Chapter -2

Human factors affecting Agriculture

 Introduction
• Nature provide the base but, it is human being who
harness its potentiality for further dev with the help of non
– natural aspects.
• Stamp (1963) categorized all the factors affecting into
into 3 - Natural, Historical and Socio- Economic groups.
• There are numerous socio-cultural and economic and
technological, infrastructural and institutional factors
which determine the agriculture in any area.
• Of these factors, land tenancy, system of ownership,
size of land holdings, availability of labour, capital,
level of mechanization, level of technological dev,
accessibility to the market, inputs, facilities, Govt
plans and policies etc are some major driving force.
 Introduction

• These factors affects production and productivity of crops

in a particular area. Helped a country to become self
reliant rather than dependent.
• These also determine the selection of crop, dev level of
agri, degradation of soil etc.
• Western agri is dominated by eco- profit factors
commercial agri with high use of mechanization while
Eastern agri is mainly for subsistence with low level of
mechanization.
• Majority of agri area grow the crops which have high
demand at world i.e Australia – New Zealand engaged in
Dairying, USA cotton, Mexico Maize, South east Asia –
Rubber, Brazil Coffee, China, India Rice & Wheat etc.
 Introduction
• Today its possible to grow crops in a desert
by use of agricultural biotechnology. With
this technology, plants have been engineered
to survive in drought conditions.
• Agriculture, in the modern times is becoming
more mechanized.
• This saves the farmer time and money, they
will know how much is left and what to feed
their animals.
• Modern Inputs includes Tractors, Pump sets,
Fertilizers, were used largely in after HYV.
• Human factors affecting agriculture are:-
 (a) Technological
 (b) Irrigation
 (c) Market
 (d) Transport facilities
 (e) Capital
 (f) Labour
 (g) Land tenancy
 (h) Govt. policies
 Technological Innovation Impact Agri
Major Technological Advancements in Agriculture
_ Farm Mechanization

– Chemical Fertilizers

– Hybridization

– Biotechnology
• Plant Protection from Insecticides
and Pesticides
• Irrigation facilities
• Use of modern and scientific
techniques
• Transport facilities
• Rural electrification
 Technology
• Technology in its simplest sense, means the use of power
operating machine for doing various farming job which save
time and energy.
• Without mechanized, large portion of agri land is found as
non intensive agri, multiple cropping which result in poor
yield.
• As compared to other developed countries, Indian agri is
partially mechanized, as not all states are mechanized
equally and agri is not free from the env control.
• Agri tech at regional level should be considered on top
priority basis not only to increase the productivity but also
remove the regional imbalance in yield per unit area and
growth in yield.
 Technology
• As it is observed that area of high agri tech
concentration have higher yield as well as growth.
• Modify the physical environment by
– Irrigation on dry fields
– To drain swamps
– To build terraces on steep slopes
– To produce artificial rain
• Bio-technology, Genetic engineering, GMR
– Eg. Miracle rice, drought-resistant plants, cloning
• Adding artificial fertilizers
• Spraying insecticides
• Mechanization
• Technology is increasing its contribution and the
importance in farming.
 Farm Mechanization
• Agricultural mechanization implies the use of various power
sources and improved farm tools and equipment.
• Technological changes including the use of modern hand tools,
animal drawn implements, tractors, thrashers, and many more
play an immense role in agri dev.
• Mechanization makes it possible to carry out farming operations
more quickly and time saving.
• Improved tools and farm implements can change significantly
cropping patterns, cropping intensity in high agri returns.

• Regions of common env aspects have varying levels of yields

b’cos of uneven distribution of technology.
 Farm Mechanization
• Its the one of the component of Green Revolution .
• It enhance the cropping intensity and reduce the losses at
different stages of crop production.
• Significant impact has been noticed in Japan, China where
traditional methods were replaced by rice planting machines
and harvesting.
• Machines do 20 times work of a hand planter, which greatly
reduced time needed to plant rice crop.
• Such machines are so imp for areas with 2 or more than 2 crops
in a year are grown.
 Technology

• Agri tech is uneven distributed throughout India.

