How Do Small Farmers Fare: Evidence from Village Studies in India

How Do Small Farmers Fare: Evidence from Village Studies in India, edited by Madhura Swaminathan and Sandipan Baksi, is an outcome of research on small farm economy in India by the Foundation for Agrarian Studies in cooperation with Rosa-Luxemburg Stiftung. This volume is an attempt to examine the characteristics and viability of small producers in different agro-ecological regions of India, locating them in the broader context of capitalist development of Indian agriculture.

The book seeks to examine the socio-economic characteristics of small farmers in relation to other strata of the rural population, drawing on empirical material collected through carefully designed and conducted household and farm economy surveys of 17 villages located in 9 States of India. These surveys are a part of the ongoing project partnership between FAS and RLS. The evidence presented in this volume points to a crisis of small farming in terms of the inability of small farmer households to generate adequate incomes to maintain a minimum standard of living. A second striking feature of the evidence presented is of inequalities and differentiation both within the study villages and across agro-ecological regions.

While small farmers account for a substantial proportion of the rural population, they operate in a capitalist market economy where a small section of rural households control the bulk of the means of production. In this context, the book emphasises the urgent need for public policy support to deliver economies of scale to small farmers and to ensure them a minimum standard of living.

The book has been published by Tulika Books.