Rethinking Policy Pilots in the 21st Century -- The Context of Indian Agriculture for Piloting -- A Landscape of Agriculture Policy Pilots -- A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Policy Pilots -- From Piloting to Policy: Lessons and the Path Ahead.

"This book studies the mismatch between theory and practice in hailing policy experimentation as a promising tool for decision-making under uncertainty and practical lessons. It delves into cases from design of several policy experiments and pilots in Indian agriculture. India has the largest land area under rain-fed agriculture in the world, yet ranks among the lowest in terms of yields from rain-fed agriculture. Agriculture in rain-fed areas in India faces production risks associated with the changes in the amount and timing of rainfall, temperature and extreme events such as droughts, among other market and institutional risks. Small and marginal farmers form a major part of the farming population in India and are highly riskprone because of their high dependence on rain-fed agriculture and lack of proper assets and resource base for investments in agriculture, including irrigation facilities and mechanization and because of low capacities to recover from conditions of weather and market stress. It draws upon the author's work in India since 2010 and the cases being presented are policy experiments and pilots undergoing an iterative process to address diverse risks and uncertainties to agriculture production owing to current and expected diverse biophysical, socio-economic and institutional changes"--