• About 10 % area has 25 % concentration of mechanization, and this

area is contributing 20% of total food grains production of the
country. ( Mainly Pun, Har, some distt in UP, TN, Karnataka, while 13%
of area contributing only 3% of production having low level of tech.
• Agri tech of Haryana and Punjab should be introduced in other states
also.

• If we convert the total cultivated area of country in highly available

mechanized and tech, then production will be just double.

• So, priority should be given to bring more and more tech in agri
rather than to increase the net cultivated area for more production
 Technology
• There are some regions which require diff type of tech.
• In Non - irrigated regions, only irrigation can bring a
phenomenal change both in yield and growth especially in
Raj, MP, Maha, Guj, Chhgarh. (Need Irrigation)
• There are regions where irrigations are in good facilities but
other tech i.e. better seed, fertilizers, tractors are not
available i.e. Bihar, UP, Assam, Orrisa. (Need Other Inputs)
• Regions where neither Irrigation, nor Tech available, these
are very critical and have a very low yield (Need Both).
• JK,HP, UK, Northeastern states being Hilly need different
type of tech, different from plainy area.
• But uniform diffusion of tech is needed to reduce areal
differences.
 Tractorization
• Using tractors is an important component of farm
mechanization. It’s a capital intensive tool used for the
commercial farming. It makes revolution in agri sector.
• Replacement of bullocks by tractors has brought more
land under cultivation.
• Tractorization made it easier to cultivate heavier soils
with enhanced production.
• It increases the speed of operation and reduces the
operational costs.
• Agriculturally better endowed and regions which
cultivate food grains, cotton and sugar use more
number of tractors.
 Tractorization
• Tractors use depends on:
– Nature of cropping pattern
– Condition of soil
– Better crops which needs induction to tractors
– Size of landholdings
– Income level of farmers

• Distribution of tractors is not uniform in World as well as Indian

states.

• At present in India, tractors are being used for tillage on about 23%
of the total land area and sowing about 22% of total area.

• Tractors, have largely transformed the agri landscape of Punjab and

Haryana in India. In Punjab, substitution of tractors for bullocks has
greatly shortened the time of farmers
 Tractorization
• Haryana, Punjab, Western UP consist about 20 % net
cultivated area of India have 55% tractors of country,
which leads into high yield.
• Punjab, it is about 1 tractor cultivating 125 hectares of
land as compare to Haryana with 200 hectares.
• While UP, Kerala and Gujarat have more than 2 tractors
per 1000 hectares of land. Other states have less then 2
tractors per 1000 hectares of cultivated area.
• Critical situation is found in MP, Orissa, Assam, Bihar,
Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh where 1 tractor on each
3000 hectares of cultivated area.
 Tractorization
• Need of tractor is felt more acute in those areas
where rainfall is insufficient and soil moisture
retaining capacity is vry poor, which makes the
land so hard to cultivate.

• In Raj, considerable %age of cultivated area is left

without sowing due to traditional system of
ploughing.
• If tractors is provided in this area, %age of
cultivated area can be increased to get more
production.
 Farm Implements

• Relief and climatic conditions largely controls the

use of agricultural implements and machinery.
• The use of age -old agricultural tool is one of the
drawbacks of agriculture.
• The introduction of new equipments such as
precise Leveller, planter, seed cum fertilizer drill,
harvesting and threshing machinery increased
the level of farm mechanization in India.
• About 48% of wheat threshing reported to be done
by using threshers in India.
 Growth of Power Machinery (numbers
in 1000)
• Machinery/Year 1994 1998 2002 2006
• Leveller 670 786 863 913
• Planter 102 109 113 116
• Reaper 2,782 6,779 9,602 11,595
• Potato digger 158 239 287 315
• Sugarcane crusher 210 196 190 188

Source: Livestock Census (2003)

