ABSTRACT
Eastern India has been at the center of the debate on agricultural growth for the stagnation it witnessed over the past 2 decades or so, since the miracle growth in West Bengal (WB) following land reforms, land consolidation and irrigation development. Among the four regions in the country, the total factor productivity (TFP) growth has been the lowest in the eastern region (Evenson et al., 1999). Scholars in agricultural economics and policymakers alike are rather clueless about the agrarian impasse in the states of WB, Bihar and Orissa, in lieu of the fact that the region encompassing these states has good endowment of natural resources, particularly water, a crucial input for agricultural growth.
