idial agriculture

EMPLOYMENT EXPANS I O1
IN
IDIAL AGRICULTURE
PROCEEDINGS OF A NATIONAL SEMINAR
HELD AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
HE E BAL
BANGALORE
26 - 28 FEBRUARY 1979
Sponsored. by
Planning Commission
Ministry of Agriculture and. Irrigation
Ministry of Labour
of the Government of India
and
Asian Regional Team
Asian Employment Programme
(ARTEP)3
ILO Bangkok
for Employment Promotion
ILO-ARTEP
P.O. Box 2.L)16
Bangkok
Thailand
II I I II I I II I II I II
47939
C 0 N T P N T S
I N 'R 0 DUCT I ON
PART I
PR0CEDIGS OF THE SErrIITAR
SESSION I
Lessons from the historical experience of
labour absortion in East Asia
SEaSION II
Interregiona1 inter-crop and inter-temporal
variations in labour absorption in agriculture
within India
6
SESSION III
Multiple croiping experience in India:
possibilities and constraints with particular
referenec to eiployment expansion in Indian Agriculture
10
SESSION IV
Alternative techniques for increasing productive
employment with reference to major agricultural
operations (such as land preferation irrigation,
fertilizer use and harvesting)
'T'QC
TCTT
Lfl_L) ..LUL
Eployment expansion among agricultural labour and small
farm households:
constraints and possihilities
SESSION VI
Suggestions for follow-up work
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
27
11
PART II
PAPERS PRESENTED AT ThE SEMINAR
Multiple croppinç experience in India: possibilities
nd constraints with particular rtference to enployment
expansion
Kahion
Ti0
32
K, Pande
'i7
V, Rajagopa ion
6
Alternative techniques for increasing productive
employment with reference to major aricu1tu.ra1
operations
i1,U
38
I'5-c7zaei
S Patnail.
95
S,E, Shah
113
Employment expansion arnon agricultural labour and
small. farm households;
constraints and possibilities
G,V.E. Rao and 1?. Tharnarajakahi
137
B,G, Verghese
159
N. H, Ravindranath, H, I, Somachekar,
H0
Ra'nsh Amala Redy
and A K, N0
G0 V0 IL',
K0
171
Venkatr-mi
Rdd
Rao
183
PART III
PROCEEDINGS CF A TECHNICAL SEMINAR OR LABOUR
ABSORPTION IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE HELD
NE1 DELHI IN JANUARY 1919
193
i
INTRODUCTION
This vo1uie sets out the proceedings of a National Seminar on
Employment Expansion in Indian Agriculture held in Bangalore in February
l979
Included are also the paDers prepared specifically for this
seminar and the report of a technical seminar on labour absorption in
which went as an
Indian Agriculture held in New Delhi, in January 1979,
irnortant input -co this seminar
This was the first in a series of country seminars that the Asian
flnployment Programme of the ILO h-as planed to sponsor in the countries
South and
South
East Asia with a view to proioto informed discussion
among researchers, administrators and policy makers on the possibilities
of expanding productive employment in their overwhelmingly agricultural
economies.
Recognizing the predominant role that agriculture has to play in
providing employment to the millions of unemployed and underemployed in
the rural areas
of th
Asian region, th
ARTEP initiated this project
under the Asian Employment Programme in early
1978)-'
The main thrust of
the first phase of this proj set is to examine, as comprehensively and
deeply as possible, the available evidence on the level and trends in
labour input in agriculture in the different countries of the region, to
sort out what factors explain such differences and what aspects need
further examination in depth.
The approach that is being adopted is to
get specialists from within the region to carry out investigations on
pecific issues and to have these findings closely scrutinized by
agriultural scientists, technologists, specialists in rural development,
eonomists and sociologists as well ss practical planners and administrators.
1/ For more otai
about the i,roject
las: sc Froface by K.. Raj to
S. Ishikawa labour Absorption in Asian
(AbTEP. June l97')
riculture
an issues paper,
11
It is our expectation that out of Such poolect knowledge and experience,,
practical ideus and. proposals will energe for possible incorporation in
policies and progrrmis for agricultural and. rural development in
different countries of the rLgiorl.
The project
coemenced with
an issues paner prepared by
Prof. S. Ishikaw which coiapred th
where high 1evls of labour input an
exprLsnc:. of East Asian countries,
productivity have been achieved
with several Asian countries representing th
"other end of the spectrum"
and offered a nunber of important clucs that need further investigation
could
along with agricultural op±put
for consi &ring how labour input
be increased in the South and South East Asian region.
In response to
Prof. Ishikawas study three papers relating to India were prepared by
Labour Absorption in
One by P.K. Bardhan on
eminent Indian scholars:
South Asian Rico Acriculture, with particular reference to India';
another by A. Vaidyanathan
An
on "Labour Use in Indian Agriculture
analysis based on Farm Managemnt Survey Eat a; and a joint paper by
Y.IC Alagh, G,S. Bhalla and Amit Bhad.uri, on
Manpower Absorption in India".
Agricultural Growth and
Those were published by the ART
1976 as the second volume in the Series, entitled
Indian Agriculture
in July
Labour Absorption in
Sonic Explortory Investigations.
The volume also included. a
hitherto unpublished paper by
A. Vaidyanathan and A.V. Jose on 'Absorption of Human Labou' in Agricul
ture, a comparative study o
some Asian cour.ttrics
and the report of a
technical workshop held (at Pattaya in Thailand) towards the end of
August 1978 to discuss the findiugs of these papers as well as the
methodologial. and policy issues arising threfroni
In January l979
a
technical seminar on Labour Absorption in Indian Agriculture was held in
-New
elhi (orgied by the Institute of Economic Growth) to further
examine and exp:Lor
the meth6do1oical issues relating to the papers that
were discussed at the Pattaya workshop.
ar
included as
ar1; III of lhis vcitmiL.
The proceedings of this seminar
11]
In the nieantime
several indcpth studies on the historical
experience of labour absorption in East Asian Agriculture (Labour
Absorption in Asian Agriculture:
Hara;
The. Jeanese exporience
by Yonosuke
Farm Management System (Noho) and Labour Absorption in Japanese
a case study of Yamagata Prcfecture
Agriculture
Labour Absorption in Taiwan Agriculture
Hsi-Huang Chen and Yueh-Eh
and
jointly by Teng-Hui Lee,
also been prepared.
ARTEF expects
Country studies of an exploratory nature
soon.
to publish these stu3.i
are now being fi
Cheri) have
by Toshihiko Isob
lied. for Bangladesh, P.?istan and Sri Lanka and will
be discussed together with the findings of the :c-±d.ian experience and the
East Asian experience in a sub.rcgionaJ. workshop to be hold in Dacca
later this year.
AEI.P is now maring arrangenienta to go through a similar
process in South East Asia.
The purpose of the National Seminar on Employment Expansion in
Indian Agriculture hld in B
galori was twofold:
First, to promote
informed discussion, among a wider group of persons (who have specialized
in different fields)
labour
of the relevant issues arising from the studies on
absorption in Indian Agriculture prc.pared ineiiüy by economists,
and secondly, to arrive at concrete ideas on promoting employment
expansion in agriculture
pooling the knowled
scientists
based on suc'i
discusion particularly by
arid experience of economists, agricultural
rural dL-valopment specialists, administrators and planners.
In order to make the: Jiscussions as fruitfuJ. and concrete as
possible:, a slctud number of participants were requested to prepare, in
advance,' brief
backgrouind papers highlighting viewpoints and issues on
aspects they are most familiar dth.
The preparation of these papers was
assigned to spcialists with different backgrounds so as to obtain as wide
a perspectiv
as possible on the issues to be discussed.
available td the seriinar on th
Ten papers were
following three subject areas:
one, arc ±ncluded in part It of this volume
(ihe pepor by Thy. Fatil could not be inclucLd du to its excessive
length -, co'.i.es o this pap:r inaT, howevir) be obtained from the ARTEP).
1/ Ai:L paners. e::cep
iv
.
ii,
:uitipie cropping experienc. in India (i papers)
Altrriative techniques for increasing productive employment
gricultura1 operations (3 papers);
with reference to uajor
iii.
Employment cxpans ion amor.
farm households (
agricultural
labour
and. small
papor)
Discussions thiring thc scmnr werc
s1;ructurod to focus on five
important themes, namely:
Lessons from the historical e:perincc of 1&our absorption
in East Asia;
Inter--regional, inter.-crop and inter--temporal variations in
labour absorption in agriculture within India;
ilL
possibilities and
Multiple cropping experience in India
constraints with particular reference to enip:Loyment expansion
in agriculture;
iv.
Alternative techniques for increasing productive employment
with refornce to major agricultural operations,
land prep9.ration
v.
as
irrigation, fertilizer use and harvesting
Employment expansion among agricultural
farm households:
such
labour
and small
constraints and possibilities.
A final session was devoterj. to a discussion
of
suggestions
for
follow-up work.
The seminar was attended by several e:L:-nt social and natural
scientists and high level
ovornment officials from India.
There
were
12 senior of fiials from thc Government of ladia among whom were the
Deputy Chairman of the Panning Commission and the 3ecretary of tle
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, and 2 officials from the State
Government of Karnataka.
About 16 participants caine fron' well-known
academic institutions a. recerch centres of India.
represented by thre
staff mednor.
ere also represented.
The ATTEP was
several otiirr International Agencies
S
The Seninar gnurated intensive 3iscussion on a range of issues
Interaction
relevant to erplovnnt promotion in Indian Agriculture.
between
oeial scientists.,
agricultural scientists
teehnologists,
administrators and planners enabled the issues to be exeined in several
perspectives and to i;ighiigit the need for arid the usefulness of pooling
their knowledge and
peritnco in finding appropriate solutions to the
Several important
questions of unemployment and noverty in rural areas.
.reas for followup
action
were identified after intensive deliberations.
ARTEP aC1no'thdgeS with gratitude the cooperation extended by the
Govrimaent of India in organizing this seminar9 which was jointly
sponsored by the Ministry of Agricultur
Labour and the
Planning Commission
and Irrigation
with ARTEP.
the Ministry of
We extend our sincerest
thanks to Professor D.T. Lakdawala Dputy-Chairman Planning Cominission.
Mr. K.C, Raghupathi Secretary9 Ministry of Labour and Mr. G.V.K. Rao9
Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture arid Irrigation.
We owe a special
word of thanks to Dr. K.C. Majumdar of the Planning Commission who
provided invaluable assistance in organizing the seminar and acting as a
liaison betwer' the Planning Commission and the ARTEP at the preparatory
stage.
The University of Agricultural Sciencs, ]3arigalore, provided
excellent hosting arrangemunts.
We
of the TJAS. Dr. H.R, Arakri and h
Dr. H.S. Henu
grateful to the Vice-Chancellor
colleagues Dr. K.A. Jalihal and
nt1rtppa for providiug all the necessary comforts to the
participants.
Professor K, Ra
piade all the initial arrangements for the
seminar during his tenure as the chief of ARTFP until early January
1979.
He has continued to :ssist us in many ways even after his departure from
ARTEP.
We extend our most sincere thanks to hiri.
vi
RTEP is gratcful to the ILO Area Office in Delhi for providing
with speed and efficiency the necessary assistance on administrative
matters.
At APTEP Headquarters in Bangkok
gave very valuable assistance on
the Chief of APTEP
Dr. A.R. IQian
rofessionai and other matters.
Mr. L.G.F. Olsson
assisted in orgniationi m'tters and ?iclped also in
proof-reading and
cliting the final version of tJiis volurLe.
patiently proof .rd most of the pages.
acknowledged.
of ARTEP
Mr. C. Bot
All of 1;Lcm irz gratefully
We also racord our appreciatios of th- secretarial staff
particularly Miss Tippawsn Eamenonih
irs. iutchanat Ocharoen)
Mrs. Pannips. Ratanawijern, Mrs. Preeye. Wadhanakul and. Miss Uhol Watarapisit
for their invaJ uble contribution in bringing out this volume with
neatncss and proi.iptness.
Wilbert Gooneratne
Bangkok.
10 May, 1979
PART I
PROCEED I NGS
OFTHE
SEMI AR
-1SESSION I
LESSONS FROM TI
HISTORICAL EX?ERIENCE OF LABOUR ABSORPTION
IN AGRICULTURE IN EAST ASIA
Prof. D.T. Lakdarala
Opening Remarks:
Dr. A.R. Khan
Background Material for Discussion:
Shigeru Ishikawa
Labour Absorption in Asian Agriculture:
An
1978).
"Issues" Paper (ARTEP, June
A. Vaidyanathan and A.V. Jose, "Absorption of Human Labour in
A comparative study of some Asian countries",
Agriculture:
in Labour Absorption in Indian Agriculture by P.IC. Bardhan,
et al (ABTEP, November
1978) Annexure I.
Chairman:
Prof. D.T. Lakdawala
Discussants:
Prof. K.N. Raj
Mr. B.G. Verghese
Dr. S. Bisalaiah
Rapporteur:
The main focus of the Session was on identifying the technological
and institutional constraints on labour absorption in Indian agriculture,
by drawing on the lessons from the historical experience of labour absorption
in East Asian agriculture.
Prof. K.N. Ra
initiated the discussion by
outlining the main hypotheses examined in the papers under discussion.
He
dre'ct attention to the fact that, even after making allowance for conceptual
and measurement difficulties, the intensity of labour input in East
Asia,
t comparable historical period, was much higher than that in con-
temporary India.
Taking note of this fact he addressed two important sets
of questions to the group, namely:
l
What are the technological possibiliteis for increasing
labour input without reducing marginal productivity of
labour
2.
and
What institutional factors induce or discourage utilization
of aiore labour?
2The character and sequcnce of technological progress in Japanese agriculture
was outlined by'o.ferring to the initial period of high labour inputs
resulting from creek irrigation, mud application on fields from creeks
and the use of animal and htman manure, and the subsequent introduction
of labour saving technology with the development of handweeders, electric
pump sets and peddlers for threshing.
These labour saving developments
were accompanied by the introduction of. other labour using technologies
such as improved seed beds, transplanting and deep ploughing, the labour
released from lss productive activities being thus diverted to more
productive uotivities through a selective adoption of processes.
Further
developments in mechanization and application of chemical fertilizer
helped to release labour from rice cultivation, which in turn was used
for the addition of more labour absc$:ping minor crops
barley.
High labour input
uch. as wheat and
n Japan was not duo to rice production alone
but to total agricultural production, which included non-crop agricultural
activities (such as cocoon production) and also rural non-agricultural
activities (such as silk production).
Taking up the Taiwan case, it was pointed out that irrigation was
a major constraint in that country, as there was no creek irrigation and
labçur inputs increased, only after the development of irrigation
facilities.
In the case of China, the developments after the revolution
have shown that while -Ln certain areas there has been a tendency for
labour saving, in certain others there has beena tendency for labour.
augmenting, and that rr'echaniation ras essential in some areas to
increase 1abou
employment.
In East Asia, de to the shorter growing
season, mechanization WaS Ifl fact necessary tp
it in two or more crops.
On the institutional factors inducing labour absorption in East
Asian agriculture, the point was made that in Japan before the war,
small hOldings, tenany and the role of landlords who controlled the
government were importarrt considerations wile in China, after the
revolution, the introduction of the collective farming system was the
crucial factor.
Continuing the discussion,Mr. B.G. Vé±ghesc uiiderlined the
importance of institutional factors in preverrbin
He drer the attention of the group
of technolo
or promoting adoption
th
the importance of
.irstituti,onalieforms in East Asia, partiularly land reforms and t
the absence of institutional inhibitions, for example in using all
kinds of manure.
The prob1m of corruption in South Asia was considered
relevant and important.
The discussion that followed was structured broadly under two
headings, namely:
Technological factors and labour absorption
Institutional factors and labour absorption
i.
Technological factors and labour absorption
Although some doubt was expressed as to whether labour
inputs in Indian agriculture were
n fact lower than that in East Asia,
specially Taiwan, the group nevertheless felt that the technological
possibilities for increasing labour absorption in Indian agriculture
were still very large.
The technological options available to the
farmers were limited before the l9GOs and lbour absorption per unit
area cultivated remained low owing to the cultivation of low value crops,
low cropping intensities, and low lvel of development and management
of land and water resources.
The group felt that there was much scope for increasing
labour absorption b?1 changing the cropping pattern and by increasing
the cropping intensity.
The role of irrigation development as a crucial
component in such a strategy was underlined,
The group was however
conscious of th
development.
capital intensive and time consuming nature
of
irrigation
Attention was also drawn to the fact that research
efforts have so far been concentrated mainly in crop production under
irrigated conditions.
In this connection two important areas that need
to be looked into concurrently were noted:
first, to evolve appropriate
dry farming technologies for rainfall deficient areas and second, the
efficient management of rain water, which was considered as important as
ffic,ent irrigatiofl maageient, in
ew of
the
fact t1it ±n 75% of the area
more than 15 cm of rainfall is received during 3 months of the year.
Diversification of agriculture through the development of
animal husbandry, sericulture, fishery and forestry was emphasized as
a major technological possibility in increasing labour absorption.
An important area,
hich repeatedly came up for discussion, was the
role of forestry in gencratin
of
employment opportunities in a variety
It was pointed out that the forests, which occupy 22%
ways.
of
the
country's land area, contributed only 1.5% to the GDP.
In discussing th
role of technological factors in increasing
labour absorption in Indian agriculture, two important suggestions were
made by some participants.
analysis
of
First., there is the need for a comprehensive
labour absorption in all the three stages
of
the production
process namely, the pre-production activities (production and distri
bution
of
seeds for example), the production activities and the post
production stages, in order to determine the total labour inputs in
agriculture.
Secondly, it is necessary to d..fine and develop
appropriate technology for cach distinct agro-ecological and socioeconomic setting.
ii.
Institutional factors and labour absorption
While there was near complete unanimity on the existence
of technological possibilities of increasing laborr absorption in
agricultur3. the institutional factors wer..
identified to
be the more
-5serious obstacles in the way of realizing this potential.
It was pointed.
out that the s1ewed distribution of land oinership insecurity of
tenancy and the fraguentation and subdivision of land have given rise
to both low productivity of land and low labour absorptidn.
Many examples were quoted oi the effoc
of these institutional problems
on irrigation and. drainage development and on the use and management of
irrigation water0
Many participants also expressed the view that there
is a growing tendencr among larger fainers to move away from more labour
intensive techniques of production to less labour intensive ones on
considerations which are not economic0
The subject of irrigation was discussed at length.
The group
felt that the provision of irrigation facilities alone would not increase
labour absorption. but more the efficient use of it. In this regard,
the role of legislation and fiscal
measur.(e.harging a water rate)
It was
and the role of farmers organizations were consiered.importaflt.
also felt that there is a nced. for some form of community action in the
areas of irrigations drainage, pet:Gontrol, cosolidation of holdings
etc., and that the cultural and, institutional factors affecting the
promotion of such communal action need to be examined. more closely.
However, most participants agreed that. developing appropriate types of
institutions was indeed a difficult task.
The intc'ratipn of the economy through better markets and
transport facilities was emphasized as one of the important preconditions
for increasing labour absorption in agriculture.
process of agricultural diversification
It was shown that the
becn held up due to the
poor development of these facilities and as such, there was a need for
improving the efficiency of supply, marketing and service organizations.
-6SESSION II
NTER-EGEONAL, INTER-CROP AND INTER-TEMPORAL VARIATIONS
IN LABOUR ABSORPTION IN AGRICULTURE WITHIN INDIA
Background Material for Discussion:
Pranab K. Bardhan "On Labour Absorption in South Asian Rice
Agriculture, with particular reference to India",
A. Vaidyanatha, "Labour Use in Indian Agriculture;
An analysis
based on Farm Management Survey Data"
Y.K. Alagh, G.S. Bhalla and fthiit Bhaduri, "Agricultural Growth and
Manpower Absorption in India",
in
Labour Absorption in Indian Agriculture (ARTEP, November
l978)
General Report of the Technical Seminar on Labour Absorption in
Indian Agriculture (held at the Institute of Economic Growth,
New Delhi, January 1979) see Part III of this volume for an
edited version of this report.
Chairman:
Mr; B.G. Verghese
Discussant:
Prof. V. Rajagopalan
Rapporteur:
Dr. S. Bisalaiah
Dr. Rajagopalan initiated the discussion by commenting briefly on
the papers with reference to the conceptual structure, empirical framework,
results arrived at and the policy implications of the results.
At the outset, the group decided to focus less on the analytical
and technical aspects of the papers under discussion and more on
practical and policy aspects arising therefrom.
During the course of
the discussion, four broad groups of issues were examined:
7.
1.
Limited knowlede on labour absorption in Indian Agriculture
The group felt that our knowledge on inter-regional, intercrop and inter-temporal variations in.labour absorption in Indian
agriculture was inadequate
Inspite of the good work attempted in the
papers, they have -riot adequately answerei the questions raised by
It was felt that the information
rof, Ishikawa in his issues paper.
available on India does not enable us to say much about what has
actually happened. in the whole of India or in different parts of India
Cropping intensity and labour employment
over any given period of time
may have gone up in isolated pockets
specially in irrigated areas
such as in Hoogley,&s cited by Bardhanhut what we need to know is the
trend for the country or for its major zones.
it was also pointed out
that it is not sufficient to know that developments in irrigation and
cropping pattern would absorb more labour but rather we need to
identify the type of irrigation. cropping pattern and iiiié.iiical
operations that would
increase
employment most for a given amount of
investment and under a given institutional set up..
ideas enirged out of this discussion.
irst
specially well
group that minor irrigation,
Three important
it was the opinion of the
irrigation, would ensure an
efficient use of water leading to an increase both in the productivity
of land and in lbour absorption.
Second, it was argusd that there
was a need for sorting out the technologies which would increase
labour absorption particularly by evening ant the Deaks and troughs
in labour use.
Mulberry production integrated with sericulture was
Third, it may
cited as an exenple of the latter type of ttchnology.
not be correct to argue. at this stati of our knowledge, that land
tenure institutions such as tenancy would always act as a constraint on
labour use.
It is. bherofore, iniphrtant to evaliat
the implications
of different types of tenurial arrangenents bilbour absorption.
In order to trace the path of movement from less labour-intensive to
more labour-intensive farming
one needs to develop labour absorption
medels which woulö rfiect t.he effects of changes in the total farming
system.