 Electric Pump & Oil engines

• It is impossible to introduce and HYV seeds and

fertilizers without irrigation but irrigation needs
machinery (Electric pump sets and oil engines).
Now, need of introduce CNG based engines to
reduce pollution and cost.
• Electric pump sets r highly concentrated in TN,
Maha, And Pradesh, & Karnataka b’cos of lack of
canal irrigation as topography does not permit.
• Oil engines concentration are in Guj, Punjab,
T.N., consisting 45% of country.
 Electric Pump Sets
State No Of Electric Pump sets
per 1000 hectare (1998)
Tamil Nadu 130
Bihar 46
Rajasthan 27
Karnataka 21
Haryana 15
Punjab 14
Andhra Pradesh 14
 Chemical Fertilizers

• The use of chemical fertilizers (NPK) has

been most important input of Green
Revolution. Use for enhancing production
and productivity of crops.
• Fertilizers are used according to
chemical properties of the soil.
• Indian soils are deficient in nitrogen and
phosphorous.
 • Chemical Fertilizers
• Therefore the manure used by farmers is to be
supplemented by chemical fertilizers.
• The Govt provides these fertilizers to the farmers at
subsidized rates.
• The use of fertilizers has considerably increased over the
years.
• In 1970, southern India was leading in consumption of
fertilizers, but later on northern India, particularly,
Punjab, followed by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh,
became the main consumers.
• In Pun, Kerala, TN use of fertilizers is highest, while
lowest are in Assam, Bihar, J&K,MP, Raj, Orissa.
• High doze of fertilizers needs high water.
 Distribution of Fertilizer
State Fertilizer use Kg/Hectare (2003)
Punjab 181
Kerala 170
T. Nadu 150
Haryana 138
Karnataka 105
UP 103
Gujarat 96

Consumption of nitrogenous fertilizers have grown by more than

100 folds and phosphatic fertilizer by 329 folds during 1951 -
1996. The growth rate for total fertilizers was 14.65% per annum
during 1951-88.
 HYV Seeds
• HVY are designed to be high yielding in response to high levels of inputs. It
is land saving technology.
• The high yielding variety seeds are major input of agricultural production
under the Green Revolution technology.
• HYV tech is suited for agri in rich countries as it is capital intensive and
energy intensive
• Big boon under GR, it was second most imp component in India.
• Their main characteristic is increased responsiveness to chemical fertilizers,
– their period of maturing is short,
– it helps double, multi - cropping;
– It gives more production.
There are many negative consequences of HYV technology
• Inter regional, and inter class inequality
• Mainly benefitted few crops only
• Marginalized small farmers
• Increased cost of cultivation
 HYV
• HYV technology helped in achieving self-
sufficiency and even some exports are being
made.
• It helped agri in keeping g pace with pop
explosion.
• HYV tech by increasing the cropping intensity
(due to short duration maturity, more no of
crops may be grown on the same plot) helped
creating more employment
 Progress of HYV

• It was adopted more in the case of Wheat

than Rice and other crops. By 1980, about
90% wheat and 60% rice and 1/3 area of
Maize, Jowar, Bajra crops came under HYV.
HYV Programme in India (Area under HYV in million hectares)
CROPS 1966-67 1997-98

