Snehaprava Sahoo successfully completed her pre-submission viva voce for her PhD thesis titled “Essays on the Economics of Sustainable Agriculture: An Empirical Investigation” under the supervision of Devi Prasad Dash. She is currently on the academic job market.

Title: How Do Agricultural Development and Institutions Shape GHG Emissions? A STIRPAT–EKC Analysis

Abstract: Agricultural development is central to India’s economic growth and food security, yet it raises critical concerns about its environmental consequences, particularly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Existing literature provides mixed evidence on the agriculture–emissions nexus and largely relies on national-level or aggregate analyses, offering limited insight into emission-specific dynamics and the role of institutions. Using panel data for 25 Indian states, this study examines how agricultural gross value added (AGVA) influences CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O emissions within an extended STIRPAT–EKC framework, incorporating climatic, technological, and institutional factors. The results reveal that AGVA significantly increases CH₄ and N₂O emissions while reducing CO₂ emissions, reflecting the distinct biophysical and land-use characteristics of Indian agriculture. Non-linear estimates indicate a monotonically decreasing relationship for CO₂ emissions, weak evidence of an EKC-type relationship for CH₄, and no turning point for N₂O emissions. These findings suggest that agricultural expansion intensifies non-CO₂ emissions through input use (particularly fertilisers and livestock activity), while CO₂ dynamics are moderated by land-based carbon removals and structural characteristics of the sector. The study highlights that the agriculture–emissions relationship is emission-specific and mediated by technological choices, climatic conditions, and institutional factors, underscoring the need for targeted, state-specific mitigation strategies that address CH₄ and N₂O emissions without compromising agricultural productivity.

email: sahoo.8@iitj.ac.in

Website: https://sites.google.com/iitj.ac.in/snehaprava-sahoo/