8-
Gaps in data availability
There was general agreement in the group on the question
of lack of adequate data for analysing the many issues related to labour
absorption in Indian agriculture.
The group expressed its doubts on the
reliability of the available estimates of unemployment and stressed the
need for generating suitable data required for a meaningfu:L analysis of
the question of labour absorption in Indian agriulture.
The need to
identify homogeneous agro-ecological regions to generate location
specific data was under1ind as was the need for regionwise and
seasonwise data on the distribution of unemployment as an essential
Some members of the group
framework for any programme of action.
expressed the view that the discontinuation of farm management surveys
may, in
ure
cause data problems with respect to intertemporal
analysis of labour absorption.
Employment of surplus labour
If the thosis that high productivity agricultural regions
(due to better irrigation and other infrastructure developments) are
also high employment regions is true, as some studies have claimed, more
capital would be required to absorb moro labour and to increase output.
In this regard, an important pcnt that was discussed by the group was
the possibility of and the potential for using the surplus labour for
the creation of additional community capital assets as irrigation tanks,
farm roads, watershed management etc.
It was. howcvtr, felt that, within
the existing framework of assets holding and the present socio-political
setting, it will be difticu1t to get landless labourers to participate
in communal asset creation.
The qu.stion of what institutions and what
incentives are reciuired for mnocilizing surplus labour for creating
community capital assets must be resolved if this possibility is to be
realised.
9
iv.
The problem of 'aversion" to hired labour use
Many participants expressed concern about the deterioration
of the economic wellbeing of hired labour
Some participants drew
attention to the increasing tendency towards a decline in the number of
days of work as well as real wage rates among agricultural labourers in
many parts of the country.
labour
The substitution of family labour for hired
the use of permanent farm workers as against hired labourers
and the adoption of labour saving techniques (mechanization) to meet
peak labour demands in order to avoid the u.e of Oasual labour were all
reported to be on the increase.
of "aversion
to labour use.
phenomenon as labour
All these tendencies constitute a kind
Some participants referred to this
sinking.
The significance of this trend as a
potential source of unrest in the country was noted by several
participants.
For this reasonit was suggested that there is an urgent
need to identify suitable policy measures and institutional structures
that would ensure more employment opportunities at reasonable wage
rates to this group.
- 10
SESSIO1 III
MULTIPLE CROPPING EXPERIENCE IN INDIA:
POSSIBILITIES P.1W CONSTRAINTS
WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO EMUIOYM TPARSION IN AGRICULTURE
Papers prepared jr
Dr0 A.S. Kah10
Dr. H.K. Pande
Prof. V. Rajagopalau
Chairman:
Dr. A.S, Kshlon
Discussant:
Dr. H. Thamarajakshi
Rapporteur:.
Dr. Abdul
ziz
The possibilities of pro'
ivf.t5.p1e cropping in Indian
agriculture and thereby increasing labour absorption was considered by
the group in what was one of the most intensivE 1iscussion sessions.
After a brief presentation of the main contents of the papers by the
authors Dr. H. Thamarajakshi initiated the discussion.
It was suggested that the possibility of multiple cropping should
be considered in the framework of what was technically frasible and what
was actualLy possible,
what ws technically feasible, which indeed
appeared to be very prmisng, was outlined by the agronomists mainly
on the basis of the results obtained at agricultural experimental
stations.
But
as the re1icaticn r
arce scale, of such results from
e±perimental stations was not considered feasible under actual .condtiens,
the discussion was focus$ed malnly on the various constraints that
inhibit their a.1opton,
These conato'nts were broadly grouped int
technological and institutional,
II
J:n the discuscion on the technological constraints on the expansion
ofmultple cropping the group noted that
the turn-out time between
crops proved to be a serious constraint unless adequate energy inputs
are available
'Whether the turn- out time would be a constraint at all
depended on tie type of power used: bul3ock or mechanical powe'.
Although multiple croppinr could be undertaken on smaller farms of
2-3 acres under particular soil cnd climatic conditiona, withä,
to tractors, it wa
resort
noted that under certain conditions, sonic tractori-.
zation is inevitah:Le..
At this.. point
th discussion was focussed on
The concensus was' that
the effect of tractorizaton on employment.
though tractoriza-tion initially
isplaced some labour in particular
operations, it could increase labour absorption through the timely
performance of critical operations which facilitate greater cropping
intensity.
However
it was agreed that the issue of how tractorization
affected the bargaining pow-r and wages of the agricultural labourers
needed to be c areully examined.
A serious constraint on the extension of multiple cropping was
the ahsence of adequate and tinicly ir?igation facilities.
that multiple cropping has progrcssc
It was noted
mainly in the irrigated areas.
Wnile the need :ur augmenting i:rj'ation facilities was recognized, the
urgent need. for proper nanogemeit a-f water 'ras considered to be of
equal or perhaps creste' liuportance.
For instance, a view was expressed
that by xDro:oer margc-rert of water (avoiding
possible to sa-re
Ln lihe 30 to lQ
4st age) it would be
of the water currently used
which might he deployed in bringing iore land under irr gation thereby
increasing the' emlc,-mnb potnitial,
It 1:as also suggested that where
water was a constraint., multiple cropping could still be promoted by
growing cropLi that coesiimelee ;Tatef
12 -
On the question of off season and peak season fluctuations in demand
for labour, a suggestion was made that multiple cropping, by itself, would
held even out such fluctuations.
However, given the current level of
technology, multiple cropping was limited to two, crops in most cases.
If this teóhnoiogical constraint could be released by developing crops with
.a sIort-r growing period and thereby increase the cropping intensity,
seasonal fluctuations in labour demrnd could he evened out more easily.
Among the institutional constraints inhibiting multiple cropping,
the more important ones, noted by the group, were the market constraints
(problems of p'ocessing, storage, transportation and reasonable prices) and
the unwillingness among some large farmers to grow a second or a third crop.
Noting the various constraints imposed on the expansion of multiple
cropping
the
to be adopted.
oup then considered bhe public policy measures which need.
The volumetric basis for charging irrigation rates was
suggested as a means of promoting better water management.
The dovetailing
of new cropping patterns to the loal consumption pattern was considered
essential to solve the market constraint.
Adequate guarantees for
disposing of surplus produce at reasonable prices was also considered
essentiol.
An issue that was discussed at considerable length was the possible
conflict between the employment maximization objective of the Governmenb
arid the income maximization objective of the farm household.
income (or even a profit) maximizer, the farrae
Being an
would be interested in
Mnimizing his costs and reducing the use uf labour.
Given this situation
and given the need to distribute the benefits of groweh in a reasonable
way public policy measures should bring obout a reconciliation between
the conflictin
maximization.
objectives of income maximization and employment
- 13 -.
The narrow data bse of the papers. particularly of those which
relied on ruicro village case studies to draw inferences on the
scope for additional employment through multiple cropping9 was
considered inadequate
It was suggested that, for drawing reliable
inferences, more rigorous scientific analysis of data collected froth
systematically drawn samples should b
undertaken
The practice of
using linear programming techniques to arrive at the maximum employment
potential with or without resource constraints was commented upon.
It was held that most linear programming models merely indicated the
magnitude of additional' employment which would be created if certain
constraints on resource availability could somehow be relaxed.
Instead of concentrating only on this kind of mechanical exercises,
was suggested that ono should go further and indicate ways and means
of overcoming such constraints
-
SESSION IV
ALTERNATIVE TECH IQUES FOR INCREASING PRODUCTIVE ELOThENT
WITH REFERENCE TO MAJOR AGRICULTURAL OERATIONS (SUCH AS LAND
PREPARATION. IRRIGATION
FERTILIZER USE PND HARvESTIG)
Papers prepared by
Dr. A.M. Michael
Dr. S. Patnaik
Dr. S.L
Shah.
Dr. N.F. Patel
Chainnan:
Dr. H.R. Arakori
Discussant:
Prof'. G.S. Bhalla
Rapporteur:
Dr. Abclnl Aziz
The main focus of.this session was on. the possibilities of
increasing productive eiiploymerit in specific agricultural operations
The major technicTues and operations capable of increasing productive
employment, as briefly outlined by the authors of t.h
paprs3 may be
grouped under the following broad headings.
1.
Creation of irrigation facilities through renovating tanks
and constructing si;all rcservoir;
11aintenanc.i and improvement of :zisting irrigation works
specially canals and field channels;
Development of drainage f,cilities,
Improvments in weter inanagoileut;
Soil conservation;
Use of fertilizers;
Alternative methoas of land prepared ion, harvesting and
threshing,
- 15 -
Thi1e recognizing the possibili-bies of the programmes of land
improvement and irrigation development in promoting increased labour
absorption in their various phases, such as construction, maintenance and
management, the group noted that a range of institutional factors stood
The view was expressed that
in the way of implementing such programmes.
investment in public irrigation systems, in the Indian cOntext, invariably
leads to an inequitous distribution of water, a precious public asset,
in favour of those who command more resources in land.
That the benefits
derived by small and marginal farmers were in fact negligible was shown by
the fact that 63% of the holdings had only
9%
of land.
irrigation rates are not charged from the cultivators.
In addition,
Hence the benefits
of large investments on irrigation are absorbed mainly by the large
landowners.
Instances were also quoted of over-exploitation of ground water
through private tubewells by more affluent farmers causing a drop i-n the
water table arid, thereby, bringing hardship and extra costs to small
farmers.
Reference was made to the scattered nature of fragmented holdings
and ho
they act as obstacles to efficient irrigation and water management
as well as for undertaking effective drainage programmes.
Though land.
consolidation was considered essential for the more efficient use of land
and water the group was conscious of the practical difficulties of
-
implementing any large-scale programmes of land consolidation under
existing conditions.
The possibility of making use of the existing
legislations, such as the State Lands Improvement Act, was suggested by
some partici-nants although several others cautioned the group of the
possible implications of Jand consolidation in areas where sharecropping
is important.
It was pointed out that attempts at consolidation have
invariably led to the disappearance of sharecroppers and increased
rural proletarianizat ion.
- 16
There was more or less unanimous agr.cmerit on the need for some
form of communal action on matteis such as irrigation development
(pa±'ticularlt tubeweils), water management9 drainage and soil conservation.
Many participants felt that such communal action offers a high potential
in increasing employment and production and as a suitable institutional
framework for removing conflicts between private and social interest
that are likely to emerge in land and. water resources development.
It was also agreed that programmes of irrigation and drainage development9
soil conservation etc. are, in most cases. beyond the capacity of
the individual to undertake. however, most participants felt that the
existing power structure in the rural areas will act as formidable
barriers against the largescaic promotion f such communal action.
The group was unable to offer any concrete and pi"acticable ways of
promoting such conmunal action. However, taking note of the need for
the continued provision of infrastr.icture facilities as irrigation by
the state9 the group suggester. that, as a means of rationally distributing
the benefits of state programmes, such facilities should be priced.
TwO possibilities were suggested:
One was to charge an economic water
rate from the users of irrigation facilities and, the other5 to charge
a betterment levy as a means of capturing a portion of the increased
land values consequent to the executiou of such prograimnes.
An interesting suggrstion that was made in this connection was that the
beneficiaries of state development programmes instead of paying better
ment levies should he made to pay in kind3 for example by surrendering
a portion of their land to the Government for distribution among the
landless.
On the subject of alternative methods of cultivation3 the
discussion was largely confind to the issue of mechanization. Data on
the estimation of power requirements as well as precise knowledge of
what operations are mechanized were considered to b inadequate,
However, on the basis of the limited data that wer available, a shift
from traditional to mechanica:L tccbniqus would inveri8bly result in
particularly when individual operations are
some displacement of laboer
taken separately.
is the
what is
Eowerer, it was cautioned that
more important
total impact of nechaniation cx labour employment rather than
labour displacement i
iadividual opers;bions
Viewed in
this
perspective,
mechanization, by facilitatinç- timely operations3 specially by clearing
peaks, could increase croppin
intensity and productivity as. well.
It can also induce shifts in cropping l7att'rn in. favour of relatively
more labour intensive crops.
most
certainly more
Thtse to faat
together would
than offset the labour displa,cement caused by
the use of machines at individual operation level for a given crop.
The group also felt that mechanization has bcorcie a necessity, in
certain areas and under certain conditions (dry fanning areas for
instance), for som'n operations like land devlooment, land preparation,
irrigation etc.
At this stage it was cautioned that mechanization
should not he tal:en to mean tractorization: only and that the use of
mechanical devices for irrigation3 weding threshing etc. should also
be considered.
That mechanization should be promoted on a selective basis was
generally accepted
It was, however, pointed out that one has to
identify what mechinizE.d operations will bring about linkages for greater
employment generation and productivity improvement and hence should be
encouraged.
In this way$t would be possible to manipulate mechanization
so as to prevent large scale displacement of labour and a further
deterioration of the situation of land ass labourers.
Some pirticipants poi:.te3. out that iiidivith.iàls owning rnehanial
equipment as tractors have found it costly to maintain and repair the
machines.
The sugstion was idu that th possibilities of communal
or joint ownership and use of rachinos be s?niously considered.
- 18 -
SESSION V
EMPLOY iEiT
XFAiSIOJ AIONG AGRICULTURAL LABOUR AD
SMALL FARM HOUSEHOLDS: CONSTRAINTS MD POSSIBILITIES
Papers prepared by:
Mr. G.V.K. Rao and Dr. (Mrs.) P. Thamarajakshi
Mr. George Verghese
Messrs.
N.H. Ravindranath, H.I. Somashekar
R. Ramesh Amala Reddy,
K. Venkatram and A.K.. Reddy (Preseuted by Prof. A.ICN. Reddy)
Chairman:
Prof. MN. Srinivas
Discussant:
Dr. A. Vonkatarainan
Rapport cur:
Dr. (Mrs.) Indira Rajaraman
The Session commenced with a brief presentation9 by the authors,
Reference was made to
of the main issues raised in thou' papers
various programmes that have been initiated for the benefit of the
small and marginal farmers and the landless labourers such as the
Small Farmer Dcvelopmcnt Agency, Drought Prone Area
Conservation and Forestry Programmes
rogrammc
Soil
Tribal and Desert Area Programmes
and Special Livestock Production Programmes.
It was rioted, that there
has been insufficieirb feedback regarding wi'at has happened in respect
of these programn'ios9 and as such they nee
i
to b
critically examined
order to assess their impact od the tare grQup, particularly9
to judge whether they serve any useful purpose and whether or
not they riced to be supplemented by other such programmes.
The general
feeling among most participants was that the poorer sections have not
been able to adequately benefit from these programmes.
- 19 -
tevotd considerable time to identify the various
The grou.
constraints that stand in the way of the poor in benefiting from
governmental programmes and these constraints emerged largely as
institutional.
The exceedingly low levels of asset holding erd debt among the
poorer sections w.'re considered as major, obstacles preventing them from
benefiting from west state progranes purpocting to.
benefit them.
The poorest of tl-e poor have no ass-ts to start with and hence the
capacity to &.sorb th benefits of the proramim,-s.
Several examples
:
were qioted in this regard
have been
The benefits of irrigation facilities
argely absorbed by the upper strata of the farming population
having more land,
The provision of milk cattle to marginal farmers and
landless labourers has, in all probability, not helped them to cross
the poverty line as many of thorn have no place to keep a cow, and few
of' them are in possession of cows that could be improved under the
Dairy Development Scheme
Inadequacies of the government machinery implementing the programmes
directed to the poorer groups were also considered as a major obstacle.
Instances were Quoted of trmsfur of dedicated officers who took an
interest in helping the wea1cr sections because of their identification
with the programmes for the pcor nd of corruption which creeps into
such programmes.
The group felt that a transfer of productive assets to the weaker
sections of the population was a precondition for ensuring benefits tct1aese grou
and for increasing productive employment.
the view that
Some participants expresse.
as experience has shotm so far, the land. reform programme
will not result in seeurng much land for rdistribution among the
landless and, as such, the assets to be provided to the poor in the
future \'ill hv to be southt els7here
was considered
.y
;hc 'rou
'o he a c].ar
Fro-,rision of livestock assets
ssi'btlitv as
neris of
- 20 -
generating both employment and incomes among the poorer sections.
The prospects for the development of livestock (both dairy and poultry)
.ppeared particularly favourable in view of several initial advaiitages
such as:
first, the mvtch less skewed distribution of
cattle (Gini Coefficient in Rajastan was as low as 0.2) than in the
case of land; second, the already available experience in livestock
keeping and considerable experience in runnin; dairy cooperatives in
various parts of the country and third., the possibility of improving
the yield of much cattle through artificial insrn.ination even under
village conditions
It was also pointed out that the labour requirements
for keeping a cross-bred cow have been estimated to be in the region of
2142 man-days per year as against 132 man-days for a local cow.
Livestock development .was also considered as a practical way of
diversifying activities away from the conventional employment expansion
through crop husbandry.
Some members of the group, howeve
cautioned the participants
about the obstacles in expanding livestock raising.
The marketing
problem was considered to be an important constraint particularly
because milk production i.s a highly integrated activity calling for
efficient chilling facilities and e good coll;'ctinp. mechanism, the
provision of both of
nich was considered
success of such a prograime.
ho extremely vital for the
The other problem is th: lack of sufficient
purchasing power among the population.
Unless there is an improvement
in the purchasiig power of the population to ahrorb the increased
production,a 1arge-sca1e expansion of livestock raising may encounter
serious problems
Several examples of what could happen to increased
production amidst lack of sufficient purchasing power among the population
were cited in this regard.
Potato was one such commodity which has
reached a state of over production due m1iniy to the low purchasing power
of the population.
farmers.
The imbaJ.ance has aaversely affected the smeller
- 21
Some participants saw the possibility of developing the 1'ge
areas of cultivable waste available in different states and sometimes
belonging to villag
Ptncbayat
and distributing them among the landless
as a means of improvinc; their assets hoiding
The scope for employment
generation throigh such policies was thought to be considerable.
There was alSO a suggestion that such lands,. once dQveloped, may
aploying agricultural labourers
perhaps be run as agricultural estetes
though, several
mcmibers of the group were doubtful about the feasibility
of such an approach.
Forestry dnvelomnt was another
degenerated forests
Dossibility.
Afforestation of
in addition to offering other advantages
can
absorb a great deal of labour,specially the unemployed and tbe.landlesz.
An important issue that was highlighted in regard to the question
lack of adequate entrepreneurial
of transfe' of assets to the poor wa
capacity among the landlss to manage the assets provided.
examples were cit d o
Several
the disastrous consequences of hasty provision of
assets (both land an1 livestock) to the roor without adequately
preparing them to ri'nage such assets.
sooner or later, lost such assets.
Many of the recipients have,
Conscquently there was unanimous
agreement on the need to develop agricultural and entrepreneurial skills
among the landless before they are actually provided with assets.
Viewed in this contexts it ws also considered imoortant to look into
all the implications of the question of transferring assets to the poor
from all possible aglcs.
Some participants exPressed thir scepticism on the potential of
asset transfers to th
substantially,
poorer sections in iiproving their condition
As the poorest sctions in tLe rural areas also belong,
generally, to the scheduled castes, their position, it was noted., may
not be improved by th: n':re pr3visio:i
socially
Li:v
tta,-oi:s e thLn.
r'
sct'
A re1 :jrov
5.:
a niJ.iu that is
efl
in th!r condition
-
may not be possible urless they leave the village setting a:Ltogether
It was pointU. out that one way of achieving thi3 woul. be to provide
n5. allowirg them to oranize
them with opportunities in industry
the village setting
themselves and dev:lop an"urbarft identity awar fto
The question of tcchnology ws once a,ain
discussion
nken up for
Some participants stressed the need. for developing those
technologies that can ho adopted by srll an
respect, the importance of dzvelopin
In this
marginal fariners
technologies thnt arc capable of
stabilizing yields and also of reducing risks was highlighted.
Further
it was noted that the urgency for davelopin
technolor was being felt
and smal1er
oro and more as farus were
such rural
ett lag smaller
Reference was made by several prbicipants to the Chinese
experience of developing and adopting technologies appropriate to their
situation and to the Japanese experience of introducing only those
technologies bhat wore meaningful in theii context
Throughout the discussion there were several rtferences made to
the need for the strenithening of administrative support in implementing
the progremmes directed to poorer sections of the corounity
strong case was mte for. improvin
'Thile a
the block level administration equal
importance was given to the ncd for a high degree of decentralization
in implementing Government prcgrees
2. SESSIO
VI
SUGGESTIOS FOR FOLLOLtT 7OiC
Chairman:
Mr. G.V,it. R'.o
Discussants:
Mr. P.S. Appu
Prof. K.N. Ra
Rpporteur;
Dr
(I4rs.) Indira Haj arman
This final session was expected to throw up suggestions for
follow-up work that would be relevant and useful in drawing up policies
and progrannies for the expansion of employment opportunities in Indian
The chairman opened up the session by reasserting the
Agriculture.
need for more and accurate information on the question of employment
expansion in Inaian Agriculture.
The discussion was initiated by
Mr. Appu and Prof. Raj by focussing the ettction of the group on the
lack of adequte information, the levels at which such information
should be
nered in the ñvburc, the activities that should be covered
in such investigations
rtd the mobilization of research capacities to
achieve this.
Dcpite t:e highly
in India. the
e1opd state of
:rcup felt th;t the avilahi
inadequate to fully grasp th
qfficial
statistics machinery
sbatistierl information is
previling cond.tious in Indian agriculture
particularly witla regard to the question of labour absorption.
agreement that
with the available inforniaticu it is
what has happene
There was
not possible to say
during, the rcent decades. in Indi"n agriculture.,
The policy r1aker3 pre.ent admi.tted that they- have to operate on the basis
of the availabll elate without. know±n
is a need for mor
hotr accurate they are. That there
and better information on the question of employment
expansion was strongly fdt by the entir. group,
- 2i -
Given t1u size
diversity of India
nd th
b was suggested that
the required detailed information should preferably be collected
separately for o'.ch hobo eneous agroclimatic repion.