PADDY 0.88 32.2

WHEAT 0.54 23.0

MAIZE 0.54 3.6

JOWAR 0.21 9.0

BAJRA 0.06 7.0

TOTAL 1.88 76.0

• There has been large scale development of HYV for
wheat, rice, chickpea etc. in India.
• “Puss Basmati l” for rice yields an net income of about
Rs. 20,000 per ha. 'Pusa Sugandh-2' and 'Puss
Sugandh-3' and 'Pusa Sugandh-5‘ are some other
HYV seeds of rice.
• New wheat varieties with better resistance to rusts,
are increasingly becoming popular with farmers in the
northern, eastern and central plains of the country.
• Improved varieties of chickpea, pigeon pea and
mungbean are for short duration and most suitable
for crop rotation, and improvement in the protein
status in Indian diet.
• “Puss Bold” was instrumental to the success of the
Technology Mission on Oilseeds.
Distribution of HYV seeds, 2003
State %age share of each state
Punjab 89
Haryana 88
T. Nadu 73
UP 68
Orissa 41
Andhra Pradesh 45
J.K. 35
 Bio-Technology
• According to the United Nations
Conventions on Biological Diversity, it is
a "technological application that uses
biological systems, living organisms,
thereof, to make or modify products or
processes for specific use".
Today genetic engineering is used widely for
the following purposes:-
• Improve yield from crops.
• Reduced vulnerability of crops to
environmental stresses.
• Increased nutritional qualities of food crops.
• Improved taste, texture or appearance of food
• Reduced dependence on fertilizers, pesticides
and other agro-chemicals.
• Production of novel substances in crop plants.
 Insecticides and Pesticides
• The pattern of pesticide usage in India is different from that
for the world in general.
• In India 76% of the pesticide used is insecticide, as against
44% globally (Mathur, 1999).
• The main use of pesticides in India is for cotton crops
(45%), followed by paddy and wheat.
Benefits of Pesticide
– Improving productivity
– Protection of crop losses/yield reduction
– Vector disease control
– Improved Quality of food
 Irrigation
• Water is undoubtedly the basic input for crop production but
due to non availability of rainfall, Artificial means of
irrigation have to be created .
• Particularly in India, an unpredictable monsoon coupled with
an increasing demand for food production has induced an
imperative need for irrigation options.
• Irrigation is a pre-requisite to determine the success of HYV
• The total irrigation potential increased to 947.3 lakh hectares
by the end of 1999-2000.
• India has the largest irrigated area in the world and
contributed to the increase in food grains production from 51
million tonnes in 1950-51 to 265 million tons in 2013-14.
 Wells Irrigation
•A well is a hole dug in the ground to
obtain the subsoil water.
•An ordinary well is about 3-5 metres
deep but deeper wells up-to 15 metres
are also dug.
•Its popular in areas where sufficient
sweet ground water is available.
• These areas include a large part of
the Great Northern Plain, the
deltaic regions of the
Mahanadi, the Godavari, the
Krishna and the Cauvery, parts
of the Narmada and the Tapi
valleys and the weathered layers of
the Deccan Trap and crystalline rocks
and the sedimentary zones of the
Peninsula.
• The greater part of the Peninsular India is not suitable
for well irrigation due to rocky structure, uneven
undulating surface and lack of underground water.

• There were about 5 million wells in 1950-51 and their

number has now increased to about 12 million in India.
• Well irrigation accounts for more than 60 % of the net
irrigated area in the country.

• UP has the largest area of under well irrigation which

accounts for about 28.19 per cent of the well irrigated
area of India.
• This is followed by Rajasthan (10-44%), Punjab (8-65%),
Madhya Pradesh (7.97%), Gujarat (7.34%) etc.
 Tube well Irrigation
• Tube well irrigation is more stable and efficient than
canal irrigation
• A tube well is a deeper well (generally over 15 metres
deep) from which water is lifted with the help of a
pumping set operated by an electric motor or a diesel
engine.
• The first tube well of India was sunk in Uttar Pradesh
in 1930.
• The number of electrical pumpsets/tube wells increased
from 2 lakh in 1960 to over 4 million in 1995-96 while
the dieselized pumpsets increased from 23 lakh to
about 3 million during the same period.
• Tamil Nadu with 11 lakh tube wells has the
largest number in the country followed by
I. Maharashtra (9 lakh),
II. Andhra Pradesh (6.7 lakh),
III. Uttar Pradesh (5.3 lakh),
IV. MP (4.6 lakh),
V. Karnataka (4.4 lakh),
VI. Punjab (3.9 lakh) and
VII. Haryana (3.5 lakh).
Canal Irrigation
• Canal irrigation in India is one
of the principal methods used for
improving the growth of the
crops.
• Canal irrigation is the second
most important irrigation source.
•It is cheaper for individual
farmer but its social costs are
very high.
• This method is only extended to
large level plains of deep fertile
soil and perennial rivers.
•India has the largest irrigated
area in the world.
• The increase in the irrigation area as well as
potential as contributed to the increase in food
grains production in India from 51 million
tonnes in 1950-51 to 234 million tons in 2008-
09.
• The plains of North India are mostly canal
irrigated. Other parts are coastal low lands and
some parts of Peninsular India.
• Other canal irrigated states are: Andhra
Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, West Bengal,
Punjab Rajasthan, Bihar, Karnataka,
Tamilnadu and UP.
 Tank Irrigation
• Tank irrigation is defined as an
artificial means applied for improving
the cultivation in India.
• Water is stored for later use mainly in
agriculture.
• Tank irrigation is more in the rocky
plateau area of the country, where the
rainfall is uneven and highly seasonal.
•The Eastern MP,
Chhattisgarh, Orissa,
Interiors of Tamil Nadu
and some parts of
Andhra Pradesh have more
land under tank irrigation.
 Production Growth & Level of Mechanization in India

