Vishwa Ballabh is Professor of Economics and Coordinator for the Centre of Rural Management at the School of Business and Human Resources, Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur. Prior to joining XLRI, he was Reserve Bank of India Chair Professor at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand.Professor Ballabh graduated in Agriculture from Pant Nagar and holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He has been a post-doctoral fellow at the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and was a visiting scholar at Indiana University, USA, and a visiting scientist at the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines. He has over 20 years of teaching and research experience. His research interests include institutions and natural resource management and agricultural development. He is a member of several national and international professional societies in agricultural and natural resource economics. He was vice president of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics in 1996 97. He has participated in several national and international conferences and has been consultant to several national and international development organisations such as the Ford Foundation, Royal Netherlands Embassy, UNICEF and International Water Management Institute.He has published widely and edited/co-edited books: "Farm Forestry in South Asia, Co-operative Management of Natural Resources "and "Institutional Alternatives and Governance of Agriculture. "He is presently co-editing a book (with Jasveen Jairath) "Droughts and Integrated Water Resources Management in South Asia: Issues, Alternatives and Futures. "He has also co-authored a monograph titled "Organising for Rural Development."