Tho work done
by International Crop Research Institute for SemiArid Tropics
ias quoted as an example of the kind of detailed regionspecific work that would
dd siriificnrtly to our knowledge.
while
recognizing the need for such region-specific J.ata for a regional
disaggregation of t1ie problem
some participants were of the view that
it is also important. to go to levels lower than the region in order to
fully grasp the rechanisrns that are in operation, for example, at the
The importance of such micro.level studies lies in the
village level.
fact they help to understand the perceptions of the villagers as to
how their condition
especially unemployment and. poverty -. can be
improved and to learn fron the people themselves of the irtigeneous
technologies and institutional arrangements that are being currently
adopted by the rural sector to cope with hardships and
unfavourable environmental conditions,
It was considered particularly important that the infonnation
generated on labour absorptioi should take into account the total
activity
should include not onl,r crop pro1uction hut also non-
and
crop agricultural activities and non-agricultural activities within
agriculture.
Only then would the tot.l pLrture on labour absorption in
agriculture exerge
In addition to the generation of such information,
it was also suggested. that there is a need for the study o:' the totality
of inter.action,
within a rgion, of
employment expansion
This
the impct of a set of policies on
ould mean linhiig the mutually reinforcing
activities together in what was referred to as a
systems approach.
It was felt that there is no dearth of iititutions or individuals
that could undertake this kind of work
a group of indiviL.uals
to handle thi
tThat is necessary is to identify
institutions that are particularly well-equipped
kind of rearch in the futurc,
he close
oll.boration of
natural and social scientists in providing comle.mentary skills in
undertaking broaO-basea investigations o a nalti4isciplinary nature
for the sol'xbion of the problem of einnloyment expansion in agriculture
was considered both issential and urgent.
Sone participants sugge.ted that it is important to.take a closer
look at the methods of invest ijat ion adopted in gathering information.
The need for detailed village tudi's directed to capture the totality
of the situation with rarc to labour absorption was emphasized.
Specific suggestions for further work which emerged from the
discussion were mainly in the following areas:
There is the need to explore further the implications of
developing dairyirig on a large-scalc particularly considering the fact
that India a relatively land-scarce country, is not ?rima facie well
endowed for this activity. Hence the. question of where the feed for
all the cattle under a large-scale progrmm should come from, is a
vital ara that needs to be closely examined. Inccasing the production
of tapioca was considered. a clear possibility the present production
capacity capab.t: of being quadruplel provided organic manure is available.
Hence the conacaics of tapioca production ant its role as a tattle feed
require furthzT carofl study.
1.
The suggescion was also made that tbr i a danger in looking at
the development of ctairy industry from the coerentional framework of
chiliin plants, owderd milk production tc and that the possibilities
of improving and oxpanriing tc rianufactur.: of local milk products,
such as doodh pedas, and :tndicnoous swt should alsQ be explored.
ii.
The potential o forestry development in aenerating
employment needs to b
it was
-
LxaInincc,
As this was coisidereJ.
udi.s shoud L.
to b. very high,
:aken to exarlirL the
- 26
possibilities of expanding forestry programmes that are capable of
bringing a wide range of benefits.
Specific reference was made to the
potential of ipil ipil (groin in Philippines) as a fast growing tree
which also serves as a legume enriching the soil and as charcoal for
industry.
The idea of
energr
lorests was implicit in this suggestion.
horticulture
Ui., The emloynient creating, potentials of cashew
and s ilviculture are other areas that need to be looked into more
closely.
iv.
The potential of agriculture
hyproduct
such
utilizs±iOn
as the use of rice luisk. in generating employment was suggest.e'
as
nother area that merits careful study,
V.
Regarding the question of insufficient demand for food
within the couritry
suggeste.i:
two important areas
one was the
rh1.h
need to he studiad were
specially to
ossihllity of exporting, foods
gulf countries1 tal:ing advantage of th
favourable geo-political
situation of the country anc the other was th provision of food for
nutrition
progrimres such as school
An important su'r;estion ma
feeding.
by several participants related to
the question of disseminating, the information gnerated.
out ths;b the inCoriation ocnerat. should T-e ma
the decision makers but also to the public
that irifornwtion, should not only b.. ta'
available not only to
t lare.
frc'n t1
given back to the village was strongly emphasieJ..
:t was pointed
'h
suggestion
village but also
The letter was
considered pa:cticularly important in ortr to build, pressure from below
for protecting the interests of the poor.
The Rural Science !ovenient in
Kerala, which tries to communicate with tie people rerarding the role
that science and teclmolopy can play in improvine. their conditions.
was mentioned
en example
27 -
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
From Governnei.t
Prof. D.T.
akdawala
Deputy Chairman
Planning Commission
Goverl)me:et of India
New Delhi
Mr. G.V.K. Rao
Secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
Governnaexrc or India
New Delhi
Dr. DiR.
Bhurthla
Agricultural Coiissioner
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
Govrnnmnt of India
Nai Dlhi
Mr. P.S. Appu
Additional Secretary
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigatio
Government of India
New Delhi
Dr. A.S. Kablon
Ciai.rman
Agricul-ura1 Prices Commission
Niniotry of Agriculture and Irrigation
Goverint of India, New Delhi
Shri P. Habob Moharned
Jolat Seorbary
Ministry- cf labour
Government cf Inciir, W.r Delhi
Dr. M.A.M. Eao
Direct oc
Labour Bureau
Chandi garh
Dr. J, Krishna Murthy
Consult ant
Planning Commission
Govrn11ent of India
fl Jj
- 28 -
Shri L.C. Jam
Chairman, All India Iandicrafts Board
Ministry of Industry
Government of India
New Delhi
Dr. (Mrs.) R. Thaanarajakshi
Member-Secretary
Agricultural Prices Commission
Government of India9 New Delhi
Dr. K.C. Ma,jumdar
Chief, Perspective Planning Division
Planning Commission
Government of India
New Delhi
Dr. D.M. Nanjundappa
Secretary, Planning Department
Government of Karnataka
Bangalore
Dr. (Mrs.) G. Sumithra
Joint Director
Perspective Planning
Department of Planning
Government of Karnataka
Bangalore
From Institutions
Dr. H.K. Pande
Director
Central Rice Research Institute
Cuttack
Dr. A.M. Michaol
Project Director
Water Technology Committee
Indian Institute of Agricultural Research
New Delhi
Dr. S. Patnaik
Head9 Department of Soil Science
Central Rica Research Institute
Cutt ack
Dr. S.L, Shah
Head o' Agricultural Engineering
Pant ic.g;:r University
tnt iagar
- 29 -
Dr. A. Venkataraman
Vice-Chancellor
Taanil Nadu Agricultural University
Coimbatore
'Dr. H.R. Arakeri
Vice-Chancellor
University of Agricultural Sciences,
Bangalore
Mr. George Verghese
Fellow, Gandhi Peace Foundation
New Delhi
Prof. G.S. Bhalla
Centre for Regional Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Dr. K.A. Jalihal
Director of Extension
Unlvrsity of Agricultural Sciences
Bangalore
Dr R. Ramanna
Professor & Head
Department of Agricultural Economics
Agricultural College
Bangalore
Prof. A.KN. Reddy
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore
Dr. N.S. Jôaha
International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid -Tropics
Hyderabad
Prof. M.N, Srinivas
Institute of Social and Economic Change
Bangalore
Dr. N.P. Patil
Director
Indian Institute of Soda Economic Studies
Bangalore
Prof. V.N. Kothari
Department of Economics
University of Baroda
Baroda
- 30 -.
Prof. K.N. Raj
Fellow, Centre for Development Studies
Trivandrum
Dr. V. Rajagopalan
Director of Research
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Co 1mb at ore
Dr. H.S. Hanumanthappa
Training Coordinator
University of Agricultural Sciences
Bangalore
Mr. V. Malla Reddy
Krishi Pandit
Karnat aka
International Agencies
Dr. A.R, Qian
Chief
Asian Regional Team for Employment Promotion (ARTEP)
ILO, Bangkok
Dr. Wilbert Gooneratne
Asian Regional Team foi Emploinerit PrOmotion (ABTEP)
ILO, Bangkok
Mr. Lars G.F, Olsson
Asian Regional Team for Employment Promotion (.ARTEP)
ILO, Bangkok
Shri P.B. Krishnaswamy
Coordinator
Inter-agency Task Force on Integrated Rural DevelOvment
for Asia and Pacific
Bangkok
0b ervers
Mr. H. Noor
ILO Office
New Delhi
Representative from Ford Foundation
New Delhi
- 31 -
Raporteurs
Dr. Abdul Aziz
Institute of Social and. Economic Change
Bangalore
Dr. S. Bisalalab
University of Aricu1tura1 Sciences
Hebbal Bangalore
Dr. (Mrs.) Indira Rajaraman
Indian Institute of Management
Bangalore
PART II
PAPERS
PRESENTED AT THE
SEMI NAR
-
MULTIPLE CROPPING EXPERIENCE IN INDIA:
PQSSIBILTIES AND
CONSTRAINTS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO EMPLOYMENT EXPAION
by
A,S. Kahion
Chairman, Agricultural Prices Commission
Department of Agriculture, New Delhi
Employment in Indian Agriculture depends not only on a system of
multiple and relay cropping but also on its intensification and the ecent
to which agricujture is diversified in different regions of the country.
In fact, the proportion of labour employment would rise in a progressive
and productive agriculture in which crop production, Animal Husbandry,
Forestry and Fisheries are integrated in an optimum manner.
Not forgetting
the scope of the subject allotted to me, the major thrust àf th5s paper
will remain on multiple cropping experience with special reference to
employment.
However, some evidence will be produced to show that there
lies considerable scope for expending employment through a diversified
agriculture.
The fundamental significance of an appropriate technical change in
Indian Agriculture lies in releasing the physical, biological, economic and
social constraints to economic development of agriculture with particular
reference to employment expansion.
The recent technological changes and
particularly the adoption of high yielding varieties, hybrids and the
package of practices associated with them including the engineering input,
since mid
l96Os,
have led. to increases in total output of wage goods and
employment, perticularly in those regions which have, experienced upward
shifts in production functions.
So long as technological change effects a
continuous upward shift of the supply curve, the elasticity of employment
can remain fairly high with regard to output.
It is only when
the movement i's along an expansion path whib does not hit out
a higher isoquant that the high yielding varieties or for that
purpose any other technology would bring about a low elasticity of
employment with respect to output.
The magnitude of labour absorption
- 33 -
in agriculture in different regions of India supports this thesis.
Particu1arly
expanded level of labour employment with rising levels of
total output is evident from the agricultural situations of Punjab and
Haryana.
Multiple cropping is often used as an index of outDut and labour
employment.
There is enough evidence to show that in the rainfed areas
levels of input use including labour use and productivity per hectare are
rather low inspite of a higher cropping intensity
It is mostly in the
irrigated areas where improved and high yielding varieties are grown. in
association with expanded use of inputs and higher level of absorption of
agricultural labour per hectare, that multiple cropping can be used as a
good index of productivity and labour employment.
Recently, in a paper on agricultural advance and opportunities for
gainful employment, the ICA.R. coripiled. data from several studies which
show that cropping intensity and labour utilisation in hu:Llock operated
farms declined as the size of the farm increased.
Table I.
This is evident from
As a contrast, both cropping intensity and labour employment
increased on tractor farms with increaae in farm size (Table II).
evidence is not conclusive.
This
However., most of the studies would show that
relationship between farm size and intensityof crooping reflects a non
linear relationship.
To examine the impact of holding size and technology on labour use
and other related variables, analysis of variance technique was applied.
to the data drawn from a random sample of 238 farms of Najafgarh Block
of the Union territory of Delhi for l976.-TT wheat crop (Table III).
The
small, medium and large farms were further classified into progressive
and non progressive categories on the basis of fertilizer use as a proxy
for tochiology.
The analysis indicated significant differences between
- 31
progressive and non..progressive farmers at 5 per cent level for use of
human labour, whereas fertilizer use and irrigation water were significant
at 1 per cent level.
To Separate out the effects of differot varib', log lincr functions
were fitted.
The results of the fitted function are shown in Table IV.
In cae of progressive farmers, the coefficient of productivity was
significant at 1 per cent level on small farms wheiea
irrigation was significant at
5
the coefficient of
per cent level (Table Iv).
NO definite
relationship could be established in the case of medium and large farms.
It was hypothesized that negative relation between cropping intensity
and farm size was steeper for bullock farms than for tractor farm.
other words
In
tractors would enable large farm size to achieve the intensity
level usually associated with lower farm. size.
Thus any study which compares
employment on thc tractor farms with bullock farms of all size would
distort the results since normally only large
bullock
farms are tractorised.
Even in a state like that of the Punjab, the small bullock farms were not
tractorisod.
Table V shows that labour utilisation on bullock farms declined as
the size of the
bullock
farms under conrparisoi increased.
This is explained
by the behaviour of cropping intensity and productivity per cropped acre,
the two important determinants of labour emloyment of the farm (Table VI).
It will be on from Table VII that labour ue on matching size
tractor farms was higher than that of the
groundnut, cotton and potato regions
respectively.
On the other hand
bullock
by 8.1,
farms in the case of
10.09 and 39.96 per cent
herwasa daclina
'3,38
labour use on the mechanised holdings for general crop farms.
percent in
Thus the
analysis of this section showed that in the event of large sized bullock
- 35 -
farms switching over to the use of txactors, with farm size under going
no change, there would only he marginal loss of employment which could be
more than made up by off farm employment.
Physical Coflstraint to Labour Employment
Table VIII shows that the croping intensity was higher on bullock
farms hiring tractor (BFHT) than on pure
bullock
farms (BF).
The average
per cent area under paddy on pure bullock farms vas lower than on the
bullock farms hiring tractor because of the constraints imposed by the
former system of farming in managing the paddy soils for wheat cultivation.
The puddling, and subsequent continuous submergence of soil under water
for raising paddy would leave a compact, impervious and hard layer of
soil which makes the soedbcd preparation for wheat a difficult, time
consuming and costly operation.
Consequently
wheat in paddy soils was lower (l3.) on pure
bullock farms hiring tractor (21.1).
However
the per cent area under
bullock
farms than on the
the per cent area under
maize and groundnut was slightly higher on pure bullock farms than on
bullock farms hiring tractor which implies that pure
bullock
farms were
able to manage these soils better compared to paddy soils.
As will be seen from Table VIII
the yields of both wheat and paddy
in paddy-wheat rotation wore higher on bullock farms hiring tractors
than on pure
bullock
farms which could be largely attributed to the
practical problems experienced by the farmers in preparing good seed-bed
on time in heavy soils after the harvest of paddy crop, using bullock
drawn implenents only.
Separating out.the Effect of Variables on Labour Employment
This section reviews the results of labour employment of only such
studies where the effect of other variables on employment was isolated
-
through regression analysis.
36 -
Desai & Gopinath in a study on Impact of
Farm Tractorisation on Productivity and Employment in Gujarat State showed
that the effect of tractor use was positive on eniployinent.
With an
increase of every hectare in farm area, employment went up by 29.43 and
38.714 days on tractor and. custom hiring farni and for evezy 100 Rs, increase
in output, employment increased by three days on tractor and two days on
custom and bullock farms) thereby showing a close re1ationhip between
farmers output and employment.
Assuming simultaneous nature of relations in the employment of family
labour
hired labour and permanent labour in a study* on 7lmpact of
Mechanisation on Punjab Agriculture with special referenc
to tractorisation'
the demand function was fitted for various categories of labour, using
two stage least souares tchnique
The study showed that at the geometric
means for other factors affecting labour demand, the total labour ilip:t
increased very s1ihtly on pure tractor farms (512,12 man hour
per h.ectare)
in comparison with 5014.97 man hours on pure bullock farms with very
little change in the composition of the labour force (Table Ix).
Thus the need to regulate technical chance and in this case mobile
enrgy input, to be able to enhance employment should be reviewed in
the contect of a dynamic system of farming and the extent of diversification
in the growth of agricultural sector in different regions of the country1
In other words, even in the context of the present focus on labour employment,
so long as mobile energy input is a small component of the total energy
package in agricultural production system, it should. not be allowed to
act as a constraint on the efficieit utilization of remaining energy
inputs of various stationary operations, seeds, fertilizers, chemicals etc.
which account for over 90 per cent of total energy input.
Thus, appropriate
Impact of Hechanisation on Punab Agriculture with special
refernc. to tractorisation, IJAE, 0ct.-Dec 1916, Vol xxxi(14).
* Kahlon, A.S.
-. 37 -
technological innovations and institutional arrangements could be introduced
to bring the edvantages of inanimate soirce of mobile power within the
reach of small and medium farmers under a production and :productivity
oriented programme withoirb affecting the labour employnienb very adversely.
Diversification of Agriculture
The diversification of agriculture is necessary to enlarge employment
of labour.
This means that labour use can be increased through crop
livestock integration.
This section is based on the results of an
investigation on labour use of three systems of farming5 namely Dairy
Farming, Mixed Farming and .Arable Farming at Nasirpur farm of the Barn Joint
Farming Cooperative Society (Patiala) under the aegis of I,C.A.R. for a
period of six years.
The investigation was carried out on 15 acres o
irrigated and fertile land, five acres each for dairy, mixed and arable
farming units.
The dairy farming unit was stocked with 10 high..yielding
Murrah milch buffaloes. mixed farming unit with six buffaloes and. arabic
farming unit with one much buffalo.
A pair of bullocks was maintained.
for all the three units for cultivation and other agricultur:iJ. operations.
The extent of labour utilised per year both for farm and stall
operations was 1086 man days (on the basis of 8 hours of work per day)
in dairy unit, 532 man days in mixed farming unit and 37 man days in amble
farming unit.
The average net return realised from the 5 acre holding was about
Rs. 2997
Rs.
per annum in the dairy unit,
22)43 in the arabia farming unit.
s.
2730 in mixed farming unit and
Thus the real hope of expanding
labour employment lies in the direction of intensification and diversification
of Indian Agriculture with special emphasis on dairy development.
- 38 -
Table I
Effect of Fami Size Oh Cropping Intensity and
on Bullock Operated Farms
Labour Employmei
in diferent regions of India
Area
Size
(Hectare)
Cropping
intensity
Human Labour
153
79
1)41
138
125
70
71
63
i3
129
(Man days)
Punjab
0I
)47
710
above
10
Deoria (u.)
O01-1O4
1.o6-179
L80-3.07
308 & above
3
134
123
112
102
97
Muzaffarnagar (uP)
iL8
ii1
li78.696
697-lo.66
io66 & above
139
132
97
82
79
66
68
Meerut (u.p.)
0-1
1-2
2-3
180
11.1.5
i65
111.7
194
169
3_)4
216
187
192
171
o-ii6
i6
14
L172.04
169
169
62
128
127
118
126
107
Ii.
&
.bove
Thnjavour (Tamil Nadu)
2O5-3.05
3O6-5T1
5.72 & above
Novgonp, (Mhara.sh:.a)
2.i1.}4._3,21!
32J5
11i,6 & above
J2
123
117
93
86
89
78
78
- 39 -
Table II
Effect of Farm Size on Cropping Intensity and.
Labour Employment on Tractor Operated Farms
(Delhi Territory)
Aa
Size
(Hectare)
Cropping
Intensity
Human Labour
(1an days)
Village Kishan Garh
1,0
100
53
1.3
100
133
1.7
187
in
2.5
133
66
3,3
200
108
JJ0
133
5.1
175
167
5.4
15)
108
5.8
215
133
'C
H
0
0
HO
CO
C\
C\I
'C
0CC
0
:
*
Oo
Qj
H
,c
4.'
Ci
RI
H
cd
N-
0
C)
0
H
-
CU
0
r
0
CO
-pCi
1)
*
(fl
H
*
t-'\
0
'.DO\
0
.f
cl-I
CO
ç1)
**
01
-_
--
zr
CU
C')
oOr1+
'O
0
"0
+'+)C)
Ui
CO
1O
H
L
4Ci
CU
CU
0
0
CO
0
o
C')
H
RIM.
't OS'.-,'
L(\
*C')
*(Y\
H cC
'.0
'.0
O'\
1-i
N-
ocllr1
oq-H
0)
H
F-i
44
0
N-
N-
rC)
(f
I
c
H
0-F'
'.0
'.0
O
O\
CO
c'_)
F-i
0
0
-CO
0
0)
H
C')
O\
11_\
r4
cl-I
p
Cfl
Cfl
CO
C')
C')
I
H
I
C)
H
C)
I'-
I'-
H
H
C)
C)
H
RI
r1
"Cl
I
-p
I
CC
CC
p
+'
RI
CC
r-I
'ci
rlRI
r
'c-I
'c-I
0
RI
CC
P1
RIC)
H
LI'
O
CO
C)
0
F-i
RI
0
CO
RI1
(D'
OC
C)3rfi
RIC
(DRI
I
(I)
P-i
0
Cb
F-i
H
CO
F-i
cI
l
0
C)
@
0
rCC
C1J.r3
+'H
(1)0
U)
,CI
+'r:C
I
I
RI
I
I
E-
I
I
RI
(C
0
RI
CO
CO
*
**
*
Table IV
Log linear
Description
eqjiations for Labour
related variables
Constant
ploient on
egressiori Coefficients
Productivity Ferti
lizer
Small farms
(progressive
category)
-L223
o,588
(0.199)
+0,391.
0.365
Significant at 5% level
Significant at 1% level
0,317
(o.i6I)
Irriga-.
-4ion
H
2
0.3l4
(0,163)
0.27
0,533:
0,363*
0.21
(.203)
(.167)
0.576
(.206)
0.358
(.169)
0.20
eations
Table V
Labour Input Per Acre (Nan Days) on Different
Sized Bullock Operated Fans, Punjab
Labour Input:
1969-TO
Bullock Ope.rated Farms
Crop Region..................
Mediuiu
Large
2j8
3826
2.l8
O.14O
36Ji.7
Cotton
32.03
29.09
2733
Potato
lO1.85
83.10
66.7L
50.95
51.03
6.O3
14T.2
)43.79
37.72
4O.58
39.71t
35714
All Sized
Rice
Groundnut
Sugarcane
Overall Average
Average General Crop
Farms
General crop farms refer to crop regions other than potato region.
Table VI
Cropping Intensity and Yield Per Cropped Acre
on Different Sized Bullock Operated Farms,
Punjab:
l9ô9-O
Cropping Intensity
(per cent)
Production per Cropped
Acre (Rs.)