Cate % % Area % % %Tract %

gory Productio Product Fertiliz or Irrigati
n ion er on
Machin
es
A Above 6 10.43 12.45 16.39 37.81 13.81
B 3 –6 19.48 23.70 22.70 31.16 21.0
C 1-3 43.63 45.18 43.63 23.08 46.18
D -3—(-1) 17.70 14.71 11.06 6.58 10.33
E Less Than 9.15 4.0 6.32 2.63 8.82
-3
 Transportation
• Due to lack of modern transportation, surplus produced is often
damaged either by adverse weather or by rats, pests and diseases.
• In North – eastern states of India, expansive crops i.e. Ginger,
Pineapple and Banana are grown in surplus quantities but poor
means of transportation and inadequate road linkages deprive the
farmers to most of the profit.
• In USA, truck farming is done at distant places from the big cities
and markets as the farmer is able to supply his perishable crops like
fruits, vegetable, flowers etc. within a short period of time.
• Generally, perishable goods ( Milk, related, fruits, flower,
vegetables) use local transport for sending it on time.
• It act as sending the agri products to markets and fetching agri
inputs from market with the help of transportation
 Transportation
• Transportations facilities also have a direct bearing on the
cropping patterns in a region.
• Some times, farmers need to buy fertilizer other agri inputs
from market and needs transportations.
• While in advanced countries i. e. USA. Track farming is done at
distant places from the cities and markets as farmer is able to
supply his perishable crops i.e. fruits, vegetable, flowers to
the distant markets within short period of time at a
reasonable rate of transportation.
• Developed countries send their products through air
transport to demand area. Water transport also makes lesser
cost and suitable for bulky good and longer distance.
 Rural Electrification
• Its one of the essential inputs in modem agricultural
development.
• It is a cheap source of energy which can be used for
lifting water by tube wells/ pump sets, processing and
preserving agricultural produce, sprinkler irrigation
and so many other farm operations.
• Haryana was the first state to electrify all its 6759
villages in 1970.
• Punjab, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat,
Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, J & K, Maharashtra
and Nagaland have 97 to 100 % villages electrified.
 Modern Scientific and Technological Techniques

• Modern scientific and technological techniques such

as dry farming, intensive agriculture, rotation of
crops and mechanical agricultural devices are being
adopted to improve agricultural productivity.
• An Indian farmer is poorer in comparison to an
American farmer because the later uses modern
farm technology. The per hectare yield of rice in
India is only 2000 kg as compared to about 5600 kg
in Japan. This difference in yield is due to scientific
and technological differences.
 Economic Factors
The most important economic factors affecting agriculture are:-

(a) Capital
(b) Market
(c) Labour
(d) Government policies
(e) Cost of land
(f) Multipurpose Societies and Cooperative Banks
(g) Announcement of support prices
(h) Crop insurance
 Capital

