Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment

Education

• PhD Forest Economics (Forest Research Institute Deemed University, Dehradun)
• M.Sc. Environmental Economics (University of London)
• M.Sc Agricultural Economics (Kerala Agricultural University),

Research Interests

Ecosystem services for and from production landscapes; their linkage to food and agrarian crises using Ecological economics and Policy research.

Experience

• 2004 onwards: Centre for Conservation Governance and Policy, ATREE, Bangalore.
• 2000-2003: Research on 'Economics of land use options in degraded tropical dry deciduous area' (Supported by SANDEE- South Asian Network of Development and Environmental Economics) with Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore
• 1998-99: Technical audit of the European Union funded Alkaline land Reclamation and Development Programme (ALRDP) in Siwan and Muzaffarpur districts of Bihar.
  Economic analysis of the pilot phase of Bundelkhand Integrated Water Resources Management Project(Dutch supported BIWRMP): Analysing the economic impact of the project interventions identifying and valuing various costs and benefit variables in the selected watersheds of the Bundelkhand region.
• 1997-98: Resource economist in designing a Water resource economics study for the Water resources development and management project in Gujarat (Supported by Netherlands). Study elicited the value of quantitative and qualitative changes in water resources expected in regions of Kutchh and Saurashtra.
  Prepared the guidelines for project evaluation for Royal Netherlands Embassy, New Delhi
• 1996-97: Co-ordinated the Environmental cost benefit analysis of Ganga action plan involving Ministry of Environment and Forests, concerned departments of the state government, Institute of Economic Growth, All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health and India Toxicology Research Center, Lucknow (ODA supported).
  Part of the formulation mission for Thrissur Integrated Water Plan fielded by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, New Delhi.
• 1995-96: Conducted User valuation of natural resources in central Rajasthan. Valuation methodologies were worked out for fodder, firewood and irrigation water in semi arid regions as a part of a study involving various agro-climatic zones of India (Supported by Ford foundation, India). Part of an in depth study of village funds, their use, access, control and management in the Joint Forest Management Areas of seven states. (Funded by Ford foundation)
• 1993-95: Research on comparative valuation of in-situ and ex-situ conservation in the tropical dry deciduous forests of M.P with financial support from CSERGE, London.
  Assessed the economic impact of forest clearance for a hydro-electric project in M.P
• 1989-91: Research Associate, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. With Techno Economic Research Centre (New Delhi) on agricultural subsidies.
• 1988-89: Agricultural officer (appointed by Kerala Public Service Commission to the Directorate of state agriculture), in charge of grass root level agricultural development, planning and extension.
• 1988: Research on Economic Impact of air pollution on a rural economy.

Affiliations / Positions / Memberships

• Bio-sustainability committee, Diversitas from 2009
• Indian Society of Ecological Economics
• Indian Society of Agricultural Economics

Grants / Awards / Honors

• South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics grant (2000-2002)
• Ford foundation scholarship (1991-1992)
• Government of Kerala merit scholarship (1981-1986)