All-sized Farms
l)49.)40
688.73
Medium
11.82
6I593
Large
139,18
577.69
Farm
Size ategorr
Table VXI
Comparative Position of Labour Use (Man Days)
Matching Size Bullock
Crop
egion
id Tractor Farms
-Size Groups
Labour Use Labour Use Percent Reduction
Compared
Bullock
Tractor
over Bullock
(Range in Acres) Operated
Operated
Operated Farm
Rice
20.-3O
111.03
39.77
3.01
Groundnut
25-35
33.12
35.811.
-8.21
Cotton
50-60
26.95
29.67
-10.09
Potato
10-20
87.59
122.59
-39.96
Sugarcane
20-30
49.12
115.35
7.68
Overall Average
11.5.52
11.6,61
-2.39
Average Excluding
Potato Region
37.23
35.97
3.38
Source:
Grewa1, S.S, and A.S. Kahion "Farm Mechanization and Labour
Emp1oyment. Arricu1tura1 Situation, August 1972.
Table VIII
Cropping Intensity, Cropping Pattern and Yield of
Different Crops on Bullock Farms and Bullock Farms
Hiring Tractor, Ludhiana District
1978
Bullock Fas
Bullock Farms
Hiring Tractor
173,8
182.2
Percent Area under Paddy
15 14
23.3
Percent Area under Wheat
after Paddy
13
21.1
Percent Area under Maize
35,9
23.5
9,2
7.2
56.1
59,8
20.3
28,2
Index
Cropping Intensity
Percent Area under Groundnut
Yield of Paddy (Qtl.Jha)
Yield of Wheat after Paddy
(Qtl./ha)
Source:
Pathak, B.S. et al. (1978) Effect of Power Source on Production
and Productivity in the Ludhiana Dist. A survey report paper
presented in a Seminar on Agricultural Mechanization
Problems
and Prospects held at New Delhi (June 3, 1978).
Table IX
Estimates of Family Labour (L1), Hired Labour
Permanent Labour (L3) and Total (L) from the Cobb
Douglas functions at the Geometric Means Levels
of the Exogenous Variables
Bullock (B) versus Tractor (T) farrns
L1B
208. )45
L1T
218.78
L2B
263.09
LT
260.58
L3B
33J!.3
L3T
32.76
LB
5OI.97
LT
512,12
Bullock (B) versus Bullock + Custom Hire Service (BC) farms:
L1B
273.66
L1BC
268,141
L2B
2)45.63
LBC
2)45.03
L3B
15.140
LBC
32,76
5314,70
LBC
512.12
LB
Tractor (T) versus Tractor + Bullock (TB) farms:
L1T
170.10
L1TB
169.55
L2T
23,92
L2TB
28)4,32
L3T
58.00
L9TB
72.78
LT
1482,02
LTB
526.65
MULTIPLE CROPPING EXPERIENCE IN INDIA - POSSIBILITIES
AND CONSTRAINTS WITH PARTICUL4B TEFERSNCE TO
EMPLOY1iFNT EXANSION IN AGPICULTtTRE
by
HX0 PandG
Directors Central Rice ResearchInstitute, Cuttak
Introduction
The dive'se agro-cliniatic regions in India support plants of
different habitat resulting in the eniergerce of a set of cropping
patterns adapted to each region.
In the past, the choice of crops and
varieties was limited, and this perpetuated monoculture or low
c1opDing intnsities.
-
The farmers were not able to fully utilise their
soil, water and, climatic resources.
As cropping systems are dictated
largely by iocal envircrnment, there could. be discrepancy
between assumed crop potential and actual plant performance due to a
complex of factors.
Double cropping and mixed cropping are not rew to
Indian farniers,although,multiple cropping gained its popularity in
irrigated areas only in the recent past.
In the early sixties, the new
croppilig system got a firm place in national planning, and was adopted
as one of the main planks for increasiflg agricultural production.
It
was realised that most of the cultivable land being under the plough,
increased food production should. come through vertical rather than
horizontal expansion.
At the same times with the introduction of
short duration and high yielding modern varieties (MV) of wheat and
rice, a new dimension was added
which offered the promise of augmenting
the productivity of land through the multiple cropping system.
In
the wake of profitable crop production and increasing credibility of
research results, intensive crop rotations involving the harvest of
three to four crops a year wore introduced in place of double cropping
in many agro.climtic reiotis of th
country.
cropping ias ulso evolved in the cor..text o
The concort of relay
labour intensive small farm holdings
-
Climatic Zones and Cropping Pattern
Based
on climatoloica1 parameters, the country has been grouped
into eight regions each having a new iso-environment for cultivation
of similar crops.
A set of crop rotations aimed at higher productioii
and forming a cropping pattern for the region are available.
(Table la).
Before the introduction of moderi varieties (MV), the local traditional
varieties (LV) were cultivated with generally two harvests a year.
The traditional wheat varieties were of longer duration and were less
responsive to higher inputs than the modern ones.
Under uxirrigated
conditions, moisture being limited, monoculture was the rule with the
occasional practice of mix cropping (Table ib).
Since the local varieties,
in many situations, were less responsive to seasons and other thiputs, they
were considered to have specific demands on the environment for their
best performance.
As a result, the fields were left fallow during kharif
season for planting of wheat in raM and the land was left fa:Llow during
ra"oi after the harvest of kharif paddy late in the season.
Advancement
of scientific farming and introduction of modern varieties, with their
wider adaptability to varying climatic conditions (growing rice in three
seasons) and adverse edaphic situations (salt and flood tolerant varieties
o' rice) have brightened the prospects of growing three or sometimes four
crops in the same calendar year.
Consequently, a large number of suitable
and effective crop rotations forming the multiple cropping programme have
been developed and tested by the researchers for each region.
technolor so developed has reached the farmers
The
fields and as expected
the spread of technology has been inter and intra regional (Table II).
The state of West Bengal) a traditional JuteRice farming region
has
embarked on wheat cultivation with grand success arid likewise Punjab, a
traditionally wheat growing state has very successfully turned to rice
production.
It is seen from Table la that most of the agricultural
regions have the potential of adopting the multiple cropping system with
three crops a year in a row,
- 149 Table Ia:
Region
(1)
Multiple Cropping Systeni in Eight Climatic Regions
of India
lOcation
.
(3)
.
Jammu & Kasmir,
Hhmachal Prâdesh
& West U.P. Hill
Suitable mult.ple
crop rotation
Talabtillo
Yield
.
Maize-..Potato-Wheat
114J:.7 (Total of three
crops)
Rice-Wheat
19.2 - 27.9
Rice-Wheat
27,2 - 29.0
Maize-Potato
26.9 - 198.6
Maize-Wheat
38.9 - 1#9.5
Rice-Whoat
55.8 - 36.2
Maiza-Pota-to-Potato
38.8 - 200.6 - 201.9
Rice-Wheat
111.1 (Total of two
crops)
Maize-Wheat-Gram
146.7 - 50.2 - 10.0
Maize-Wheat-Jowar (F)
44.1 - 6310 -, 1435.0
Bajra-Wheat-Jowar (F)
43.8 - 614,9 - 4)45.0
Maize-Wheat-Moong
40.1 -
Jowar-Wheat-Moong
28.8 - 53.6 - 10.3
Rice-What-Moong
45.5 - 141.1 - 10.8
(Janmu)
Bagateshroo
(q/ha)
(14)
(Kashmir)
Palampur
(H.P.
II
Punjab3 Haryara
Ludhiana
Delhi & Rajasthan (Punjab)
Hissar
(Haryana)
Banewara
54.5 - 11.0
(Raj asthan)
III
Junagarh
Maharastra
(Guj rat)
(excluding coast)
Gui rat &
Maize.-Whea-t-Cowpea
G. nut-Whëat-Moong
(F)33.0 - 26.5 - 140.8
12.8
- 25.6 -
14.2
Narsari(Gujrat)Rice-..Wheat-Moog
27,0 - 21.3 - 14.2
Akola
Cotton-Wheat-Muc'ng
20.2 - 20.0 -, 6.2
Jowar-Wh.a-b.Maize
45.0 - 32.2 - 17.8
Jowar-Potato-G. Nut
46.6
Rice-WhE..a:-Jowar
47.li -- 28.14 - 23.2
(Maharastra)
Karjat
(M.harastra)
229.3
14.1
Contd....
-
5.0 -
Table Ia (Contd.)
(1)
IV
Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh &
Bihar
(2)
Rice4Theat-Rice
136.1
Rice-Wheat-Green
gram
50.3
48.9 - 16.7
Faizabad (u.P.)
RiceWheat
42.7
52.6
Kanpur (U .P.)
Maizo-Wheat
31.3 -. 58.9
Maize--Potato-.Cow.
30.8 - 158.0 - 266.3
Varanasi (u,.)
(Total of three
crops)
pea (F)
Rice--Wheat-Green
41.7 - 56.8 - 2.2
gram
Agra (u,P.)
Pantnagar
Bajra-Wheat-Cowpea (F)
(u.p.)
-
28.6
Maize-Potato--Green 44,14
gram
54.2 - 185,14
- 251.)4 - 8.5
Maize-Wheat-Green
gram
30.1 - 52.9
Gwalior (ii.P.)
Jowar-WheatMaize (F)
22.4 - 36.2 - 189.3
Jabbalpur (M.P.)
Rice-WheatMaize (F)
24.7 .- 47.7 - 182.5
Raipur (M.P.)
Rice-Wheat
39.8 -- 37.2
Rewa (M,P.)
Rice-Wheat-Green
gram
29.9 - 22.7 - 3.5
North Bihar
Rice-Wheat
36.9 - 33.1
Maize-Potato
58.8
Rice-Wheat-Rice
139.8
Jute-Rice-Wheat
2.4
7.5
:170,5
(Total of three
crops)
- 29.1
Contd.
- 51 -
Table ta (Contd.)
(2)
V
West Bçngal
& Orissa
(3)
Jute-Rice-Rice
West Bengal
Barrackpore (W.B.) Jute-Ricu-Wheat
-,
(u).
104.0 (Total of three
crops)
320
25,0 - 5&.0
Rice-Rice-Rice
lo,6 - 50.0 - 36,0
Jute-Rice-Potato
2.7,- 58..
Rice4heat-Rice
135 (Totil of three
138.0
crops)
Bhubaneswar
(Orissa)
VI
North eastern
state
Rice.Wheat-Moong
31.1
30.5 - 150.0
(F')
-30.0
Jute-Rice-G. Nut
32.9 -
RiccRiceRice
31.5 - 38.1 - 49.6
Rice-.Potato..Rice
38.]. - 199.5 - 28.5
Mantripukhri
(Manipur)
Rice4heat-French
bean
60.6 - 8.2 - 6.9
Assarn
Ric e-Theat
85.0 (Total of two
crops)
VII
Titabar (Assam)
Rice-Lentil-Rice
30.7 - 6.2 - 18.8
Tripura
Rice.-R±ce-Rice
82.9 (Total of three
crops)
Ragi.-Rice-Cotton
46.2
Jowar-Wheat-Jowar
52.7 - 19.6 - 25.5
Maruteru (A.P.)
Rice-Rice
18,5 - 57.2
Rudhur (A.?.)
Rice-Maize
52.3 - li.1.9
Thanjaviir (T.N.)
iRice-Riee-Green
36.li. - 36,9 - 9.2
Xaraiyiruppa.
Karnataka9
Andhra Pradesh & (Karnataka)
Tamil Nadu
Siruguppa
(Karnataka)
6.4 - 22.9
gra.i!1
Rico.-Rice-G. Nut
36.0
35.8 - 22.)4
Contd....
52 Table Ia (Contd..)
(1)
(2)
Vfl...... tcarntaka,
Andi-ira Pradesh &
habanigar
()
(3)
Rice-R±ce-G. Nut
)402 - 21.8
Rice-Rice-Rice
39.2 - 23.1 - 53.0
(T.N.)
l0.9
Tamil. 1'Tadu
VIII
Kerala Coastal
Karamun
KarnELtka and
(Kerala)
Coastal Maharastra
Bana1oie
(Coastal
Karnataka)
ce-Rico-ic
55.1 - li.2.2
23,9
Rice-Rico-Tapioca
5.1i. - 23.2 - 365.6
Rice-Rice-Rice
57.3 - 51.0 - 59.6
Rice-Ricc--Rai
56.3
--
7.6-- 33.6
Jute fibre.
Source:
Annual Rcport All-India Co--ordinated Agronomic Research Project,
ICAR, 1973-7)-i. to 1976--77.
- 53 -
Table Ib:
Traditional Crop Rotation for Different regions
Crop rotation followed earlier
Region
I
1. Rice - Wheat; 2. Rice - Fallow;
Wheat.
14. Fallow
3. Maize - Bean;
Wheat; 3. Fallow - Wheat;
1. Rice - Wheat; 2. Maize
Fallow; 6. Bajra
Gram/FallQw;
Cotton
Fallow; 5. Naize
Wheat.
7. Rice
14.
1. Rice
Fallow;
14. Fallow - Jowar;
7'. Fallow - Wheat:
10. Millet - Gram
Jowar
3. Cotton - G. Nut;
6.Bajra
Guar
Cotton,
CottOn;
5.
Fallow; 9. Bajra .- G. Nut;
8. Cotton
11. Rice
D. Lab-lab.
2. Cotton -
1. Maize - Potato; 2. Rice - Sugarcane; 3. Maie
Wheat;
14. Rice
6. Fallow Wheat; 5 Rice - Lathyrus /FaUow ,
Wheat/Barley; I Maize/Jowar - Fallow/Linseed;
9. Cotton - Jowár' l0 Rice - Fallow;'
8. Cotton .- Fallow;
12. Fallow - Tobacco; l. Maize/Moo
11. Guar - Sugarcane
1. Jute Wheat/Pea; 114 Ride - Khesari/Fallow
'Pea,'Fallow;
16. lUce - Wheat/Barler
17'. Jute - Rice.
1. .Ainan Rice - Fallow; .2. Jute - Mustard/Puls;
3. Jute - .Aman Rice; 14 Rise
Fallow;' 5. Rgi - G. Nut!:
Fallow; 6. Jute - Fallow/Potato/Til;
iLc
G. Nut/
7.
Til; 8. Rice - Rice/Til,
vi:
1, Boro Ric'
Rice;
VII
VIII
Source:
Fallow;
2. Sa1
Rice - Fallow; 3. Jute 5. Jute - Fallow.
14. Jute. .- Potato/Mustard;
1. Rice
Fallow/Pulse'. 2. Rice
Paddy/Pulse; 3. Rice Fallow
Sugarcane; 14. Cotton
Jowar; 5. Jowar - G. Nut;
6. Rice -- Fallow/Black gram; 7. Rice Rice; 8. Rice
Moong; 9. Jowar - Fallow; 10, Sugarcane (Adsali);
11. Rice
13. Rice 12. Rice " Pulse;
Pu1se/Fal1ow
G. Nut; 114. Millet - Cottons 15, Potato - Potato.
1. Rice - Fallow; 2. Rice
14
G. Nut - Cotton.
Syrnposiu]n on Cropping Pat'tern in Indi
Pulse;
IC
3. Rice - Rice - Fallow;
!Tew Delhi
1968.:
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55 -
Inputs for Multiple Cropping
The availability of inputs in required quantities and. at tie correct
time, is a prerequisite for successful implementation o1 the multiple
cropping system and for assuring an economic return to the 'armers.
The farmers are aware of the importance of the inputs like im:proved
seeds, adequate fertilizers and timely supply of irrigation water for
dbtainin
a successful harvest.
Since modern varieties are more susceptible
to pests. and diseases9 adoption of effective management and costly plant
protection measures is essential.
tevelopment of varieties resistant to
pest and diseases have met with only partial success, although scientific
endeavour will certainly meet the challenge in the near future.
There is
no subStittité for timeliness of cultural operations which often requires
This includes tillage for land preparation,
adequate ener& inputs.
Since more than two crops ae grown
seedling and interculture.
the turn
around time between two successive crops is very much reduced and. limited,
adequate energy inputs to aocomlish the job in time through machines or
bullock power is essential.
needs no elaboration.
This presents a critical situation which
Hence adequate machine or bullock power is vital
for the success of multiple cropping.
Time and again it has been stated
that the introduction of machines, particularly the operations through
tractorization in agriculture, would replace the labour or reduce their
employment opportunities.
ainst this hrpothesis.
Arguments have been put forth for and
Nevertheless, there is a growing resization
that the introduction of tractor power in Agriculture9 particularly for
land preparation and tillae, has no adverse effect on hunmnn labour
employment.
It has rather added to the total productivity of the land
with timeliness of operation and haS consequently improved the prospect
of more labour employment in totality
(Table iii).
-
56 -
Table III:
Per cent of Tractor Adopters 1967/729 and
Non-adopters Reporting an Increase, No Change9
or a Decrease inFaniily and Hired Labour for
Villages in India, 1971/72
(12 vllages)
Farmers (%) reporting
Adoption
status
Increase
in
labour
use
No change
Decrease
Total
in
labour
use
Family labour
Adopter
1967/72
Non-adopter
5.6
9)4.2
0
100
)4.l
53.1
2,8
100
0
100
Hired in village
Adopter
1967/72
Non-adopter
51.8
iC,2
73.7
1)4.0
12,3
100
Hired outside village
1967/72
Adopter
Non-adopter
Source:
60.6
60.2
Barker and Herdt,
Sisodia and Sharn.a
(1971)
39.)4
0
100
18,2
21.8
100
1978.
based upon their study in Hissar district,
assert that introduction of tractor does not replace hired labour but
creates newer, additional and better jobs for skilled labour in agriculture.
A study conducted by the National Productivity Council (Swaminathan 1970)9
around Delhi,he,s also shown that the labour displacement as a result of
mechanization is marginal and is more than offset by the increase in
5Y -
cropping intensity.
The emploient potential of multiple cropping is
shown in the Table IV.
Table IV:
Labour Employment Under Multie CroQ Rotation
No. of man days
needed pei ha.
Cropping system
Percentage of
double cropping
Double cropping (Maize-Wheat)
175
Triple cropping (Moong-'Arhar.
Wheat)
260
lli.8.5
Quadrupple cropping (r400ngMai z ePotato-Wheat)
432
246.8
Source:
BaLLs, 1969.
Water and Fertilizer as Key Inputs
To accomplish the objective of multiple cropping, the supply of
key inputs such as water and fertilizer has to be ensured.
is vital for the success of the multiple cropping system.
Irrigation
Not only do
rabi and summer season crops require assured irrigation but provision
of supplemental irrigation to kharif season crop against erratic rains
is also essential.
It would help to bridge the gap between the long spaced
too rainy days and also to mitigate a spell of drought.
The gross irrigated
area in the country increased at an average annual rate of 0.6 in. ha/year
during the perio&1950-51 to 1968-69.
During the fourth five-year plan
period, the pace of development was faster and the annual increment to the
gross irrigated area went up at th
rate of 1.4 m. ha/year.
By this time,
only about one-fourth of the countryt's cropped area of 1)42 in. ha had irrigation
facilities and only half of this had assured water availability.
To boost
up the prothiction, the present tempo on irrigation development which
is more than double the achievement at any time upto the end of the fourth
plan has not only to be sustained but considerably stepped up if the
available water resources are to be beneficially used within the next 20
years or so.
As estimated by the National Agricultural Commission, the
gross irrigated..area in 2000 .A.D. could he
814
m. ha of which 51 m. ha
would be irrigabed from surfcc water resources and 33 ni. ha from ground
water
Local varieties could sustain t1uir growth at a lower level of
ecu
fertility without showing any severe nutrient deficiency.
But the
continuous cultivation of two to three high fertilizer responsive crops
a year could impoverish the soil at a faster rate.
Replenishment of the
nutrients gould be imperative to replace the loss if sustained
high yields are to be maintained.
This has found consideration in
fertilizer production planning for increased supply of nutrients in the
country.
The total consumption of N. P. & K. has increased from 0.34 m.
tonnes in 1961-62 to 2.814 51. tonnes in 19T3-7)4,
On the basis of a study
on fertilizer consumption and the trend in use in the past the fertilizer
requirement in the year 1985 has been estimated at 6 m, tonnes.
However,
it is considered that to achieve the target of required food grain
production to meet consumption needs on a high income growth basis, it
would be necessary to increase the fertilizer use to
8.8
m. tonnes.
Choice of Crops, Cropping Intensity and Labour Ep1oyraent
.An increase in the cropping intensity enlarges the labour requirements
(Table v) for obvious reasons.
This is evidenced from the data of surveys
on crop rotation and labour use in 1-laryana state where it has heenre corded
that the employment of human labour showed a definite increase with an
increase in the number of crops in th
rotation.
It is also noted that
the introduction of a vegetable crop in the cropping srstem has further
increased the requiremont
of laboui.
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- 60 -
Table V1:
Human and Bullock Labour Re uirement Per Hectare
for Different Crops in Orissa
Name of crop
1.
Total bullock
labour requirement
in days (6 hours day)
High yielding paddy
a)
b)
2.
Total human labour
requirement in days
(6 hours day)
iGiarif, Direct sowing
Summel' transplanting
170
220
60
150
149
52
Tall indica paddy (Late winter)
ircot cong
3.
Wheat (High yielding)
112
140
14.
Ragi (}2iarif)
1142
22
5.
Maize (Rabi)
210
22
6.
Potato
285
28
7.
Jute
215
28
8.
Sugarcane
9.
Sesainuni (Til)
32
90
22
10.
Groundnut (Irrigated)
172
30
11,
Mustard.
100
22
12.
Coea
100
22
13.
Lady finger
137
25
114.
Brinjc.l
212
22
15.
Tomatr
230
22
Caulifiowe.c
242
25
17.
Chillies
3140
25
18.
Black gram
72
18
19.
Green gram
68
18
20.
Onion
2142
25
6.
Source
Farrii Management Hand book for 0rissa July 1972.
Higher cropping intensities improve jhe total production as well as the
employment potential.
The addition of wheat or potato as a third crop
in one year rotation with Jute-Rice, has increased the labour requirements
by 73 per cent per hectare (Patel and Mittra, 1973). The type of crop
ma rotation makes considerable differonc
in the labour requirements.
Crops like sugarcane and potato rquire more labour. The operations like
land preparation and planting of these cropS are particularly labour intensive.
On the other hand for jute, a higher amount of labour is needed to
acomplisI weeding aild thinning opeatiofls in the field. Inclusion of
these crops in Lhe cropping system that is being followed in Orissa and
West Bengal3 has improved the labour enloyment besides increasing the
crop out-turn and farmers
income.
