Challenges and Oppor tunities for Sustainable Viability of Marginal and Small Farmers in India

Abstract

The Indian agriculture characterized by millions of marginal and small farmers, who are facing difficulties to operate the high risk of farming. The risk are related to weather uncertainties, uneven access to technologies and natural resources, unreliable input supplies, stressed infrastructure in power and irrigation and uncertain marketing arrangements which responsible for less bargaining power in input and output marketing of Indian farmers in present economic scenario. The increase in population, subdivision and fragmentation of land holdings due to breakdown of joint family system encouraging conversion of semi-medium and medium group of farmers into group of small and marginal farmers, which resulting un-economic land holdings. In future Indian agriculture will be dominated by marginal and small holdings, on which application of new agricultural technologies would become more difficult (Rao, 1989). However, opportunities are also widely open to marginal and small farmers in terms of increasing scope of human labour intensive enterprises such as fruits and vegetables, dairy, fishery, goat and sheep rearing etc. due to increasing consumption resulting demand of these high value commodities (HVCs) in recent years. Within the agricultural sector, high-value segment is expected to contribute more to the wellbeing of the smallholders, as its require more labour and generate higher returns than cereals (Joshi et al., 2006). Crop diversification possibly will be an important mechanism for employment generation, income growth, poverty alleviation, food and nutritional security, risk aversion and sustainability of the system from judicious use of scarce natural resources (Kar,