Debdutt Behura has been teaching as an agricultural economist at the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology since 2010. For over 20 years he has been a collaborator with the Social Sciences Division of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and has worked also with other CGIAR centers (ICRISAT, CIP, ICARDA and IFPRI). His research interests focus around sustainability issues of natural resource management through collective action, marketing and value chain development, farm mechanization, gender issues in agriculture, and nutritional security.

Currently, he is working on a multi-state research project, “A Socio-Economic Study on Adoption and Dissemination of SRI in East and Northeast India,” funded by the Tata Trust of India. The Tata Trust initiated studies of the System of Rice Intensification in Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Manipur in 2013. At this seminar Dr. Debdutt will report on adoption patterns for SRI and relate them to soil management including tillage practices. 

Seminar co-sponsor: South Asia Program