A modern high yielding variety of
rice needs more labour than local variety (Table VI).
by Lavania et. al.3
The study conducted
(l97) has .further suggested that, for a similar
crop9 when grown on different sized farms, there is variation in the labour
requirements. It has been noted that smaller sized farms need a higher
amount of labour per hectare than larger farms (Table vii).
Table VII: Employment of Huiian Labour (days) per Hectare for
Different Crops and on Different Sizes of Farms in
Varanasi District of Uttar Pradesh
Crop
Below 1.10
11O-.2.20
2.20 & above
All Farms
88.88
82.57
80.Io
81.63
Maize
118.09
115.90
111.99
116.87
Wheat
155,81k
i17.18
121.01
132.17.
Barley
101.51
l24.23
121.61
119.63
78.12
76.b2
63.39
69.88
Others
l01J2
110.89
100.01
101.53
Average
108.73
106.79
99.61
102,98
Rice
Pea
Source:
Lavania et al.
197)4.
FIG. 1
62 .
NPK FERTILISER CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION IN IIDIA
(1971-72 TO 77-78) & FUTURE ESTDAATES
(1978-79 TO 82-83)
PRODUCTION
11111
SHORT FALL
TOTAL CONSUMPTION
1O4O520.-
Ti!
OOO.
TI
I
fl
0
I
1560237o
1O4O
148%
520
n
5T
000-
143%
uI
50%
aiui
Iso
30%
32%
HUH
fl
[fl
77
75
76
25%
I
17%
lt
I I
17%
17%
33
83
83
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ii iui
70
68
75
5720-
i6
5200-
468o_
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38)-p
312
260.
208.
l.f/'
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143%
33:
156.
10)40-
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CONSUMPTION/PRODUCTION (1000 TONNES)
CD
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63
-
Agricultural Operations Influencing Labour Use
Different agricultural operations such as land preDaration, sowing,
manuring, irrigation, inter-culture
amounts of 1abcur
harvesting and threshing require varing
In land preparation
A
the total energy requirement will
vtry depending on the degree of pulverisaion of' the soil and the type of seed
bed required for a crop,
A tiTher crop like potato and eugarcane certainlr
need more enGrgy in land preparation than other crops
The human labour
input for oing is likely to be mtwh hihe when paddy is transplanted
than when it is drilled.
The difference gould be fiirthe' accentuated when
proper alignment of rows and spacing between plants were maintained as in
the case of modern rice varieties.
For other crops, broadcasting requires
less energy than drilling in line.
The labour inputs for manuring will
depend on the volume of material applied rather than the quantum of plant
nutrients.
Application of farm yard manure (FYM) will require more energy
than using chemical fertilizers.
In order to obtain the same quantity of
nutrients (N) farm yard manure would require about 100 times the weight when
compared with the application of area.
The labour input for irrigation is liable to have large variations
depending upon the source of water
like canal, tubewell, tanks and wells.
Irrigating the fields through gravity flow from canals would necessarily
need less labour than when tatcr has to be lifted.
lifting increases the. amount of labour required.
The technique of water
The labour required per
unit of water is much less wher using pumpsets and tubewells with electrical/
mechanical energy than when using bullock or manually operated water lifting
devices.
Major iutculture operations in the cropped fields are accomplished
manually or sometimes using bullock power.
Some operations such as weeding
may be done by using chemical or mechanical means thus reducing the labour
required.
However, the use of these methods is limited.
Harvesting operation
in the country is mostly done manually and the labour required for this
- 6b -
operation is higher than in other operations.
in threshing but along with manual labour.
Bullock power is widely used
However
power does not offset the human labour requirement.
baggingo
grains
the use of bullock
For winnowing and
mostly human labour is used while for transportation
more 1ullock power is needed. to operate bullock carts.
Among the different operations, harvesting; sowing, land preparation
and interculture, reuire a higher amount 0-f labour
Other operations like manuring, irriation
of the crop being for harvesting.
and threshIng need less labour.
the maximum for most
The labour reqiiiremezits for these operations
vary in di'ferent regions5 crop zones ad farming systems.
In the tobacco
growing region in Godavari District, the irrigated area uses l2l./l9.2
days of hwnan/hullockpair labour per hetare whereas
area only 101.6/8,8 days of labour are used,
in the unirrigated
The higher proportion of this
labour goes for land preparation and sowing in irrigated areas,whereas in
unirriga.ted areas,more labour is needed for interculturé.
In Deoria District5
even under rainfed farming5 the -eatly crop needs more labour days (85.8/17.2)
than the late crop (65,l/l35).
Early crop needs m61-e labour in all other
operations except sowing which reouires more labour for the late planted
crop.
The labour requirements can also vary among crops served by
different sources of irrigation.
Canal irrigation system in Coimbatore
uses more labour (173.2/23,3) than the well irrigation (167.5/21.5) system
(Table VIII).
Prospects for Employment Expansion
The successful operation of the xrultiple cropping system could generat
an immense potential for increased labour employment in agriculture.
The
inclusion of the third crop in a twocrop rotation, would rquire an additional
30 to 50 labour days , notwithstanding the use of bullock aid machine power.
Of course, the pre-.reouisite for the estimate would be the successful
management o
t)e threu-crcp rotation having arecIuatc ivantties and timely
availabiJJty of ir.tput-s specifically irri,ation and eno&ry.
The critical
appraisal of the data in the foregoing pages (Tables IV & v) suggests that
the additional labour required is mainly for growing the third cxop (not
considering the labour.intensive crops like vegetables),
emphasised water being the vital input in multiple croppin
As already
the additonal
irrigation facilities as expected to be developed in the sixth plan would
irrigate 17 m hectares and would generate additicral employment for 3 m.
labour/years with the inclusion of the third crop to the two-crop rotations
the three.-côp duration being over 300 days.
This is the conservative,
estimate for only cror production without considering the further empyment
to be generated in the post harvest operations involving an addi-tionaI 3
tonnes of crop produce so obtained.
in.
- 66
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i-1
- 67 REFERENCES
ICR,
Anonymous,
(1968)
Symposium. on Cropping Pattern in India.
Neu Delhi.
Anonymous,
(1976)
National Corninissi.on on Agriculture Report.
111
Demand and Supply.
Annual Report
All India Coordinated Agriculture Research Project.
ICAR. 1973-7)4 to 1976-77.
Annual Report
National Demonstration.
Balis, J.S.
(1969)
Vaidyanathan, A.
(1978)
ICAR.
1973-7)4 & 197)4-75.
The Farm Machinery Inputs in Agricultural Development.
U.S. Aid, New Delhi.
Labour use in Indian agriculture: An analysis
based on farm management survey data, in Labour
Absorption in Indian Agriculture, Some Exploratory
Investigations.
International Labour Organisation,
Bangkok,
Barker, R. and
R.H. Berdt (1978)
Equity implicetion of technology changes. Changes
in Rice Farming in Selected Areas of Asia.
IRRI.
Philippines.
Farm Management Handbook for Orissa (1972)
Prepared by the Agricultural Production Programme9
Farm Management Field Problems Unit.
Orissa University
of Agriculture & Technology. Bhubanewar.
Lavania, G.S.,
R.S. Dixit and
B. Prasad (197)4)
Pattern of labour employment on Vâranasi Farms.
Vol. 30':2.
Agriculture Situation in India.
Patel, C.S. and
Mitra, P.C. (1973)
Multiple cropping and cost of cultivation. Staff
course on subject matter and extension, techniques
on Jute and Masta production Technology Part II.
2nd Edition
5)4-6)4.
Singh, H.P., Nandal, D.S. Economic analysis on multiple cropping in Haryana;
and Singh. L. (1973)
Multiplei Cropping Indian Soc. Agron. 129-13)4.
Sisodia, G.S. and
Sharma, M.L. (1971)
Pattern and extent of labour used by mechanized
farms.
Paper pres6nted at the Agricultural
Implements Symposium at Kanpur.
Swamixithan, M. (17O) Lricultural transformation and opportunities
for a 1arning revolution.
?Dr, Za1-ir Hussain
Menoril Lectures Univ. of Delhi,
MULTIPLE CROPPING:
68 -
POSSIBILITIES AND CONSTRAINTS WITH
PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO E1PLOThEIT EXPANSION IN AGRICULTURE
by V. Rajagopalan
Director of Research Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Introduction:
The capacity of Inaian agriculture to fee clothe and house the
growing millions of population is not unlimited. Ieverthaless, the
enormous resource potential available within frontiers., the widening scope
for evolving new technologies conscious policy of population management9
and expanding horizons of world trade would seem to offer hopes to meet the
challenges of need for development of agriculture and the economy. The
National Agricultural Cor!miiss ion had estimated the demand for 225 million
tonnes of food grains. 10.2 million tormes of oils 11.2 million bales of
cotton9 arid 6I.lt iiiilliori tonnes of mili, against the supply potentials of
230 million tonnes of food grains7 9.1 million tonne of oils9 29.3 million
bales of cotton and
million tonnes of milk) One mjht note that
estimates were broadly based on extrapolation to go for larger estimates
of supply potential if one could assune that the gap between
technological maximum and That is realized in farmers fields would be
progressively closed through relevant R and J strategies for agricultural
development. The central troblem doe not seem concern with production
and supply of farm products but more significantly with their utilization
mainly because of the Uxnitcd capacity to purchase then. This income
constraint may be rlived by
many policy decisions and one
among them
is to strengthen the scope for gainful employment for the teeming millions
c'owding the labour market every year. With the limited success for
widening opportunities for industrial emplonent. the challenge of generat
ing employment falls on agricultural sector and will he there for nect three
z' four d3crldcs.
1/ 'c .riL.fltf 1rtdjr..
art II, Ii
s1r:
ecrt of the National Commission on Agriculture
o: Arculture and Irriaticn i'ew Delhi. v.155.
- 69 -
In agriculture, the limiting factor for expansion of output and
employment is the inelastic supply of land and this major constraint is
sought to be relaxed through land-water substitution9 and landfertilizer,
seed substitution.
The package of such substitutes may be considered within
the fraiework of multiple cropping.
Given a set of objectives of mximizinp output and employment and
one rould hypothesise multiple cropping,
minimizing risks and equity
among other things, as a rational decision strategy to achieve the above
objectives.
There are apparently three diiensions that the multiple
cropping strategy envelopes.
First9 technical dimension which is concerned
with systems of feasible activities including crops
livestock, forest
and fisheries, and actions of production and marketing nithcds and techniques.
T4ost of the questions related to activities and actions are dependent on
agro-ecological regimes and are determined by bioloicai and. chemical
technologies.
Thei' choice
for a given period and reglon is conditioned
by research and developments in crop and animal breeding, agronomy, plant
protection, and agricultural cngineoring.
Secon
economic and management dimension focussing on input and
output prices, magnitude and direction of risl.s and their management, cash
flows and farm liquidity, asscts creation and resource development, factor
substitution and cmnloyment, induced innovations and their
ay-offs.
Generally) agricultural economists would scan over micro and macro aspects
of decision alternatives for choice of activities and actions and propose
a range of stratej<ies for differnt criteria of optimizatior..
for example, like to
One would9
crlorc economic consequences of optimizing total
employment and/or income maximizing objective functioru. or an objective
function to minimize enerry use and/or human drudgorr,
Third
social and institutional dimensions which encompass hian
aptitudes and attiti
s toward
Tation, uroup interaction
faming, family conCiLruration and partici-.
nd lirika
in producticn
].anring., :Lnctitutional
- 70 -
Many cases of social action or
framework and organization of society.
inaction which could facilitate or constrain multiple cropping might be
2owing of i,rans in rice fallos needs social organization
thought of.
and control over water and pest management without which multiple cropping
rca becomes very much constrained.
onocuiture
in an essentially
nd mana
tional support to organize
Institu-
inDut supplies and output disposals
would accelerate the pace of multiple cropping programmes.
Pmong the three dimensions of multir-le cropping
paper, the first two viz.
in the present
technical, and economic and managenient
will
be discussed in detail and mention about the third will be only incidental.
Two case studies will aaso be presented to bring out relevant issues of
massive introduction of multiple cropping in different agro-ecological
regions, and their policy implications.
Multiple Croppin:
a.
Technical Dimensions
With the evolution of seed-fertilizer technologies backed
up by adouate knoiledge of post-disease syndrome and plant protectmultiple cropping strat
ion n-iethods
large areas.
ics have been attempted in
The ii-iitial breakthrough seems to have come out of
significant s&ccss in fentic engineering 'which have produced short
durations p-botoinsensitive
arid fertilizer resDonsive high yiedling
varieties in wheat and rice with varying degree of resistance to
pests and iisease5.
These varieties. commonly grouped under high
yielding varieties
have adaptability over wider irrigated regions
of India.
The intnsive crop breeding programmes which followed
have offered-a number of derivatives to cater to location-specific
needs,
Furthrcior.
for irriatd farming. the short duration
varitis in combination with other crop varieties could increase
- 71 -
intensity of cropoing and land use.
sugarcane can
A tiverconth crop of
perhaps, be subititutc-d br a cotton crop sandwiched
between two maize crops or one maize and pulse erop
given soil and water conditions. three ricc crops.
or, under
For a relay
crop system it is possible to hava continuous croppin.
With shbxt
duration crop varieties, crop intensity in dry land farming could be
Dry-
increased and risk manapemnt through dispersion is possible.
land farming technology is essentially concrned with timeliness of
actions with least cost
and choice of activities which are largely
drought tolerant or resistant or could escape drought.
Aart from crops, livestock fits in with optiuum.enter.priSe
niix gnerating opportunities for additional income, employment,
increase frecuency in cash flows besides reducing risks on the above.
In drylands and cultiv&ole wasteE',apart from regular forest zones,
intensive sylvi pastures and farm forestry would increase opportunities for income and emtloyment.
The idea of three dimensional
cropping adds to viability of farming.
b.
Economic and
anagement Dimensions .
While techniccl e.e'imntal approach to solve problems
of multiplo cropping is relatively sinr;lc :-rnd straight forward,
evolving solutions to economic and management problems involves less
exact and less deterministic processes.
crop activities. one ha
Wvari avctor of feasible
to specify alternative
on the basis of
yield and price axtectations which have th.ir orn stochastic
distributions
The extcricncc in iMr'leicntin.; multiple cropping
projects with predetermined cropmix dmoristration under assumed
yield and price situations has rvealLd the tenuousness of results
Thus, basic economic tenets of
when latter situations changed.
product-product, product.factor, and factor-factor
have to be under continuous fl. x.
assets holding, farm liquiditw an
J'urtror.
rop':nit
relationships
3ifferorccs in
towar-is risks
- :72 -
have;. aven under similar knowledge situations;. caused inter-farm
differncCS in adopting multiple cropping.
Iiormall
on; would expect that cbjectivs of income
maximization ar cotermilus witi that of Lmployient maximization
Howver variations in r:;sc'urce levels particularly of soil and
nd their Danc.gexa&ntS n.ay raise the issu of trade off
between thc two objectivos An employ1lwflt maximization plan may
water
indicate loss income possibility due to resource constrainsts.
InveetL'1it in resource development to romova such constraints is
preference of a
determnine not only wit1 respect. tc indiviaulS
given level of trada off but also i relation rith social objectives
of employment
nd needs o f social ovez'lieads
Case Studies1/
study was riade in a mono crop rice region of Thanjavur District to
demonstrate the po5s1biiltitS of incresing output, income and employment
through diversified and multiple cropping practices.
The study region has certain reculiaritieS. There. has been no
mineral or forest base divtrsifying the economy The industrial development is practically negligible duo to traditional mono crop system of rice.
Eighty five per ccnt of the net arca is irrigated, by canals and 75 per cent
of the cultivated area is devoted to rice. High msnland ratio and
agricultural Libour popuL'tion tend to dcvdop tension between landless
labour and cultivators freuentl7. The peaks and trouhs in demand for
labour associated with seasonal mono crop rice system aggravate th situation
further.
theses of Tamil
1/ The discussion that follows draws information from two
Iladu Agricultural University'
hrr'ocrt.- Study r. increasinC Prod.uctiOfl Income and Employi. S.
meit in he Cauv.r2r Basin. Taxeil Yaiu 1915.
ii0 F .7'. AiTa1f.?
'rn Labour U'e P.ttern and Employment Potential in
Coim1atore Tistrict
ProgrommIn
Approach
l9T1
- 73 -.
For the prupose of the study the region was stratified on the
basis of soil resources Iine important soil situations covering 96 per
cent of the area were considered.. A total of 210 farmers spread in iii. villages were interviewed and the information so collected were analysed within
the fraiework of linear programming.
For this iuxpose a synthetic farm situation was derived for each
soil situation 1 estimatin, all the resources and activitie at their
mean level
Two Drograirimes were run., one with resource supply at the
existing level and the other with developLd resources &sides availability
of land according to crop season., the constraints such as labour in peak
season (men:. woien and bullocks):, water during summer (February }sy) and
capital wer considered Under developed resource situations the restrict
in resources wore relaxed. by 20 per cent in men, women and. bullocks 50
per 'cent in capital and 2') to 100 per cent in summer water depending upon
the soil water complex and the nature of development of the areas The
resource constraints were reckoned at th mean levels and based on their
technical conditions and ason'a1 peaks of dmanc and supp1y they were
specified separately 'for each soil sercs. The net value :prod.uct per acre
of the enterprise was calculated by considrin the cost of cultivation
yield and farm gate prices of comr.ictities With these information on
resource availability and input cocfficients the pro.ranmes wore run for
each soil situation
inteflsity 01 cropping) income and employment
over the existing plans a:e derived and presented in Table I. It could be
seen that the income and ea;1oyitent couid b increased in all the soils
through reorganisation of existing resources , though with varying degrees.
Furtherirore, one might note decreases in crorping intensity in Vallam
Budalur and. uduku1arn soil series wherein prnnial crops such as grapes
and mulberry enter in optimuiii plans In other crises crop nixtures such as
Percenta:c changes in
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- 15 -
Table II
Regional Optimum Plans - A Comparative Statement
Existing
Plan
Crop Particulars
Optimum
Plan
with
Existing
Resources
Opt linum
-Plan II
Increase
with
Developed
Resources
Increase
Crop Activities (acres)
1.
Rice I
I
Season)
1456,710
14142,8142
3,O14
1459,282
0.56
Rice II (ii
)
JJ41,9145
143,6fl8
-.69.28
61,779
-56.149
146,531
59,500
27.37
1519500
225..59
(
Groundnut
Groundnut (R)
9,529
14,995
Groundnut (R) and
Redgram (R)
31,212
Blackgram
109719
126,630
1083.22
113,635
960.13
Gingeily
9,170
136,1:86
1388.140
325,372
314148,22
Suarcane
7,021
13,505
92.36
19)383
i1617
Ragi
2,535
1,031
6o.1O
Varagu
20,9314
-86.12
14,191
-798
Banana
2,1145
2906
3039
134,92
15,1145
606.06
25l66
37)166
147.68
37,166
147.68
Coconut
Grapes
Cashew
Mulberry
Cotton
Total
2.
5.
3,8014
130
38.25
22,0314
35.93
-
12,391
-,
13,000
-
1i0,3h
911,678
1.35 1)261,617
635038
623,0147
82.143
71.76
655,692
53.83
135,358
17.57
2145,110
562,405
28.214
146.17
6377
Cash Crops
(acres)
(percentage)
14,
22,1410
-
Food Crops
(acres)
(percentage)
3.
13,1406
2,935
16,210
-2652
J4..6i
12,2914
Income (in Million
Rupees)
Labour en
Men
Women
Bullocks
3C.17
26.39
10.51
31.10
28.72
9.50
5O.77
66,59
14.03
i41,Y
8.33
37.21
12.10
37.142
141.00
--q,6i
15.13
Table II (Continued)
MultiDle Cropping System Indicated in Optimum Plans
Kalathur Soils
Pattukkottai Soils
Alathur Soils
Blackgram
i
Rice
Rice
ii
Rice
Rice Cotton
1110
Sugarcane
1.
111cc
Groundnut - Iaize
Rice
Groundnut
P.agi
Rice - Groundnut
Gingelly
i,
Sirle cr02 rice
Green manures
IL
Rice - Rice
Grams
iii.
Rice
Cotton
111cc
Sugarcane
Madukkur Soils
i.
Rice
Groundnut.
Maize
:
Adhanur Soils
Padugai Soils
Vallam Soils
IL
Banana
iii.
1iulberry
i,
Rice
Rice - Grams
ii.
Rice
Rice
liL
Sugarcane
I.
Rice
Rice - C1nelly
ii.
Rice
Rice
iii.
Lanaria
i
Single crop rice
IL
Groundnut - redgram mixtures
iiL
Grapes
Cotton
Groundnut
Mudukam Series
I3udalur Soils
Cotton
IL
Gingell
iii.
Grapes
iv
Mulberry
1.
Single crop rice
ii
Groundnut
iii.
?ur. groundnut
iv0
Grapes
redgram mixtures
- TT -
groundnut and redgrain enter the programme.
The potentialities under
developed resources are very high.
plan for the entire
n attempt was also made to develop an optimum
identity of differregion treating it as one large farm but maintaining the
constraints5
ent soil zones with reference to their individual resource
technological coefficients and net value productivities.
It could be ceen froi
the Table II that the optimum. Plan I provided
in crop
for an additional emnloyrnt of 1.23 million men labour per year
production representing an increase of )4 .08 Der cent over the existing crop
plan.
labour
The increase in the optiir.urT plan Ii .Tas 37J2 per cent in men
and 1l,00 per cent in
omen labour.
The income would
at l9T3-T
prices9
and
increase from fs. 391 million to Rs. 482 million in the optimum plan I
further to IRs.
t5l
million in the optimum plan II.
The optimum plans
both at huicro and macro lcve1 sur'eStCd the scope
for increasing the arca under groundnut, iraize 1urana., sugarcane9 cotton9
Thile the study
u19 gingelly, cashew, coconut9 p:rar'es and mulberry.
indicates the
otentialities of increasin
eiiloyment.
roduction and
-
income through restructuring the cropping svteui, it also brings -to sharp
focus the existing constraints and policies needed.
soilro marginal value productivity of watr in certain
water situations reveals the existence of surnlus water9
evidently on account of smaller operational area. This calls
The
level
for a strenthnin; the infrastruCtUr3 base at community
for hettr utilization of available water throughout the year.
