Income from crop production very low for majority of peasants: Sample Study in A.P |
ABSTRACT: |
“Income from crop production is extremely low for a large majority of cultivating households. In fact, 29-36 per cent of households in the three villages incurred losses in crop production. Meticulous calculations reveal that paddy cultivation yields very low incomes, much lower than what government agencies estimate for farmers in Andhra Pradesh.” |
A study Cconducted by the Foundation for Agrarian Studies, reports the survey findings of three villages in Andhra Pradesh: Anathavaram in Kollur mandal, Guntur District ; Bukkacherla in Raptadu mandal, Anantapur district and Kothapalle in Thimmapur L.M.D. mandal, Karimnagar district . The villages fall in three distinct agro-ecological zones: Anathavaram in South Coastal Andhra – a paddy dominated area irrigated by the waters of the Krishna river; Bukkacherla in Rayalaseema, which is drought-prone; and Kothapalle North Telengana where irrigation is from borewells and the cropping pattern is a combination of food grain and other crops.
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Study Findings :
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Of the many important features of agrarian relations that the study draws attention to, five are particularly noteworthy.
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1.Household and per capita rural incomes are shockingly low. The median annual per capita income ranges from Rs.5,895 in Kothapalle to Rs. 6,308 in Bukkacherla and Rs. 8,537 in Ananthavaram. This works out to a paltry daily per capita median income of around Rs.16 in Kothapalle, Rs.17 in Bukkacherla and Rs.23 in Ananthavaram.
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At the same time, inequalities in the distribution of household incomes are extremely high. In most countries, Gini coefficients of income distribution vary between 0.3 and 0.6. As against this, the Gini coefficients for the distribution of household incomes are estimated to be 0.641 for all villages.
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| The top 10 per cent of households account for 52 per cent of the total income of households in Ananthavaram, and 43 per cent of the total income of households in the other two villages. On the other hand, the lowest 40 per cent of household account for only 7-9 per cent of household incomes in the three villages. |
2.Income from crop production is extremely low for a large majority of cultivating households. In fact, 29-36 per cent of households in the three villages incurred losses in crop production. Meticulous calculations reveal that paddy cultivation yields very low incomes, much lower than what government agencies estimate for farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
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Net incomes from paddy cultivation, which vary, on average, from Rs. 2,441 per hectare in Ananthavaram to Rs. 6,332 in Bukkacherla and Rs. 8,555 in Kothapalle, are significantly lower than the average for Andhra Pradesh reported by the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), Rs. 15,788 per hectare.
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3.Costs of cultivation vary systematically across socio-economic groups. The poor and lower-middle peasants, who are mostly tenant-cultivators, incur much higher costs than landlords and big capitalist farmers. The exorbitant rents paid by those who have to lease in land greatly impoverishes poor landless peasants. Rents paid out in Ananthavaram account for 31 per cent of total costs of production and 17 per cent in Bukkacherla.
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As a result, a poor peasant leasing in land for paddy cultivation in Ananthavaram incurs a loss of Rs.6,733 per hectare on paddy cultivation. Offsetting these losses somewhat is income that tenants earn from animal resources that accrues from access to land (and therefore straw). Lower- and upper-middle land owning peasants earn a net income of around Rs.10,000 per hectare from paddy cultivation, while rich peasants and landlords earn Rs. 11,000-12,000 per hectare.
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4.The study confirms the concern expressed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh that, post-1991-92, the State's agrarian economy has entered “an advanced state of crisis.” The degree of landlessness and inequality in the distribution of land ownership are striking. The study finds that 65 per cent of households in Anathavaram, 47 per cent in Kothapalle, and 15 per cent in Bukkacherla do not own any land. The highly unequal distribution of land ownership is captured by the Gini coefficients — 0.86 for Ananthavaram, 0.76 for Kothapalle, and 0.55 for Bukkacherla.
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Landlessness and inequality appear to have worsened over the years. In Ananthavaram, for instance, 50 per cent of the households did not own any land in 1974; the proportion rose to 60 per cent in 2005-06. The proportion of households that cultivated land on lease went up from 18 per cent in 1974 to 37 per cent in 2006; and the proportion of land cultivated under tenancy contracts increased from 22 per cent to 67 per cent. Rural indebtedness among peasants is also much higher than what is normally believed to be the situation. The failure of land reforms of any kind is apparent.
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Equally obvious is the decline in public investments and in the share of formal sources of credit as well as the overall neglect of the agricultural sector by the State. It is not surprising that the aggregate value of crop output, which grew by 2.7 per cent annually between 1980-81 and 1991-92 fell to 0.4 per cent per annum between 1991-92 and 2004-05.
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| Offering strong evidence of the agricultural stagnation and distress is the large number of farmers' suicides — 4,403 between 1998-2006, according to the Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangam. |
5.It appears that Adivasi and Muslim households are by far the most deprived socio-economic groups in the three villages. In most instances, it is the Adivasis who are really at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid. Adivasis are the most deprived of income, housing&sanitation and education.
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Socio-economic Surveys of Three Villages in Andhra Pradesh: A Study of Agrarian Relations
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| Comments: |
| This pitiable position of peasants is well known. What remedies are suggested to improve the lot of poor peasants? What role NGOs and Farmers' Organisation can take to improve the position? from: Ram. K Posted on: May 19, 2010 at 18:55 IST- The Hindu |
| krsr/200510 |
