance agricultural sustainability, yet their adoption rates remain notably low. The study examines the determinants and impact of the adoption of multiple sustainable inputs by paddy farmers in India. The study also examines the drivers behind the intensity of their adoption and their technical efficiency. Methods: The study utilises the survey dataset on paddy farmers from "Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India" of the 77th National Sample Survey (NSSO) round. The reference period for data collection was the agricultural year from July 2018 to June 2019. The analytical methods employed include the Multivariate Probit and Ordered Probit models, Seemingly Unrelated Regression, Regression Adjustment model, and Stochastic Frontier method. Results: The empirical findings reveal that the adoption and intensity of sustainable inputs depend significantly on factors such as the household head's age and education, household size, and access to extension services. Adopting sustainable inputs has significant benefits, such as increased harvest value. However, the currently available technical advisory services are limited in effectively promoting the expenditure on sustainable inputs. Technical efficiency analysis underscores the potential for improvement and the importance of utilising optimal input levels. The research findings provide strong evidence in favour of advocating for the use of sustainable inputs in paddy farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt has been made in this article to shed some light on the decisions of patients on their institutional choice in accessing healthcare services within micro empirical framework in the state of West Bengal, India. The determinants of such decisions are also recognized in this article. In conscientious, statistical methods are anticipated to frame the socio-economic and decisional variables, that influence the decision. Principal component analysis and ordered probit analysis have been deployed to scrutinize the same. It is observed that the economic status of the patients, their level of schooling, their income and some other decision variables have a strong influence on their access of healthcare institutions. The study has projected that intra-category and inter-category competition among available alternative service providers needs to be introduced and social entrepreneurship model in state-owned hospitals can be pioneered with due considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examine the observed heterogeneity in self-assessed health (SAH) among the aged in India using data on health and living conditions of the elderly in India from the 60th Round of National Sample Survey (2004-2005). Results indicate that almost one fourth of the old in India rate their health as poor, and there exists considerable interstate variations in SAH ratings. Based on hypotheses framed on the basis of preliminary evidence, the article uses ordered probit models to find that probabilities of reporting poor health are increasingly clustered and more likely among the poor, single, lower-educated, and economically inactive groups among the elderly, with those states with a higher proportion of older people reporting poor subjective health status. Physical mobility appears to have a strong and direct bearing on SAH. The authors also identify unobserved heterogeneity among the states and also among the health rating categories. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Detailing in pharmaceutical industry is defined as the process of communicating the pharmaceutical product message to health care professionals (HCPs, primarily clinicians). In reality, for pharma representative, actual detailing lasts for only few minutes, but the preparation and waiting time is very long. As a result, there is an increasing trend of using interactive e-detailing, video e-detailing and other physicians’ online forums. E-detailing is one of such selling process recently adopted by pharmaceutical companies in India for communicating product messages to the HCPs. As this is a new way of communication, not much is known about the views of physicians about E-detailing. In this backdrop, the purpose of this study is to analyze the scope and acceptability of e-detailing concepts recently started by domestic as well as multinational pharmaceutical companies in India. The objective of the article is to understand the role of different demographic, social, and behavioral variables behind acceptability of e-detailing by physicians of India. The result from ordered probit estimation reveals that the professional service representative (PSR) visit, invitation, and detailing type have a positive impact on the probability of acceptance of e-detailing. Moreover, it can be seen that marginal increase in the PSR visit, invitation, and detailing type increases the probabilities of e-detailing acceptability among physicians. One can see that, in India, physicians consider e-detailing as more of complimentary in nature to ensure a holistic effect of pharmaceutical marketing communication. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]