Irrigation Cooperatives suportod by water technology counselline could help in this procss.
In tb: uT,land areas
tion in th'; lowlying
rapid run off and spae cause inunda-
OcktE.
cr harvesting tcchnology
-
78 -
is suggested to relieve the drainage congestion at the lower
levels and conjunctive use of water in the upland belts.
indicated the existence of capital coxstraints
situations. Ensuring eccesibility for adequate
iii, The plans
certain
in
capital would help in agricultural intensification.
iv.
The two plans revealed labour as a restraint during September
and land preparation
November wkn barvestin
of first cro
for second crop overlr
and it influenced the srstem of
eroping and cropping. pattern as obs.rve.d in the plans
The
overall trend showed paucity of labour during peak seasons of
planting and harvesting.
Intitulional arrangements for inter-j
district labour mipation would ease
constraints.
a process of selective mechanisation is desired.
Altcnatively
Custom services of tractors
suggested.
these
power t.iUe.rs and harrows are
Net value product of rice varieties indicated the
scope of location specific rice varieties in increasing output
level.
It would thereford be necessary to strngthen the
research efforts to identify; test and develop location specific
rice varieties.
v
The. adoption of plans for multiple cropping and diversification
in a traditionally monocropecl belt encounters technical)
institutional and other extension bottlenecks,
The dynamism
for experimcnting the new croinE; systems have to necessarily
conic from State agricultural dcvelopmnt agencies and entrepreneurial f.rniing class,
Demonstration of tested results
would help in strength ning tko farmer s conviction in farming
technology.
Further) these changes rqu±re building and
strengthening the markats for both troducts and factors.
In the earlier study
the. objective function aimed was maxiiizatiOfl
of indiVidualiaggr.gate incoire and within that frarnewo'k emloyment
- 79 -
possibilities' were examined both at micro and macro level.
An attempt was made in a similar study at Coithatore region with
two separate objective functions3 the one for rriaxiinizat.ion of income and
the other for maximization of total level of elmDlo:TY'ient.
Such exercises
could. point out the crop activities and their relatior3hips which should be
focussed upon if enployment is to be the explicit object of policy.
It
such
facilitates the policy makers to formulate suitable action progremmes
as institutionalisation of input sutply) pricin
of factoro end products
and others, to hrini into coincidence the output of eirrployment and income
models As ii the earlier case.. the models :pecified w.re dterninistic and
made on the basis of single value parameters.
The Coimbatoro District is marked for its progressiveness and
diversity in crop mix,
In the S'tates outout. of major agricultural
coiodities the contribution of this district was Li7 per cent in cotton,
2I per cent in sugarcane:,
tobacco:,
25
l4
er cent in ground nuts
:!?er cc..nt in cholam and
0 per cent in
66 pr cent in turmeric.
Secondly.
the output of theso commodities support a chain of agro industries
providing continuous employrient for a variety of sIilld and unskilled
In the decade ondin
labour.
19713 the cultivator and labour force
category has shown a sizeable increase to nearly one million. from 0.8
million ie.:, over 25 per cent ever that in.
l6l and this population
exclusively depends upon agriculture for their livclibood.
The percentage
of net irrigated area to net area cultivated hd been around forty.
are the major sources of irriatior1 account.in
by canals with
1414
Wells
for 53 per cent followed
i'er cent of the area irrigated.
A sample of 150 firm households spread over 15 villages were chosen
by multistage ran3or. saplin
were identifi
vere run
to dev
niethod.
From them, reven farming situations
en ti-ia t.sis of averae farm charact;ristics and programmes
on optinnri
1ans w:Lth two altLrnat'-. ob:ec1.ive functions
- 80 o0)
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- 82 -
viz., maximization of income and maximization of employment under the same
The optimum plans revealed that there
set of resources and constraints.
existed scope for improving income and employment in farms even under the
existiflg resource level.
What seemed difficult was the choice among the
For example,
alternate optimum plans because the Objectives were different.
a fanner is interested to maxin.ze his income while the planner may focus
on employment keeping the income in the
background.
Pmon the seven situations identified for the preserr study, four
are garden
lands
irrigated by wells and three are canal irrigated lands
supplemented by irrigation from wells.
Percentage increase in income end
eiloyment over the existing plans are indicated in Thble III.
Of the seven situations, situation 1 and 7 have dominance of
employment plan i.e., the percentage ir:creae in Income and employment are
larger in employment plan t3
i3
income plans.
Therefore it would seem
reasonable to suggest that in the areas represented by the two situations,
employment plans could 'be usçd with advantage to realize' maximum resource
use.
In situations where the indications are mixed) a trade off between
income and employment objectives should be sought déperding upon the prospects of reso'irce endowment and development.
The results of income plans
only in two periods (December
suggest that labour is a constraint
January and February'
March) and far the
rest of the periods in the seven situations the labour is surplus.
This
would imply that there will exist unemployment in the area evet if income
maximization is açhieved
On the other hand, under the employment object-
ive, it would be possible to absorb the available workforce in farm employ-
ment but at a price, i.e., reduction in income levels.
Generally, one
would not exiDect conflict between the two if the coo'erant resouThes siith
as land and irriatiori arc riot constraining the programnies
these limitations, a search fo
Because of
labour intensive activities ma
sometimes
- 83 -'
c-nd up in less income genarc.tirig acti'/itics and to t.he extent the' trade
off between income aria. r:L1Dloys1ent are de'teriinec1.
The figure 1 illustrates
the problem situetion, ihe situation 7, chracterise by a well settled
irrigation system of the Kodiveri canal anicut which provis vater for
9-10 months a year has develop5 a crop system that S 1SI1S income and
employment objectives. On the other hnc3. situation 5 and . again am
canal irrigated farms under the flLT irrigation projects viz. Paranthikulan
Aliyar Project. (PAP) an& Lower havani Project (LBP) respectively, which
provide water for only 14..6 months, Hence depending heavily on wells as
supplementary sources were the outlayers indicating unsettled conditions
in the process of dovelopmant. The positive asociatior! in the case of
situation 6 would seem to indicate a certain amount of stability thaihat
of' situation 5 which has negative relationshii. Further r2ore as discussed
earlier, situation 6 represents Lower Phavani Project which has a stabilised
canal irrigation system for at least 5 months. On the other hand,
situation 5 represents the most unsettled conditions so far as canal
irrigation is concerned, The conditions in PAP remain unsettled and the
effective canal irrigation prospects are uncertain even for -. 6 months.
14
14
The garden land situation 3 and are chosen to the origin reflecting
conditions Dnroaching to stability and they tre located on the banks of
the river Anamavathi and river Fthavani, respectively. Irrilation through
14
wells is not as much assured as that of the former canal irrigation situations. Surplus labour could also be inferred fror their zero MVP, Urdtr
these conditions enuloyment augmenting plan have high tfade-off requiring
sci'ioe of larger income onortunit
pr unit of employment opnortunities
In the garden land farm of situation l lebour has een a limiting factor
for two seasons in the incore plan. In the Lllnloyment plan, certain degree
of comlcmentarity could be asr3umed as evidenced in its lr,cation in the
first quadrant An emplonnent indc.: has b.n computed with reference to
income end employrent plans and presc1tDd in Table IV The results
C\I t co
0- 0\H
0
fl
k
M
H
1
I
Cfl H
H
0
C)
0:1
'-
N
(Y
CO
CO
N
-
O
zr
cn
O\ -
\ t Lz
u-r-t()
CO
\t
L-
c'
) \O -
0
0
v-I
H
rl
0
0
H
-F'
5
ii
H
c\i
H
C.)
r
3
P4
P4H
cl
r-i
p4
00
cd
H-F'
L3
b1
I
c
Cfl:t Lr\D
1:-
85 -
indicate. cmployment potential if enrpiorment were to be the pQlicy objective.
In sum, the seven situations indicr.t larger employment plan and
income plans. However, the trade-off could he location specific and any
generalisation would seem
hazardous
Further, as has been discussed :ariie.r. tue extent Of fllultiT)lC
cropping is manifest in cropping intensity. To estin'ate the relationship
between employaent (Y) and cropoing intensity (x) ri set of regressions
were attempted separately for dry9 garden and. canal irrigation situations.
The results are presented below
Dry farms
Garden farms
:
Y
Y
55.50 + oJoe.o
r 0,352
(3,2i28)
155.00 4- 0,6795 X*; r = 0.289
(0,0636)
Canal farnis
Y = 67,lli- + 0,9-.85 X
(n.2o68)
r = 0,289
Significant at 1 per cent level
- Siiificant at 5 ier cent level
Policy Implications
from the foreoing discussion certain conclusions emerge which
lications
will be discussed a'ong with policy
Multiple cropinc i-we a large iotenti.l in Indirn agriculture and
it can increase cropping intensities to 300 er cent in irrited farming
and at least to 200 per cent in dry lend farring in India rovided certain
constreints are r&xnoved through innovations in
research and
development.
Among th. technical constraints, choice of crors and varieties are
avuilable for irri .ted. agriculture v1ereas they :rc not adequ2to for dry--
- 86 -
landagriculture.
the problems are mostly location
Iz the latr case
specific and therofor
research and testing crops and production techniques
should be location oriented and must include on farm research and farers
eeriments.
This would facilitate rapid diffusion of available technolor
over a wider area.
There is a. need for a large.number of operational
research projects with built-in provision o± feedback and problem identification for purposeful research.
particularly that of 10nd,
Another area of resource managenient.
requires conserted efforts
f both research and devolopmeit agencies which
Through such efforts, resourc.e
are multidisciplinary and. action oriented.
needs of multiple cropping could be identified and strategies for maximizing
resource use efficiency could be formulated.
soil moistur
More specifically) utilizing
conditions, and conjunctive use.of water can be planned for
efficient adoption of multiple cropping.
Among economic and management factors, markets and marketing deserve
careful analysis and action programmes to streailine the existing markets
and marketing methods must be -initiated so that much of risks and uncertainties could be minimized.
multiple croPping.
This would. induce large scale adOption of
Furthermore) optimi
post-harvest technologies, developed
to tackle location spcific problems provide for market stability with
reference to prices and output disposal.
Since multip]e cropping involves
relatively larger proportions of purchased inputs including credit,
organization and regulation of factor markets would seem to be a precondition.
uployment and unemployment in agriculture seem to be localized
and. factor mobility within this sector is constrained by social and
institutional factors,
That additional employment could b
through large scale r.ultirle croppir
generated
progranres is a good augery but it
-
87 -
will be worse if siich expansion is hampered by the above constraints
One would hope that labour organizations or exchanges with enlightened
understanding of prospective ermlooient could remove such bottlencks
through group decisions and institutional supiort. What is relevant to
present focus of employment generation through multiple cropping is joint
action on removing resource bottlenecks particularly of water md purchased
inputs through area planning The present stock of trained manpower to
handle this intensive rograinne my be inadequate but tue size of investment
on training of additional manpower can never be too high. So is also the
case of social overheads to solve post-harvest problems.
Acknowledgement:
The author wishes to thank his co leagues in the Department of
Agricultural Econo:ics fOr critical comments on the earlier version of
this paper.
-
88 -
PLTERNATIVE TECHNIQUES FOR INCREASING
PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT THROUGH
WATER L.NAGE1'NT AND SOIL CONSERVATION
by
A. M. Aichael
Project Director
Water Technology Centre
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
Introduction
A major opDortunity in productive employment in Indian agriculture
lies in well planned land and water management projects.
Conservation and
utilization of available land and vater resources are in fact basic to
our survival.
Both these resources are limited and they do not increase
with th&increase in population,
Thus, during the coming years we will
have to produce more and more food from less and. less land since land
will also be needed for housing, roads and factories besides providing
food to the rapidly growing population.
The requirements of water for
human and animal consumption and industry would also increase substantially.
Sine the initiation of the Five Year Plans, India has made rapid
progress in increasing its irrigation potential.
The area under irrigation
command has increased from 22,5 million hoctares in
hectares in
l977.78.
1950-51
to 53 million
The Sixth Plan envisages to increase the potential
to 70 million hectares.
Thus, another 17 million hctares would be
brought under irrigation during the next five years, out of which 9
million hectares would be covered by minor irrigation projects.
In spite of the spectacular increase in irrigation potential the
efficiency of our irrigation projects are low, especially at the farm level.
Large quantities of 7ater harvested from watersheds, pumped from ground
- 39 -
water sources, or diverted from streams are lost by seepage from the water
The seepage loss from canal water courses alone in
conveyance system.
sandy and sandy loam soils may L'ange from 15 to 4O per cent of the water
delivered at the canal outlet.
Inadeuately designed irrigation systems,
uneven fields and unscientific water ap1ication methods are leading to
hugh losses of water by aeepage and deep percolation below the crop root
zone.
This results not only in the loss of water but also of fertilizer
and brings about an increase in waterlogged and salt affected lands.
There are three major labour intensive water management programnes
of great importance in Indias agricultural development: they are)
Lining of water courses and field channels.
Land grading and field layout for efficient water management.
Community land drainage programme.
Water Coiro and Field Channel Lining
The spectacular success of the massive programme of lining of
canal water courses in the states of Haryana and Punjab stands testimony
to its usefulness and tremendous employment potential in the rural areas.
The programme undertaken by the Minor Irrigation and Tubewell Corporation
has brought in a near revolution in irrigated agriculture in the state of
Haryana,
Low cost technology is aviopted, using locally available masonry
materials and skills, for the successful implementation of the programme.
Lining is resorted to mainly in perniable soils where the seepage losses
are high.
Apart from preven±ing or reducing :Losses, lined water courses
increase the commid area of the chan'iel
saves considerab:Le land occupied
by field channels and increases the irrigated area substantially, apart
from preventing the harmful effects of waterlogging and. salt build-up.
The
traditional disparity in the availability of water between the head end and
the tail end farmers shoring water from th
nearly overcome.
Tc'ii thn fea'ThiJ.it:
evaluated seeaneJr, *t .i:j be
of the
water co''ss
cel:,r
same water course, has been
cf
-"ieh prcjct hs to be
t.:rtec
wt t :Last. one-third
rid :ers ef
Indie
ould
- 90 -
be benefitted 'by lining.
This would cover a length of over 2 lakh
kilometres of water courses.
Thea additional land that
an be brought under
irrigation from the irrigation resource already developed would be about
3 million hectares from the existing water courses, besides the numerous
other benefit which'the irogranlnle would generate.
Land grsding and field layout
A major factor contributing to the low efficiency of irrigation
is the poor development of the irrigation commands. Uneven lands and
fragmented holdings lead to inadequate and non.-uniform distribution and
application of irrigation water.
A well.-designed irrigation system
delivers the required amount of water to all parts of the area to be
irrigated at the required rate without damage to the soil or excessive
loss of water. it is accessible and easy to operate without obstructing
other farming operations.
Field channels and underground pipelines to
supply irrigation water to the fields are located along the upper reaches
Laying out fields of workable size and shape is
of the irrigation runs.
Good drainage, both surface
important to successful irrigation farming.
and internal, is essential to successful irrigation. Provision should
be made to drain th excess rainfall promptly and safely. Integrated
irrigation and drainage planning is always necessary for laying out a
farm area for efficient water use.
Criteria for land grading are influenced by the characteristics
of the soil profile, prevailing land slope, rainfall characteristic's,
cropping pattern, methods of irrigation, and other special features of
the site including the preferences of the farmer. A soil survey of the
area to be levelled is necessary before undertaking the levelling work.
The soil survey map
T.qil
show the nature of the top soil, the subsoil,
end. the material3 under the subsoil.
It will show the depth to sand;
gravel, hard pans, rook or other material that might limit the depth of
- 91 -
cut
as well as the extent of such areas.
Alkali spots will he outlined
The information will aid in planning the
and depth to water table shown,
best possible layout for land lcvelling.
A major part of the nearly
O million hectares of irrigated land
chieve the desired level of
in India need intensive land development to
agricultural production.
A massive human effort would be required in the
implementation of a wel] engineered development programme.
Community land drainage prramme
Extensive areas of low-lying lands in India have become unproductive
due to waterlogging and salt accumulation.
These lands generally have a
high production potential and reouire to be reclaimed by installing properly
designed drainage systems and adopting proper soil management practices.
In India, the drainage problems are more acute in the northern Indo-Gangetic
Plains, mainly due to flat topography, frequent floods, canal irrigation
and obstruction to natural drainage ways.
the monsoon season.
Large areas get flooded during
Drainage in the southern Deccan Plateau region is
comparatively good, as the landscape is broadly undulating and flood hazard
is less.
However, some drainage problems exist in low-lying areas and
in some of the canal irrigated areas,
Therere also extensive areas of
low-lying lands in the rice growing coastal belts of eastern and southern
India where poor drainage seriously affects crop production during the
monsoon season.
In fact, the main factor limiting the prc)duction of rice
in the rice growing belts of India is the lack of adequate drainage
facilities.
Agricultural drainage in a monsoon dominated rainfall region like
India is essentially the disposal of excess runoff through a system of
well designed drainage canals and field channels.
Drainage deserves priority
in the design of transport facilities like rr.ilways and rcad3
The chief
- 92 -
cause of waterlogging is the non provision of drainage in an area.
Even
at places where drainage canals are provided provisions for their
maintenance are almost non-existent. Blocked drains infested with weeds
is a common sight in the cuntrysidc. A p'ograrnme of drainage in an
area should con±prise of 1.rle !dentification of the source of waterlogging
and the extent of drainage required in the p:ohlem area and providing a
suitable drainage system to obtain the optimum environment for plant
growth on a permanent basis.
about
It is estimated. that the waterlogged aras of India amount to
6 million hectares. Management of these areas for sustained high
level agricultural production requires careful planning and proper
potential for the useful
implementation. The programme could ofcr immense
employment of the rural labour.
Accent on Water Resource Development through Minor Irrigation Projects
Minor irrigation programme covers the exploitation of both the
ground and the surface water.
Our ground water resources have not been
adequately developed or utilised.
A substantial quantity of the rainfall
runoff which is lost as rirer flow may be used to recharge our ground
water reserve.
In the arid and semi-arid rgions
during raiziy seasor. should he saved as
by diverting it into basins
pits
excess stream flow
ound water for use Th dry seasons
furrows and recharge wells.
Adoption
of soil and water conservation practices will also lead to increased
opportunity time for the runoff water to infiltrate into the soil, thus
enriching the soil moisture and ground rrater reserves.
Under unirrigated.
conditions, tillage and cropping practices may be suitably selected for
the optimum utilisation of the available rainfall in the area. Broad
estimates have indicated that only about half of our ground water potential
has been utilised. so far,
1/
A.M.
(Maharasht)
A case study of Chandrapur district (Maharashtra)7
(lT7).
Resources In-entory of Chandrapur District
or intErated uril Development, Pub. I.C.A.R, New Delhi.
.
ci.
93 -
for instance, has revealed that the estimated ground water potential of
In the year
the district is 2,25160 hoctare-inetres of annual recharge.
197k,
the number of irrigation wells in use was 17,300 in the district.
It is estimated that another 72,800 trells could be constructed.
It was
further revealed that the average area irrigated by a well was as low as
0.3 hectares which could be increascci subztantially by improving the yield
of wells by the renovation of old wdls and a:jpropriate design of new wells.
Irrigation tanks form a major source of irrigation, especially in
the central, southern and northestern regions of India;
There. is iense
potential to increase the irrigation potential through tanks by substantially
increasing their number, through renovation works of existing tanks and
intensive development of tank command areas for efficient water use.
In
the case study of Chandrapur district referred to above it was revealed
that there are 31.75 exinulzhuzari tanks (formerl oed by landlords) in
th
district.
Although, these tanks are in bad condition due to lack of
maintenance, they provide a major componemt of
rrigation potential in
the district (62 per cent of the total irrigation potential in 19Th.).
of
these, 955 tanks were renovated by 19Th.,thereby increasing their
irrigation potential.
It was estimated that the remainiig tanks9 if
renovated, could increase the irrigation facilities by at least 20 per
cent.
A major under-exploited minor irrigation pototLtial lies in river
lift irrigation schçmes.
of the Gangetic p1ain.
This is esDecially true in the flood prone areas
There is a need to develop lift irrigation
schemes at the state level and on farmers cooperative efforts.
places efforts in this direction have been able to meet
of the requirement.
In most
cnly a fraction
-
94 -
Accent on Soil Conservation
One of the principal reasons for the low productivity in agriculture
is the progressive deterioration cf soil due to erosion.
It has been
estimated that,in Indiaabout 81 million hectares of land, out of the
total geological area of 326 million hectares,suffer from soil erosion.
Out of the net cultivated area of 135.8 million hectares
hectares are affected by soil erosion in varying degrees.
)4.Q
million hectares
56.7 million
Of these, some
re reported to he in an advanced stage of deterioration
that need prompt attention.
The main factors responsible for soil erosion in India are excessive
deforestation
overgrazing and faulty agricultural practices.
Consequently,
valuable top soil is lost and its fertility depleted, resulting in poor
crop yields.
Forest and grass land products have also become deficient
Schemes
for soil conservation fall under the schemes for
immobilising deserts, bunding and terracing on agricultural lands,
afforestation of ravines and badly eroded areas and construction of gulley
control structures. AU these provide immense opportunity for productive
labour employment.
The scope and potential in providing productive employment in the
vital sectors of water management and soil conservation in Indian agriculture
require careful planning and organisation.
have been emphasised since
These are no new concepts and
the past few decades.
However, a key factor
towards their successful implementation has not received the attention it
deserves.
This is the need 1or the utilisation of appropriate technology
in its plannin;,
Many soil conservation and water management programmes
have failed due to this deficiency.
These programmes require appropriate
engineering technology interwoven with the requirements of the soil, the
plant, the cliriate and the. people,
Though, the required technology is mostly
available, there is need to dcvelop the required organisational set up,
training base, and the supporting legislative provisions.
- 95 flIIPROVED FERTILIZER, SOIL AND WATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR
I1'TCREASINC- PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE
by
S Pattzaic
Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack
ABSTRACT
The paper discusses the scope of improved fertilizer
soil and
water management practices in increasing productive employment in Indian
agriculture.
In the irrigated areas, where multiple cropping is feasible,
the available labour get full or partial employment during peak periods
of February-April, June--August and October-December, while in the remaining
period, the available manpower is either under-employed or unemployed.