• All agri inputs i.e the livestock, feeding stuffs, labour, irrigation,
seeds, fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, purchase of land,
machinery, carts, vehicles, various agri - equipments, fuel, repairs,
and maintenance require essential Capital.
• This involves huge capital investments.
• Farmers make their decisions on the basis of capital to invest.
• Investment in agri system like plantation of tea, coffee, rubber
need huge money.
• In India, the farmers are poor. They cannot afford use of modern
farm technology, thus it affects agricultural production which
leads into low yield.
 Capital
• The dev of irrigation is one of the prime component of
agri dev needs enormous amount of capital.
• Dev of irrigation facilities without capital is not possible.
While the role of irrigation is immense in arid, semi arid
region. Irrigation helps a lot in enhancing yields of crops,
and horizontal expansion of agriculture
• After, HYV seeds, its significance has increased a lot.
• Govt. loan (low interest rate) and grants may help the
productivity of farms
• Lack of saving of farmer in developing countries is one of
the important drawback for improvement
• Capital in developed countries not only allows farm
improvement, but also saves them in times of bad harvest.
Market
•Market affects agriculture, as it is
major consideration for farmer’s
decision to get his return.
•In many countries, the agri commodity
markets are controlled by the buyers
rather than sellers.
•But since the no of buyers are lesser
then sellers and cultivator is not
financially well off to store the crop, the
bargaining position of the farmer
remains weak.
•If there is not any buyer of
cropsthen dev will be affected
a lot.
•The distance from the market
determines the cost of transportation.
•Agricultural crops like vegetables are
grown near the market because they are
perishable in nature.
Farmers wants grow only those crops which can give
more return to farmers.
• Sugarcane is grown close to the urban
centres, where sugar mills have developed
to pay less transport cost.
• Similarly, dairy farming is developed
around the cities, which serve as markets
for the dairy products.
• For, Urban Delhi Perishable items &
crops grown in fringe area or rural NCR
 Labour

• Availability Labour is major constraint in dev of agri

• Supply of labour determines the character and type of
agriculture.
• On modern farms work now done by machines.
• But no work can be done without manual power.
• However, on small peasant farms hand tools are still used,
there is a shortage of labour during harvest time.
• Availability of labour, its quantity and quality at the periods
of peak labour demand have great influence on decision
making process of the farmer.
• Different types of crops need different amount of farm workers
– Wheat: Less workers
– Tea: More workers with soft hands
 Labour
• In US, Germany, Japan, UK, there is rapid loss of farm
labour is becoming a matter of great concern, b’cos
industrialized nations offer alternative and financially
attractive employment and there are greater
opportunities for the industrial workers.
• Many of the cultivators of western UP have given up the
cultivation of rice owing to the non-availability of
workers at the times of transplantation and harvesting.
• The farmers of Punjab are increasingly dependent on
Bihari, UP labourers for the harvest of their wheat and
rice crops.
• While some Punjabi do farming in Developed countries.
 Labour

• Different crops and agrarian systems vary in their total labour

requirement.
• In many parts of India, during the peak periods of crop sowing
(Rice, Wheat, Sugarcane, Vegetables, and Potatoes) and
harvesting, there occurs acute shortage of labour which influence
the sowing and harvesting operations and thereby affect the
decision of a farmer whether to grow or not a crop.
• Harvesting period needs more labour
• Intensive cultivation requires a large supply of cheap labour.
• Availability of cheap and efficient labour is essential for the
cultivation of crops like rice, tea, cotton and rubber.
• Institutional Factors
 Government Policies

• The Govt policies also influence agricultural land use greatly. It

is key driver in agri dev.

• The Govt may restrict the cultivation of a crop or may force the
farmers to grow a particular crop e.g., area under sugarcane and
oil seeds cultivation has increased in India on account of greater
emphasis put by the government on these crops.
• UP Govt. wants ban or rice cultivation in western UP b’cos of
water problems.

• Govt subsidy or liberal loan in respect of a particular crop helps

in larger acreage under that crop and help to people who think
about suicide.
 Govt Policies
• Government has established multi- purpose
societies and cooperatives banks in rural
areas for welfare of farmers.
• They provide loans to farmers for purchasing
insecticides, improved seeds, agricultural
implements and tools.
• Societies also purchase the produce of farmers
at support prices announced by the
government every year.
 Govt. Policies

• Every year Govt announces support prices.