Select Publications

• Purushothaman et al. 2013. Beyond money metrics: alternative approaches to conceptualizing and assessing ecosystem services. Conservation and Society. DoI Vol 11, Issue 4.
• Dhanya B, Viswanath S, and Purushothaman S. 2012. Ficus trees in rainfed agricultural systems of Karnataka, southern India: An analysis of structure, benefits, and farmers’ perceptions. Journal of Tropical Agriculture, 50(1-2): 59-62.
• Purushothaman S, Patil S, Francis I. 2012. Assessing the impact of policy-driven agricultural practices in Karnataka, India. Sustainability Science, DOI 10.1007/s11625-012-0188-y
• Purushothaman S, Patil S, Francis I, König HJ, Reidsma P & Hegde S. 2012. Participatory impact assessment of agricultural practices using the land use functions framework: case study from India. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, DOI:10.1080/21513732.2012.721005
• Purushothaman, S. 2012. Evaluating the Green Revolution. in Jacquet P, Pachauri RK and Tubiana L (ed) Development, the Environment and food: Towards Agricultural Change?. TERI Press, New Delhi. ISBN 978-81-7993-443-2.
• Purushothaman, S., Patil, S. and I. Francis. 2012. Impact of policies favouring organic inputs on small farms in Karnataka, India: a multicriteria approach. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 14: 507-527.
• Patil, S., Reidsma, P., Shah, P., Purushothaman, S. and W. Joost. 2012. Comparing conventional and organic agriculture in Karnataka, India: Where and when can organic farming be sustainable? Land Use Policy, doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2012.01.006
• Purushothaman, S and Abraham R (2011). Scaling up and Sustainability: the experience from rural India. Sustainability in Debate. 2(2): 21-42.
• Reidsma, P, König, H, Feng, S, Bezlepkina, I, Nesheim, I, Bonin, M, Sghaier, M, Purushothaman, S, Sieber, S, van Ittersum, M K., and Brouwer, F. 2011. Methods and tools for integrated assessment of land use policies on sustainable development in developing countries. Land Use Policy. 28: 604-617. [pdf]
• Dhanya B, Syam V, Purushothaman, S. 2010. Sandal (Santalum album L.) conservation in southern India: A review of policies and their impacts. Journal of Tropical Agriculture. 48(1-2): 1-10. [pdf]
• Purushothaman, S and Kashyap, S. 2010. Trends in land use and crop acreages in Karnataka and their repercussions. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences. 23 (2): 330-333.
• Purushothaman, S, S. S. Hegde, S. Patil, and S. Kashyap. 2009. People’s perception on benefits from a protected catchment: A case study of Gundal command in Karnataka. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 64(4): 573-584.
  [pdf]
• Kumar, A, Arvind, NA, Shaanker R U, Ganeshaiah, K N, Purushothaman, S and Kashyap, S. 2009. Herbal exports from India- Trends and implications. In Shaanker, R.U, Hiremath, A, Joseph, C G and Rai, N (eds.). Non-Timber Forest Produce- Conservation, Policies and Management in the tropics . ATREE and UAS Bangalore. Pp: 129-138.
• Purushothaman, S and Viswanath, S. 2009. Economics of NTFP valuation under different stakeholder scenarios in dry deciduous forest tracts of Peninsular India. In Shaanker, R.U, Hiremath, A, Joseph, C G and Rai, N (eds.) Non-Timber Forest Produce- Conservation, Policies and Management in the tropics . ATREE and UAS Bangalore. Pp:199-210.
• Krishnan, S and Purushothaman, S .2008. Value of Deforestation? Down To Earth. 17(6):52-53.
• Dharmarajan P, Purushothaman, S, Krishnan, S, Kiran, MC, Deepak and Jojo, TD 2008. Strengthening Communities and Instituions for sustainable management of Vembanad backwaters, Kerala. In Sengupta and Maldwani (eds). Proceedings of the 12th World Lake Conference. Pp. 1158-1163.
• Purushothaman, S, Jojo TD and Sheetal P 2007. Ecotourism Policy: A framework for India, in Radhakrishna, G (Ed). Tourism: Perspectives and Issues. ICFAI press, Hyderabad. pp 51-78.
• Purushothaman, S and Dharmarajan, P. 2005. Upland paddies, foliage hillocks and multi-storeyed horticulture: an ecologically sustainable agro-ecosystem. APANews. FAO. 27(11-13).
• Purushothaman, S. 2005. Land-use Strategies for Tribals: A Socio Economic Analysis. Economic and Political Weekly. 53: 5611-5619.
• Purushothaman, S. 2005. Land-use strategies, economic options and stakeholder preferences: A study of tribal communities in forest peripheries. Working Paper 13-05, South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) Kathmandu, Nepal.
• Purushothaman, S. 2004. Economic Value of Bio diversity: a Rural Perspective for Sustainable Realisation. In Sim, H.C, S. Appanah and Youn Y.C (eds.) Proceedings of the workshop on Forests for Poverty Reduction: Opportunities with CDM, Environmental Services and Biodiversity. Seoul National University and FAO, pp.107-113.
• Purushothaman, S; S. Pachauri. 2001. User valuation of natural Resources in semi arid Rajasthan in Reddy, V.R. (Ed). User Valuation of Renewable Natural Resource: The User Perspective, Nova Science Publishers, Inc., New York.
• Swaminathan, L.P and Purushothaman, S. 2000. Forest Conservation, Tourism and Extraction: An Economic Perspective. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics. 55(3): 398-411.
• Purushothaman, S, Viswanath, S and Kunhikkannan C. 2000. Economic valuation of extractive conservation in a tropical deciduous forest in Madhya Pradesh, India. Tropical Ecology. 41(1): 61-72.
• Purushothaman, S, Viswanath, S and Mukundan, K. 1997. Economic impact of cement kiln dust on rural agriculture. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics. 51(3): 407-411.
• Purushothaman, S and Viswanath, S. 1993. Protecting biological diversity: An operational model to compare and contrast. Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity.1 (2): 161-166.
• Pearce, D.W. and Purushothaman, S.1992. Protecting Biological Diversity: The economic value of pharmaceutical plants. In Biodiversity and Botany: the values of medicinal plants, Swanson, J (Ed) CUP.U.K

Others

• Rural Well-being through Self-Help Groups? Myths and Realities
• Trends in land use and crop acreages in Karnataka and their repercussions
• Potential Equity Impact of Fiscal Instruments for Biodiversity Conservation – A Case Study of Bamboo in Southern India
• Managing our grazing lands: Need for a rational grazing policy [Download PDF]
• Local Institutions and Rational Policies in Natural Resource Management
• Land use systems and regulations to reduce poverty? In-sights from the peripheries of Western Ghats forests
• Pathrakkadavu Hydro Electric Project: Framework for a Benefit Cost Analysis (2004-38)* [Download PDF]
• Policy drivers of agricultural land use: Is it the missing link in Indian agriculture?