In the rainfed areas, the available manpower gets full or partial employment
during June-August and again in October-Novermber.
With the development
of dry farming techniques, there may be scope for further employment of
the available labour in the rainfed areas by growing a second crop in
the residual moisture.
Limited state wise data on land productivity and available labour
indicate a highly positive and significart log linear correlation between
these two parameters.
The relationship between minimum wage fixed in
each state and the productivity parameters was also positively and
significantly corrclated
These statistical approaches have2 howeer,
many shortcomings.
It may be possible to effect a -O per cent economy in water use,
particularly for growing rice, without sacrificing the yield2 through an
efficient field distribution systcm and judicious watLr management.
The
water thus saved may be used to irrigate more areas for growing crops
especially ix the dry season, thus increasing total production and also
the potunt5al for productive labour employments
canals, minors ar
in th
Maintenance of main
distributories also oft:r scope for labour employment
lean periods.
-
96 -
Fertilizer may be considered as the king pin
III
increasing
Experiments conducted in cultivators? fields have shown that
production.
at moderate ratesof app1icationft may be possible to
et yield increases
in the range of 39l per cent over control with different crop varieties
Efficient fertilizer use calls for better tillage
on various soil types.
irrigation etc.
operations
thich offer scope for productive labour
Increased production also rcquirs more labou:' for harvesting,
employment.
threshing and processing.
eil conservation measures also offer scope
for increasing productie employment particularly to the tribal population
in the forest and hill areas.
The paper concludes with suggestions regarding future lines of
work to be taken up to get meaningful information on labour absorption
in relation to productivity.
Introduction
Agriculture is t1e dominant occupation in India and about 80 per
cent of the population that live in villages earn their livelihood from
agriculture.
In many situations
most of the work force in the rural
areas are either underemployed e' uneiiployed durin
the year.
During th
certain seasons of
past 10 years) there has been a trend towards an
incrcase in productivity per unit of land area in certain parts of the
country.
This has been possible due to provision of irrigation
of
improved seed varieties, batter soil, fertilizer and water management
practices and adoption of cropping systems.
The labour-intensive
factors in increasing this land productivit' iay be deep plouching, good
land preparation, puddling and levelling, raising healthy seedlings in
seed beds, row sowing or line transplanting
fertilizer ue end effialent
water management:, harvest and post harvest operations with increased yields
and multiple cropping.
The practices such as compost making, processing
of agricultural pxoducts fer consumptior an
sale, iivasoc
etc. may be considered as other sources of 1bDur
:rcduction
tiplo;ant in aricu1ture.
This pap;ir brily dta1s with tLu impact of ircraascd nroductivity per
- 9T -
per unit of land area.through agricultural operations like soil and water
managements and fertilizer use, on increasing productive employment in
Indian Agriculture.
ployment in Agriculture
Pattern of Labour
About 30 ptr cent of the net sown area in the country is irrigated
from sources like dii fEirent river valley projects (major and medium), minor
irrigation projects; tank and tiibcwell irrigation projects.
Depending
upon the omount and source of irrigation, different types of cropping
systems are adopted.
There is a move to effect about 200-300 per cent
cropping intensity in such areas.
Presently, in these areas, all the
available labour may get full or partial employment during the peak periods
of February-April, JuneAugust, and October-December.
In the remaining
period, a considerable proportion of the available manpower is either
under-employed or unemployed.
In the rainfed areas
rainy period.
the system is mostly monocropping during the
Depending upon the intensity and distribution of rainfall,
land type and topography, crops like rice, maize, millets, pulses, oil
seeds and other cash crops are taken.
In the rainfed areas, the available
manpower get fUll or partial employment during JunoAugust and again
in October-November.
for employnnt.
In the remaining period, there is not much scope
Tiith the development of production technology for dry
farming and water stress conditions, there have been attempts to take
second
rop in the residual moisture after harvest of the main crop.
Successful adoption of this in larger areas nay help further increasing
productive employment of available manpower.
Relationship Betweei Productivity and Labour Thnployment
P.s hs already 1.en statcd
wether, b.:;ttc :c so.i
factors like irrigation water, good
fertilizer and wi:er management, improved seeds
and effective pint prot.etion measures help increasing productivity
- 98 -
per unit of land area
Studies on the effect of labour inputs on land
productivity have received very little attention in India) since systematic
data on this aspect are not available frori carefully laid out experiments.
In the absence of this, it may become difficult to workout the contribution
of each of these components)
articuJrly in r3latioll to la'dour u1lization
towards increasing productivity.
An attempt has been made in this paper to ascertain the relationship
between productivitr and labour employment; from information available
statewise from different states, although it is realised that this type
of treatment has many shortcomings.
From the information on net sown
areas food grain production and agricultural labour available for the
-1
1/
the average grain yield (kg. ha
), available
17 states in the countr
.
.
labour (man day ha, year) and grain production (kg. hectare1 .man
.year) have been worked out.
These) along with the minimum wages of
agricultural labour fixed by different states) are summarised in Table 1.
There was positive and highly significant log linear correlation
between productivity (kg. ha) and available labour (man day .ha1
.year) (Fig. 1).
This general treatment gives a broad indication of
the labour input on productivity) although it is realized that more
precise information can be obtained from specific sux'voys.
The amount of wage earned
to sonic extent, depends upon the
income obtained from agricultural production.
The relationship between
the minimum wages and the two productivity parameters (Fig,. fl) showed
significant positive correlation.
Evaluation of these parameters have
thus given a broad indication of the deiendanco of -nroductivity on labour
inputs9 besides other physical and biotic inputs already enumerated.
- 99 -
Water Management and Labour
iployment
Provision of irrigation water helps in increasing the cropping
intensity in a given region, resulting in an incrase in productivity
per unit area per unit time.
The nature of crops raised in irrigated
areas Swill depend upon the source of water
major or medium irrigation
prOjects, minor irrigation projecbs:, tanks and tubewells.
I wish to confine myself to jiidicious and efficient water management
for the rice crop.
The capacity of the existing command areas is based
on a water duty of about 1500 mm fo' rice since the crop is supposed to
be grorn under continuously flooded conditions with water depths in the
range of
6-i
ems during the entire period of crop growth.
Work done at
the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, shows that through a
judicious water management schedule, an economy of 10 per cent may be
effected without sacrificing the yield.
The water thus saved may be used
for extending further areas to grow rice, especially during the dry season.
This can, however, be achieved only through an efficient field distribution
system consisting of field channels which avoid conveyance losses that
occur under field to field irrigation.
Full utilization of the irrigation
facilities calls for proper maintenance of main cana1
1
minors, and dis-
Efficient water management thus offers scope for
pro.uctive employment of labour through extension of area under cultivation
and through the work required in the maintenazice of the network,
especially in the loan season of labour employment.
Fertilizer Use and Labour
:-
nploymant
Fertilizer may he considered as the kingpin in ineeasing agricultural
It also increases the efficiency of irrigation water and
production.
in fact irrigation without fertilizers is like a resçurce wasted.
The
overhead, cost on ti1la. irrigationwcd control and. othcr farming
operation
mc
fertilizers or
no
5
vrry very much if on
ton/h.
prod.uces 1 tori/ha without
ith fertilizer usc
productivity of man hours utilized.
whick thus irrroves the
- 100 -
Field experiments conducted all over the country indicate almost
universal response to application of nitrogen fertilizers.
There is
response by different crops to the application of Dhosphorus or/and
potassium in some regions, most of which hac been identified and
delineated.
Unfortunately for most Indian farmers, fertilizer is synonymous
with nitrogen.
Data on the effects of incresing rates of nitrogen
grain yield of different rice varieties in the wet and
application on th
dry seasons conducted at different locations during the past 10 years in
India throth All India Coordinated Rico Improvement Project (AICRIP)
are presented, in Table E. Information in respect of new rice cultures
evolved at the Central Rico Research Institute, that may te considered
suitable for growing rice in the wet season) is presented in Table IlL
With the current prices of fertilizer and rice and the existing so.cio-economic
constraints, a rate of 050 kg/ha nitrogen with a ceiling of 60 kg/ha
may be considered. desirable for the wet season while in the dry season,
a rate of 80-100 kg/ha with a ceiling at 120 kg/ha may be considered
optimum.
With this ceiling, there is scope for additional production
in the range of
season.
5-9
Q/ha in the wet season and 15-20 q,/ha in the dry
With the new cultures, this figure may be in the range of 10-15
qjha in the wet season.
Experiments have also shown that the efficiency
of a given input of nitrogen can be increased by a further 15-20 per cent
through fractional application.
These are the magnitude of rsponses that
one is likely to get at the experiment stations.
Similar results have
been obtained for other crops from tests conducted at
xperimnt stations.
The All India Coordinated Agronoraic Research Project has been
conducting similar tests with different crops in simple trials under
cu1tivators
fields.
during the years
Selected results from several experiments conducted
1974-75
to
1976-77 are summaried in Table IV, for-the main
cereal crops like rice, wheat, maizo. bajra and
Information in respect of pulses and oil seed crops is meagre.
It may be
seen that the magnitude of increase in yield to the application of a
moderate rate of 60 kg/ha i and 30 kr/hr each
f
25
and I0 was in
the range 13 .91 per cent over the control -ield for the different crop
-101W-
varieties on various stil types.
There are, however,) instances of still
higher yield increases with higher rtcs of application of N and P in
some situations.
I-b is, therefore, no exaggeration if on
calls fertilizer
the kingpin in increasing, crop production.
After the energy crisis, the fertilizer prices have gone up and
there is notJanincrcsing trend. tQwards us
of organic and green
manures which beip in recycling waste meterials and preventing environmental
polution.
TaW..é Vindicates the seoe of continuous addition of moderate
amounts of 5 ton/ha compost in building up fcrtiiity and. sustain.ng
productivity.
Riáe cultivation in wet lands especially in the monsoon seasons,
poses the problem of fertilizer application during later growth periods
of the crop since the fields are waterlogged and cannot be drained or
i'igated
t will to effect nitrogen top dressing.
In such situations,
there is a need for the use of controlled release nitrogen fertilizers.
A judicious combination of 30 kg/ha nitrogen in the form of compost
applied to flooded soil eithcr two weeks before puddling or at puddling
and 30 kg/ha nitrogen as chemical fertilizer applied at puddling assured
adequate available nitrogen in the soil during the initial growth stages
of the plant (Table VI). These combinations also met with the nitrogen
requirements of the crop during its entire growth period through slow
release characteristics which was evident from the comparable grain.
yields obtained with the best split of annuoniraum sulphate at the same
rate of nitrogen (Table VI).
hat is the scope of-productive labour employment expansion through
fertilizer use?
Efficient fertilizer use calls for good land preparation,
proper land levollin, 'besides the labour required for application,
irrigation and drainage.
Under conditions where compost is used labour
is also required. -!or the preparation of compost.
Fertilizer application
results in increased yield tO the tune o:L 10.20 q/ha which will require
more labour fce' harvstinç-, threshingand. other-processing operations.
- 102 -
These are some of the scopes for productive employment of labour with
fertilizer use.
The agriàultural lands in a village or a cluster of villages are
generally
located
at varying toposequences.
There is a tendency for
the
farmers to grow two to three varieties , especially the modern varieties,
This results in untimely agricultural
in all the toposcquonces
the h.rvesting
operations when the crop is ready all at one time, Choice of
of varying durations is now available and if the farmers are
to grow the earlier varieties at the higher locations and the
operations at th
and other
varieties
motivated
commencement of the season and delays
later ones in the lower locations, there may be scope for doing all the
agricultural operations in time and also for continuous employment of the
available labour althrough the growing season.
Soil conservation and land development measures offer much scope
for productive employment., especially for the tribal communities in
the forest and hilly areas.
These also help increasing productivity of
the developed land by growing crops like coffee, sesal, sabai grass,
lemon gress, bamboo and pasture in the hilly areas, casurina, cashew and
coconut in the coastal tracts
while conserving the land from erosion and.
other physical processes of destruction.
Information on :3011 conservation
measures like contour bunding, terracing, land levelling ..tc. and their
effect on productivity and labour employment appears to be too meagre to
give any account here.
Concluding Remarks
From the foregoing discussion and from the other papers presented
in this syinposii, it tight he seen that adequate and precise information
is not available on the effect of improved agricultural practices, which
help increaee lend productivity, or the prouctive erloyont of labour
and its oxpanior.
The
vbionrl Commission of Agriculture in its
projections has indicated available land per man te
c 0.22 ha
i
1985
- 13 -
and 0.17 ha in 2000.
1.29 tonne/ha and
The corresponding yield of food grain will be 1.18-
1.87
tonne/ha respective1y.'
The estimated additional
employment potential under different agricultural progranmies like crop
productions agrarian t'eforms, soil conservation and land developments
animal husbandry, fishery and forestry
irrigation and land formation
will be
l.7
8/
million man years br the turn Oj. the century.
The information at present available on productive labour employment
is based on data obtained from different types of sample surveys.
sample surveys have their own limitations.
Further
These
no precise definition
of labour of different categories has 'oon made in many of the presentations.
The categorisation of labour vary in different studies.
It is high time
that different categories of workers are precisely defined.
on the question of productive labour eriployment
when working
the impact of labour
saving factors like full or partial mechanization, improved machinery
and implements.. fertilizer uso
ete. have all to be taken into account.
It is felt that a meaningful estimate can be obtained only
through well laid out experiments.
The simple trials concerning alternative
improved techniques for increasing productiviby conducted on cultivators9
fields under the All India Coordinated Agronomic Projects appar to be
the most suitable experiments from whore such information can be obtained
This may be more meaningful since all the tests have a control treatment
where the farmers9 usual practice is adopted.
It is high time that the
scientists concerned with agricultural production., and economists and
other social scientists interact in these simple tests on the cultivators9
fields which may help getting information on labour absorption in relation
to productivity for use by our planners and policy makers.
Acknowledgement
The hel
procesiri
o
rendered ly'r
hri fl,, Dash in compilinF., tabulting and.
statistical data i
gratefully acknowledged.
References
1/
Fertilizer Statistics
of India
2/
1976-7T (i977)
The Fertilizer Association
New DelhL
M.V. Rao
S
Patnaik and VK. Vamadevan
(19T1),
Soil and water
management and fertilizer use for optirising. rice yields.
Indian Farming
(October issue).
3/
V.K. Vamadevan and S. Patnaik
small land holdings..
/
Oryza 11
(l971).
Water management practices for
11-16.
Annual Report of All India Coordinated Agronomic Experiment Project
l97.-?3.
5/
Annual Report of All India Coordinated Agronomic Experiment Project
1975-76.
6/
Annual Report of All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project
1976-77.
7/
Report of the National Commission on Agriculture
(1976)
8/
Report of the National Commission on AFriculture
(1976) Part XIII
Rural Employment and special areas proranirae.
Part X - Inputs.
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CU!))
-s
P-s
CU
4.)
cU
-p
CU
CU
cci
RI
RI
CU
'CU
CU
cti
>
C))
CU
U)
r
0
P-s
'H
RI
RI
+
C))
CU
s-
cci
RI
s-I
'H
H \O
'N
N-
- io6 Table II: Effect of Increasing Rates of Nitrogen Application on
the Grain Yield (q/ha) of Different Rice Varieties
(Source - AICRIF Reports)
Dry Season
Season
N Applied
Kg/Ha
Pankaja!
a!
Jagannath
h/
Jara
c /
Jaya-
0
32
31
30
36
50
31
31
39
147
100
56
39
150
140
33
200
39
35
Late duration
148
61
63
Jaya
Jayaf/
varieties
31
31
32
140
3f
39
140
80
36
120
30
i1
160
25
146
0
146
50
a! Mean of 25 tests conducted at different locations in India during 1969
to 1972 in lowland oi1s.
b/ Mean of 32 tests conducted at different 1ocatios in IMia duriflg 1969
to 1912 in medium land soils
c/ Mean of 25 tests conducted at different locations in India during 1969
to 1973 in the drr season.
./ Mean of 9 tests eonductod.with different medium and late duration
varieties durin2; 19714 to 1975 in lowland soils.
e/ Mean of 70 tests conducted at different locations in India duriflg 1973
to 1975 in medium land soils
f/ Mean of
to 1976
II
tests conducted at diferent locations in India during
in the cir
soason
l974
- 107 -.
ab1e III:
ffect of incrasin Rates of Nitrogen Application on
tle GrainYie1d(jha) of Diffrent Cultti.res and
Varitie Grown on Lowland. Soils
(Mean of Two Wet Seasons in
1975, 197,
ORRI)
£1' applied kg/ha
Variety
0
30
60
90
Mean
Pankaj
27
36
38
29
35
Jagannath
29
36
39
39
36
CR;1005
36
)48
50
CR.1009
29
41
L9
39
CR.10l0
36
18
53
145
CR.l0l1
38
148
149
1414
Mahsuri
32
37
39
36
36
CR.1014
27
33
31
31
31
32
38
142
143
Mean
37
- 108 -
Table IV:
Response of Different Crops to Application of Fertilizers
(Data Summarized from Agronoriaic Experiments in Cultivators
Field Conducted in the All India Coordinated Agronornic
Research Project of the ICAR dürin the Years. l97-75 to
Crop
Rice
(wet Season)
(Dry season)
Soil
rype
Yiel2 of
01
Tes±s
Yield at
3O I30
l0
-
kg/ha
,
ie
Increase
Alluvial
372
2399
)4,207
75
Red and Laterite
892
273O
14,i83
53
Mixed red and
black
1)46
3022
)4,ça8
63
Alluvial
13)4
2.61!3
39985
51
Red and LateritC
97)4
2J83
)4,126
179
3690
5,576
Alluvial
975
2,036
3,515
73
Red and Laterite
535
l,26)4
2,218
75
1)435
2,7)4)4
91
red and
Wheat
o
To
Mixed red and.
Black
739
20l
39221
60
Maize
Alluvial
196
1,171
29060
76
Bajra
Alluvial
122
1,7)46
89
Black
193
1,30
61
Calcareous
77
i,35)4
71
Red antI Lateritc
35
J.,335
70
Jawar
r'i an
79
:.
tL3C.
3J.acJ;.
7t7
-
a
(
2,
75
- 109 -
Table V:
Grain Yield (q/ha) in Selected Years in Different
Fertilizer Treatments in Experiments on Continuous
Rice CroppingTTJnpublished data of
CRRI, Cuttack)
Bhadrachalam et al
1977
1976
1971
No
iTo
Corrpot Co]npost Moan Compost Compost Mean Compost Compost Mean
Dry Season
?li.
30
26
23
29
26
23
28
26
N
6)4
714
69
56
Eli.
60
6
62
59
NP
69
71
70
61
6
62
514
58
56
NK
66
68
G'r
55
61
58
52
59
56
NPK
71
71
71
55
61
58
56
57
57
59
63
-
50
56
-.
148
53
51
Control
Mean
C,D. 5 Compost
2.5
1.7
2.
Fertilizer
39
27
3.7
Wet Season
8
11
9
17
22
20
25
N
27
27
28
34
30
36
36
NP
33
36
NK
27
31
2
33
38
36
NPK
36
32
314
:314
36
35
2E
27
30
314
Control
Mean
29
.
itT
:
48
58
50
1414
146
Cornpost
IS
1.14
2J
Fertilizer
14
2,2
14.2
CD. 5
1414
-
r
CO
C\j
i-
1f\
G\
lf\
'I)
L--
H
C'i
-.
Cfl
z1-
C')
t-
0
N-
H
I)
tt\
0
00
cn
-
-p
rH1)
r1 +
Cd
H
-
-
çr,
U\
LI
0
rdc)
cdZ
N-
-pc-i
0
H 0
H
o
rl
0irI
c-i
0
r1
H
H
Cd
Co
C).p
r4 C
4)
C)
N-
.i
H
cd 0
0
Hi
C) -
CO
-H
0
iN
0+'
H
H
OH
0
4-)r4
(fl 4.)
Cl
i
0
P-to
H
Cl)
r1
H
a)
H
El
Ri
oci)
.'-)H
0
L(\
0
C
0
0C
0
0
00
(") Cfl
0
1500
100.
500
.f.
100.
50
Ai1b1e labour manday.ha
1000
.yi
(x)
Pi.1 R81a onahip of available labour wi t)i grain produc3C11.
- L12
grain yield kg.ha
600
2400
10o
Grain roduetiofl kg,a11aflYrI Cx)
1200
3000
Ia and per man per year.
Pig4l RelatLofl8hiP of uiniIfluDl wae yiith productivity per
- 113 -
PRODUCTIVE 1LOYNT,
ALTERNATIV.,
4ITH REFERENCE TO I4AJOB AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS SUCH AS
LAND PEEPARATION. EOWIG IETIGATIO
by
Prof. and Head
30 .t,
HARVESTING AND THRESHING.
Shah
Dept. of Aericuitural Economics.,
G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar.
In this article data from several studis, are presented to find the
productive use of labour in alternative technioucs iii land preparation,
sowing
irrigatimhrvesting and threshing.
An attempt is also made to
analyse te labour use in alternative techniques in selected crops by size
group of farms. First te labour use in alternative techniques in land
preparation and sowing are described
followed by that in irrigation, liar-
vesting and threshing respectively..
Labour Use in Alternati'e Technig.ueo of Land Preparation and Sowing
Eerimcntal data is presented from
studyin which energy
requirement and. its cost for maize - wheat crop rotation with the following
combination of power sources was determined.
Bullock power with indigenous implements (T1),
Bullock powir with improved implements (T0),
20 H.P. tractor power with matching implements
l)
and
35 H.P. tractor power witl matching implements
The energy derived from different sources has been expressed in terms of
nergy conversion formulae used. were (i) one
hp. hr. and Kcal x lOs,
manhour = 0.1 lip and (2) one bullock (pair) houx
i.00 hp.
Proportions of energy derived from various sources of power are
given in Table :
It is seen from tL
fertilizer applica.tion
1/
weed.ing
table that some operations lil;e
plant protcction and harvesting for both
ricultural prothction I.C.A.R.
coordid project reTort 19T5T. G.E. Pant University:, Fantnagar5
Project Leadtr.
1.hrestha
S.F.
Energy requirmnts Th intnivo
In case
the crops have been done by manual labour for all the treatments.
of wheat threshing was done by 20 hp tractor dth thresher for T19 T2 and
T3and by 35 hp tractor with thresher for T)4.