• Money lenders can’t exploit farmers.
• Government purchases there produce at support prices and
pay them cash.
• Wholesale trade in cereals has also been taken over.
• FCI purchases cereals from farmers directly.
• In order to make the crops insured from natural
calamities like storms, droughts, floods and fires,
government has started crop insurance schemes
• Govt. of India, formulate the plans and policies as per
world scenario.
 Social and Cultural Factors

The primary cultural factors are:-

a. Land Ownership
b. Inheritance
c. Abolition of zamindari system
d. Consolidation of land holdings
e. Ceilings on land holdings
f. Land tenure
 Social factor
• Social attitudes of people, traditions, level of education…are all
determinants on farm production.
• Some are encouraging but other are negative
• Land tenure (land ownership)
– Tenant farming
• A cash tenant farmer:
– Long lease will encourage further investment and cultivate more carefully
– Short lease will make him maximize profits by over-grazing and over-cropping, which
lead to soil erosion
• A share cropper: safeguard against fluctuating yield
– Freehold ownership:
• Advantage: incentives to manage their farms efficiently
• Disadvantage: fragmentation of fields through inheritance law
– State ownership (communist countries)
• Advantage: consolation of fields, mass team work
• Disadvantage: lack of private ownership discourage incentive
 Land Tenure
• The term “ land tenure” means the manner in which
the land is held. It is reflection of the power relations
between persons and group in the use of land.
• land tenure affect the agri operations and cropping
patterns in many ways.
• In diff communities of world, the cultivators have diff
land tenancy rights.
• In tribal societies of the shifting cultivators land
belongs to community and individuals are allowed
only to grow crops along with other members of the
community for specific period.
 Land Ownership
• During the two centuries of British rule, India’s traditional
land ownership and land use patterns were changed.
• The British introduced the ‘zamindari’ or ‘permanent
settlement system’ in 1793, whereby feudal lords became
owners of large tracts of land against fixed revenue payments
to the government.
• Peasants became tenant farmers and had to pay rent. This
system prevailed in most of northern India.
• Due to Zamindari tenure system, the real cultivators and
tillers were exploited.
• The tenant – cultivators in such a system face major
disincentives like the fear of eviction, the insecurity of
tenure, the high rents and inadequate surplus to invest.
• In the south and west, the ‘Ryotwari system’ was
followed. Individual cultivators (ryots or raiyats)
were proprietors of land against revenue payments,
with rights to sub-let, mortgage and transfer land.
• A third system was the ‘Mahalwari system’ whereby
entire villages had to pay revenue, with farmers
contributing their share in proportion to their
holdings.
• Land distribution under these systems became
extremely unequal, and rural society got polarised
into landlords and rich peasants versus tenants and
agricultural labourers.
• By Independence, about 40% of India’s rural
population was working as landless
agricultural labour.
• Thus India has inherited a semi-feudal system
of land distribution that followed the social
hierarchy.
• Most landowners belong to the upper castes
and cultivators to the middle castes;
agricultural labourers are largely dalits and
adivasis.
 Land Tenancy
• In southeast Asia, Latin America and parts of Southern Europe a
system of land tenure known as METAYAGE is very
widespread.
• In its simplest form, it is co-partnership b/w the owner who
provides land, equipments, buildings, seeds, fertilizers, and
METAYER (Cultivator) who provides labour and stock in return of
a fixed share of the produce.
• The system sometimes involves pure sharecropping i.e. there is
no fixed rent, but the tenant cultivates the land and gives the
owner a share, often 50% of the agri produce.

• In northern India, this system is known as “Batai.”This system

gives the tenant some protection from fluctuations in
productions.
 Size of Land Holdings

• It means fixing maximum size of land holding that an

individual/family can own.
• Land over and above the ceiling limit, called surplus land.
• The size of holding and the size of farm decide the degree of
risk that a farm operator may bear.
• In general, larger the size of the farm, greater the capacity of
the farmer to take the risk and vice versa. It is turn, would
affect the extent of specialization and also the nature of
technology and equipments (tractors, thrashers, harvesters,
etc) to be used.
• Small size of holdings give more productivity per yield as
compare to larger size as Japan’s farmer do multi cropping.
• About half of the farmers have 9% agri land while 4% have
30% land ownership.
 Size of Land Holdings

• Law of succession in the countries, India, Pak, B’Desh and Sri

Lanka result in sub division and fragmentation of holdings.
• Western Europe has 10 -20 hectare of land holding while in
South east Asia with subsistence agri is less than 5 hectre size
• Wergman (1968) argued that land holding with more than 5
hectares is optimal in India while Karlbat suggested 4 – 6
hectare in irrigation land and 8 -10 hectares in non – irrigated
land in India.
• In, India, Av size of holding is very small. In fact, about 70%
of total holdings are below one and half hectre.
• Av std size of holding that may give better agri returns cannot
be maintained b’cos of the fast growing rural pop and the
prevailing law of inheritance.
 Distribution of Operational Holdings in
India
SIZE CLASS % OF HOLDINGS % OF AREA
LESS THAN 1 HECTARE 55 11
(MARGINAL)
1-2 HECTARE (SMALL) 18 13
2-4 HECTARE (SEMI 14 20
MEDIUM)
4-10 HECTARE 10 30
(MEDIUM)
ABOVE 10 HECTARE 03 26
(LARGE)
 Fragmentation of Holdings

• Fragmentation of land found due to pop growth and division of land

among family members
• Land consolidation makes it necessary for him to look after the
crops and put up a fence around the holding. It enables the farmer
to construct a farm house on the holding and shed for his cattle and
thus exercise efficient supervision and management.
• In India, many problems faced Indian farmers i.e smaller size of
land holdings, non conservation of land, non use of innovative
methods and tech. Fragmented landholdings due to inheritance law
• If the individual/family owns more land than the ceiling limit, the
surplus land is taken away.
• 20 Points programmers:
This surplus land is-
• Distributed among small farmers, tenants, landless labourers.
• Handed over to village panchayat.
• Given to cooperative farming societies.
• The Govt consolidated the small and
fragmented holdings into larger holdings at
one place.
• Only one thirds of the total cultivable land
have been so far consolidated.
• The consolidation work has been fully
completed in Punjab and Haryana.
• The progress is satisfactory in U.P., Bihar,
Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and J&K. The
work is underway in Orissa and M.P.
 Land Tenure

• In such societies, it is believed that own who owns land he owns wealth.
• Ownership, length of time available for planning, dev and management of
arable land influence the decision making process of the cultivator.

• Like, if cultivator is the sole owner of land, he may install a tubewell in his
farm and may go for fencing and masonry irrigation channels.

• But a tenant farmer or a sharecropper will not go for long term investment
in the field as after a short period of occupancy, he will have to vacate the
land and the real owner may cultivate that piece of land either himself or
may lease out to other cultivator.

• A farmer who has the right of ownership, he has freedom to choose a

system of production and investment which improves the quality of land
and gives him increasing capacity to borrow money.
 Tenancy
• Tenant having a lease for a longer period, has
considerable incentive to make his own
improvements in drainage, irrigation channels,
fencing and soil sustainability practices.
• The tenany system of short duration lease leads
to insecurity for tenants.
• In India, fear of landlords regaining control of
farms has led to restrictions on long term
letting. This has resulted into 11 months lease
system.
• There are certain rates of land revenue in
different states and the farmers are
required to pay it.
• It only indicates that the ultimate
ownership of the land rests to the society.
• The farmers are the masses because they
till and cultivate the land.
• The land tenure system which can be useful for
the farmers as well as the Government is
called a good land tenure system.
• Such a land tenure system should be
progressive and useful for the society.
• It must possess the following characteristic-
1) Ceiling of the holding 2) Ownership of the
former on the land 3) Security of the farmers
4) Facilities for the agriculturists.
Thank you