Only land preparation and
sowing have been done by different alternative methods.
The proportions
of human3 bullock5 mechanical and electrical energy derived from different
sources for growing maize were 10
for T1, T25 T3 and T
distribution was.
0:0:0
10:90:0:0, 1:0:99:0
respectively and for growing wheat the proportionate
33:67:0:09 31:66:O:0 1:0:99:0
for T1, T2., T3 and T
and 1:0:99:0
respectively.
and
1:0:99:0
and 1:0:99:0
The enexgy required for sowing opera-
17:83:0:0, 1:0:99:0 and 100:0:0:0
17:83:0:0, 17:83:0:0. 1:0:99:0 and 1:0:99:0 for wheat
tions in the saue order were 100:0:0:0,
for maize and
Table II presents the total energy and mandays required per hectare
for land preparation and sowing operations for growing maize and wheat
under different alternative methods.
Total reauireraents of labour for
land preparation for growing maize was highest; 8,27 mndays, when the
operation was done by bullock power with deshi
The labour requirement was
lough and wooden plank CT1).
.82 niandays when the operation was done by
bullock power with disc harrow and wooden plank (T2), 1.97 mandays when
done by 20 hp tractor with mountcd disc harrow and wooden plsnk (T3) and
1.79
mandays by 35 hp tractor with mounted disc harrow and wooden plank
(T1) respectively
A large reduction in the mandays requirement (from
only
2.91
73.56
mandays to
mandays) for sowing operation of maize crop was noticed when the
operation was done by bullock Dower with maize planter (T2) as compared to
that by complete manual power (T1).
and
0.85
The labour requirement was only 0.40
mandays respectively if 20 hp tractor with maize planter (T3) and
35 hp tractor with maize planter (T) were used for the operatIon.
of wheat the labour requirements for land preparation wa
operation T1,
and
51,61
iandays by operation T9,
5,36 mandays by T.
ment for T1, T
T3 an
For sowt
of
2.66
mandays
In case
6l,3mndars by
tr
operation T3
rhee,t tbc. rc:pctive labour require-
T, was 5,O6. I2, 0.36 and Oi.3 n:ndays respectively.
- 115 -
The data shown in Table III revealed that there was no significant
effect of power sources on the yield of the crops of maize and wheat.
a large variation in the cost of energy per unit o
But
production was noticed.
The cost of energy inputs to produce one quintal of maize was the highest
in case of T1.
s. 59
If T2 was followed for growing maize, the cost
per unit of produce is lowest i.e,
Bs. li.kii,
It was Rs.
52.73
and
for
Rs. 19.i3 for T.
In case of wheat the cost of energy per unit produce has decreased
from Rs. 52.25 for T1 to Rs
Rs. 15.78
L4.2O for T
for T2 and T3 respectively.
The cost was-Rs. 18.69 and
it niar be concluded that bullock
power with improved implements provides required energy to produce one
unit of wheat at a lower cost than the alternative technique of bullock
In case of mechanized techniques the
power with traditional implements.
higher the me.chanisation, the lower was the àost of energy inputs.
Labour use in alternative techniques of Land preparation - Field Data
Bullock power aid tractor power ae the two alternative techniques
available in land preparation.
To compare the productive enpioyinent of
1/
labour in these alternacives, data froi a study conducted in l97l72
Uttar Pradesh are used.
The data pertain to
in
erut district in Western
U.P. which was selected on th basis of ranking with respect to percentage
of total cropped area, percentage of irrigated area, percentage of cropped
area under High Yielding Varieties, number of power threshers and tractors
and number of private tubewells.
Ori
development blocI
nd three vill.ges
from the block were selected on the basis of ranking with respect to number
of tractors, number of tubewells, nuribcr of power threshers etc.
In all
150 farmers' were selected randomly from the three villages under three size
groups of holdings viz, small less than 2 hectares, medium between 2 and
1/
Impact of Frr ecinization on th.mian nc1. i3ullck. Labour use in two
GJi.
cnt University,
regions of TJ... L.:. i3ingh & Rajvir Siagh
Fantnsgar
14
u6
-.
hectaros and large above ii hectarc-s eccordiri to probability proportional
to the number of farms in each size group. The faris were reclassified as
mechanised farms having ocmed tractor end tuhre1l partially mechanised
farms having Iullocks and tubewell and bullock farms with only bullock as
the main source of energy. But for our limited purrose. here only mechanised
farms and bullock farms have been compared where land preparation has been
done mainly by bullock labour in the bullock farms and by tractor power in
mechanised farms. It is found that on an average the bullock farms had
an operated area of 2,06 hectares and trcctor farms 7.5 hectares. The
cropping intensity in these farms was respectively 2l2 and l91. The main
crops were sugarcane ia1. paddy whest and fodder crops. The proportion
of farmers sowing HYV seeds was higher on mechanised. farms where fertilizer
expenditure per acre was also higher. Tables IV through VIIgive a coinparative picture of labour use in bullock farms and mechnised farms under
different agricultural operations in wheat HYV. paddy Desi, si.garcane and
maize Desi respectively. The labour employed for land preparation by
tractor power was 3t.lT p.c. on HYV wheat, 36.06 p.c. in Paddy Desi, 30.11
p.c. in Sugarcane nd 37,71 p.c. in Maize Dosi as compared to that on Bullock farms. If w consider the total labour use in these crops it is found
that in mechanized. farms it is 75.45 p.c. for HYV Wheat i00.74 p.c. for
Paddy 76.78 p.c. for Sugarcano and 81.26 p.c. for maize in coniprson
to that on Bullock farms. Thus., in tillagc bullock power use is more
labour absorbing than tractor power use. It is seen that the total
labour requirement in the different crops in tractor farms varies from
75 to 100 p.c. of that in Bullock farms.
This is due to the fact that the magnitude of reduction in labour
requirement on mechanized farms in land. preparation is comoensated by
increased labour requirement in harvesting of Faddy Theat and Maize due
to their higher yields es this ope'ation is solely done by manual labour.
It is also seen that mechanization which is cxpectcd to increase croDping
intensity tr using spedior techniqus has not played that crucial role.
Labour requirements in irrigation by Alternative Sources for Crop Production
A study' was conduct,d in rewurce wc fficincr of different
in this study several
sources of irrigation in Aligarh district o± tT.P
alternative means of irrigtion
whel and charsa
State tuhewell, private tubewell, persian
The study w
were ctudid
conducted in Dhanipur, Sasmi
& Iglas development bicoks of Aliarh district, tittar Pradesh.
In these
each representing concentration of one
three blocks, clusters of villagc
source of irrigation were selected0
In these clusters all the farms were
enumerated and a list of all those farms who were irriating tieir farms
entirely by only one source of irrigation was prepared an
10 percent of
the farms from each category under different systems of irrigation were
randomly selected for the study.
tubewells, 27 private tuhthells,
Thus, the sraple consists of 10 Stste
persian wheels and
l4
charsas.
Structural Features:
State - tubewell:
6 inch delivery
Most of th
wells are strainer type with a pump of
The wells have mostly a vertical turbine pun
which is a popula
pump for deep wells0
of 1'2;5 HP
The stratum where the tubewells
are sunk caisists of a series of layers ranging from clay to fine sand and
gravel.
Strainer of slotted Dipes are provided to this water bearing
stratum to obtain adequate discharge from the wail0
The average depth of
the state tubcwll3 in the srmp1e was about 5) nieters0
Private tubewell:
inches suction and 2
These
.re cavity type of wells with a pump of 3
3 inchee delivery
Tht
impervious bed is bored in
the ôentre in order to draw water frori the water bearing inedium
A cavity
is formed in th. water bearing strata to increase the capacity of discharge.
n the sample of farms all the privatc tubewells had electric m6trs which
were of 3, 5, 75 and 10 hP.
1/
tJ.S0A01.D. 11:CCC1 projuct entitie
A oirative Analysis of Well
Irrigation in LJ strict A1iarb, Project loacters J.W Mailer & T.V, Moorti,
19;9 and rcorti T0V. (l97L); vAn Eeonoic Jnaiysis of Modern and TraditionaJ. Feurec o: Irre.terL (with s:ecial refcr'nca to IADP, Aligarh,
0.B. Pant UniPh.D0 Disi.'taticn suhr:ittd to the P0G, School,
Ui?, )
versity Pantrn:gar0
- 118 -
Persian rnee1
6
Persian wheel consists of about tw:nty to thirty
8 litre capacity buckets which rov
on a chain, lifting water and
emptying it into a trough from which it flows to the fields,
The wheel
revolves by means o± a gear system which is attached. to a shaft rotated
by a pair of bullocks.
Since the number of buckets increases with the
depth of well.) the bullocks cannot orerate a system wh.ch is
9 meters.
Vhen the e
from the well.
oeper than
ipmnt is working9 there is constant flow of water
The average deth of masonny 1ell was about 7 meters in the
study area.
Chcrsa
capacity.
Charsa consists of a leather bucket of usually 30 to 100 litre
The bucket is pulled bj a pair of bullocks who at the time of
lifting walk down an inclined earthen platform0
Qn
man is always working
the bucket9 spilling the water when i±. comes to the surface and another
is required to drive the bullocks.
Tha average depth of wells in the
sample using charsa was 9 meters.
Table VIII presents the performance of different sources of irrigation.
The data presented here are the average figures of the sample ox'.
each source of irrigation,
that persian
It is evident from the tabl
wheel and charsa can command only 3.5 and 14,8 hectares,re3poctively and
hence are not suitable for large farms for irrigation purposes..
It can also
be seen that only those crops which require le3s water can by grown in the
command area of these two sourc.s as the water Celiver;'r rte is very low
being 12 cubic metre (m3) and
8,5
cubic nietrc (inj for persian wheel and
charsa respectively and it r.quirLs considerable ?rount of time to irrigate
one hectare (5U hours with persin whtei nd
314
pared to 8 and 11 hours with state tu'cwcll an
ly).
hours with charsa as comprivate tubewdll respective-
Also9 the labour roquirmnts are the hihest
1414,6
nanrIays in case
of charsa to pump 1000 na3of water followed by persian whcl (19.2 mandays)
private tubewell (3,8 randays) and State tubewell
(1,98
inandays).
Table IX .givs thc labour reciuirements for irrigation purposes
through different sources inliffernt crops.
This table has bcn construct-
ed by using the agronomic norms r;arding the number of irriet±ons and depth
- 119 -
The formula used to cowpute the water
of water for different crops.
requirements for
is
.Tarticular croD
1umbr of irrigatiors x depth of water
water required in gallons
22688
in acre inches
where 22688 is the voiuin
acre inch in gallons.
of ;ater in ont
has beci converted into cuhic metres 2er 1iectai
are coputa by usi:eg th
.
The lbour requirements
informatior' in iten ii of Table I.
observed from the table that
the
This then
It can be
lal'cur rcciuircments for irrigation accord-
norms are the highest in charsa followed by Persian
ing to the agronoui
Considering the
wheels private tuberell and State tubewdi for all crops
lbour recuiremonts for irriatiori purposes according to agronomic nrms,
it is feasible to grow all the crops under State tubevells and private
tubewells.
However, in case of persian wheel, irrigation by agronomic
norms requires
74,Ol6
mandays in case of sugarcana and
varieties of wheat, T8..9
for HYV paddy.
high
yielding
mancla7s for local paddy and about i1i8 niandays
Considering two men for operating thc system it takes about
a week for one irrigation in a hectare of sugarcan/HV wheat, about 5 days
in local paddy/HYV paddy by persian wheel.
feasible to grow these high wat
Hence it is technically not
in:out crops under persian wheel i-f the
agronomic norms are to be followed.
For the same reasons chctrsa has to be
dispensed with for irrigation purposes except for some dry land crops like
lahi3 gram, desi naize, desi bajra, peas lentil etc.
The picture is quite different when we look into the actual farmer
practices of irri
tion throuim these four types of 'ources.
The sourcewise
utilization of w'tr for difercut croro and their yields arc given in
Table X.
It c-an ho obrv
from the table that though the water input
in desi bajra is the lowest being only
11 mm/hec. in case of charsa, the
yields are quite satisfactory as coiparod to the yields of the crop under
other sources
(,8
quintal/hc.ct. for State tubewell,
9,7
quintal/hect. for
private tabeweils and 9OU otl/hect. for Persian wheel). Persian
charsa are. ccrL
bl
n z:ov.: dni 1aica
though the water incut 1s low
persian wneel an-n
hrc'
tb
the
eiuh: only 1C9 mu and
wheel
and
two t:,res of tubeweils
199
nmi
per hectrc in
Similarly desi wheat. wheat+gram,
-. 120 -
Barley + pea, BarJ.ey and. pea alEo can
be grown unier
ll
types of irrigation
sources from the point of view cf crcp yields
As far as high ,rie1din
wheat is ooncerned, because of' its relative
ly high rate of water use it Ic not. feasible to grow it under charsa
but
when grown on farms with a persian wheel.. the yield.e arc comparable to those
under a private tubewell.
Wnen the actual wat:'r deliverr for irrigation and yields of different
tate tubewll and rrivat.e tubr:ell farms it is seen
compared in
crops ar
that both water use and crop yields are coniderably lower in case of State
tubewells because of the low water input due to uncertair j3 and
inadecuate supt1j.
In short, from Table X
it can be comfortably said that almost all
crops can he gron under State tubwells and private tubewells, arid all the
crops with less water input are feasible with persian wheel and charsa for
But our
irrigation purposes0
ObjCiVC
here is to find out the scope for
productive eiwç1o"-irent of labour in thesE. alternative rLeans of irrigation0
As observed earlier; labour used in irrigation is the highest in charsa
followed by mrsian wheel, private tubewcJ,l and State tubowell
out whether th.
us
To find
0
of labour has been productive it is necessary to analyse
the merginal value productivities of labour used for irriration Dur'poses
in different sourcos of irrirrttion
It is not
ossible to find the marginal
veaue productvitias of labour used. in diffr.:nt sources of irrigation due
to lach of access to the orLinal schedules but the
VPs of water for
different sources of irrigation arc ivailable and are given in Table XI.
These hVP
are then deflated 't
MVPs to cost of water.
used In irrigation.
tb
cos:
of wite:' to copute the ratios of
The cost of ueter 9150 incluis
These iWP cst rrtios for different crops under different
sources of irrigation ar
giver in Tablc XII.
irc' th lcui' i.sc i. irri.ticn i
t.thewl1s
cost of labour
negligible tL
ca
o
te
r1trgLnal value produetviti,ts of
private
Thi;
labour
- 121 -
must be considerably high, On the other hand in case of persian wheel and
charsa almost all the costs on irrigation are due to the labour. In other
words the data presented under icrsi..n wheel and charsain Table V represent
the marginal value products of one rupee spent on labour, Thus, the data
presented in Table XII may be considered to make some recommendations for
the prodictive use of 1aburin diffrer±t soures of irrigation.
It is ci.r from the table that it is economically profitable to
grow almost all crops un.er State t.ubewelis and private tuhewells. Thus
these two modes o± irrigation can he used on mc'iiuin and large farms considering the effici.-mcy arid feasibility of these tuheireils, Between State
tubewells and rivate tuhewells, privat tuwells seem toperform better.
This is due to the fact that the State tubiwells are suffering from various
inefficiencies as ecpl-ined earlier.
Charsa appears to he most uneconomical (the ratios in all crops are
less than one) and hence hac to be dispensed with though it has the highest
ctential. Labour use in Persian wheel for desi maize and HYV
is :roductive, ll crops with less water requirements can be econo-
employment
wheat
mically rocm under Persian wheel and at the same time it has a high productive employment potential. But due to its inability to command large
areas (command area 3.5 hecteres only) Persian wheel aiay profitably be used
for irrigation pur)oses in mc1iun sized farms whose cropping pattern is
dominated by wheat, maize and other pulse crops with low water requirement.
Alternative techniques in
labour use
harvesting arid
thrching operations and their
There are three alternative techniques available in harvesting and.
threshing nsniely harvesting by human labour and threshing by bullock labour
and human labour ;Thich mar he called bullock ftrms, harvesting de by human
labour aa;: thrc.shir: by peier tli shrs eal2 ed thr sher farms 'nd both har-
vestirj arId thrcsin'
The lctcur
Joi
in one operation by comhinc
i '-iJ. the thrc techniques i dIfferent.
called combine farms.
- 122 -
To make a comparison of. labour USC in all the three alternative
techniclues data for wheat crop from
of Wheat in Critical Arcas of
study entitled Marketahle Surplus
India'and Faritnagar farm of G.B. Pant
University, have been presented.
In the study
on marketb1e surp1u of wIeat,
six districts from western
U.P. were selected according to prol:ability proportional ho wheat area in
the district
On the same criterion two development blocks in each district,
and two villages from each daveloprcnt bloel: nare selected.
villages 147 farners
(
randomly
size group:.smali less than 2
of total) in thrc
hectares , medium btwoan 2 anc.
Frcm the selected
and lare abovc 1 hectares wore
h. ctar
selected
It was found tic.t the harvest in
by human labour.
operation was done by all farmers
Out of them 28 farrricr3 hc used iowcr threshers for
threshing and the rest had uscd hulloch and
man labour for threshing.
These farms are reclassified respc.ctiveiy as thresher farms and bullock
farms.
The cropping intcnsity
fertilizer uso
labour use, average yield
etc. in these farms is presented in Table XIII.
It is coon that
er hectru labour use is about the same in bullock
and thrasher farms for harvesting which is done manually but for the
threshing operation the labour use is about 300 percent more in bullock
farms even though the par hctare yield is lower.
To compare the labour us
in harvesting and threshing by a combine
data from Pantnagar farm which is a highly mechanized farm of about
12,000 acres run on scientific lines by the G.E. Pant University are
presented in
1/
thu
saw: table
M'rkctthle Serp3.us of Yhet in Crit2cl ArOL.s ef India
Project
Lca1er. 02. Pant Universit;
Pantnagar
S.L. Shah,
a PL.J!80 project.
- 123 -
It is found that with combine the labour use per hectare is only
in thresher farms.
li,72 mandays as compared to 39.37 in bullock and 26.17
higher as
The yield level and. cropping intensity, in Pantnagar farm is much
compared to that in the other two types.
It could. be concluded. that the
is highly labour
use of combine for harvesting, and. threshing operations
increased th cropping intensity
displacing. The use of thresher has not
and as suel? is also labour displacing.
Sumniary and Conclusions
Experimental data shows that bullock power with improved. implements
preparation
is the most efficient and labour intensive technique in land
It is also the most labour intensive and efficient
and sowing for maize.
with
technique in those operations for wheat. A 20 horse power tractor
matching implements is the most efficient alternative technique for both
horse
the crops in terms of energy requirements but in terms of costs, a 35
Field data
power tractor with matching implements is the most efficient.
intensive
shows that for land preparation bullock power is the most labour
and. efficient for farms upto l hcctares. Use of tractor power for this
operation is highly labour displacing.
However
if multiple cropping is
achieved and the technological leo1 is high, the labour displacement may
Persian wheel is the zo." labour intensive means of irrigation
be reduced.
for small farms 'but for medium and l"rg
most efficient and productive.
farms private tubewells are the
Combines are high1r labour displacing in
harvesting and. threshing operation.
Threshers reduce labour requirements
considerably and. have a labour displacing effect if their use is nOt
accompanied by an increase in cropping intensity.
agriculature is
In conclusion niechanisation of major operations in
is accompanied
likely to result in creating unemploerient unless and. until it
by adoption of new technology and multiple cropping.
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1311
Table XI: Narinal Value Products of 1000 m3 Water from different
Sources of Irriatioi (Rupees).
State
Private
Persian
Tubewell
Tubewell
wheel
Bajra des!
11)4
22
9)4
Maize des!
70
70
20)4
American cotton
-
38
118
Wheat desi
112
3)4
116
Wheat Hill
Charsa
229
177
3211
9)4
79
93
196
Barley + Peas
131
73
108
110
Barley
107
68
90
98
Peas
122
115
122
12)4
150
-
Wheat + Gram
Potatoes.
Source:
T.V. Moorti: (197)4)
- 135 -
Tab1
XII;
Ratio of MVPs to Cost of Water*
Sete--- ---Private
tubewell
tubewell
Persian
wheel
Bajra desi
1.00
0.11
0.61
Maize desi
1.59
2.26
1.31
1,22
0.31
American cottor.
Charsa
0.19
Wheat desi
0.95
1.09
0.29
Wheat HV
5.20
5.70
2,09
Wheat + gram
2.111.
2.55
0.60
0.82
Barley + peas
2.98
2.35
0. 16
Barley
2,11.4
2.21
Peas
2,18
3,12
0.69
0.58
0.79
Potatoes
.-
(Rupees)
*
Cost of Water/1000 m3
State tubewell
)Il1..00
Private tubewell
31.00
Persian wheel
:155.00
Charsa
:21i0,00
Source; T,V. Iioorti,
(19111.)
)4.83
-.
0.
0.52
-
Table XIII
136 -.
Labour Use per liectare in Harvesting aria Thrshing in
Wheat Production in Western U.P, and Pantnaga Farm.
Pantnagar
Particulars
Bullock farms
1. Cropping intensity
2.
Percent area under
irrigation
3,
Fertilizer used in
Kg/hect.
i5E%
97.13%
6.
100%
i00%
)
)
)Totai
)Total
)39,37
)26.:LT
17.37
0.16
Average human labour
days used in threshing
185.80%
20.37)
P205
days used in harvesting
5,
157%
58.25
26.73
it,76
20.11)
38.3it
it. Average human labour
farm (cornfarm)
bin
N
K20
Thresher farms
19.oO
6,00
iit.72
i8J40
116.78
rr,6o
7,00
,72 mandays
(1,28
hours
combine)
Total labour requirement
on 1t & 5
7, Average yi1d otls,/hect.
8.
Average oDerated area
(Hectare)
2,it8
32.60
3973, 31i
- 137 -
EMPLOYMENT EXPANSION AMONG AGRICULTURAL LABOUR
THE INDIAN EXPERIENCE
AND SMALL FARM HOUSEHOLDS
by
G. V' K Rao
Secretary
Ministry of Agricultu±e and Irrigation
Government of India9 Ne Delhi
and
R. Thainarajaksl'zi
Member-Secretary
Agricultural Prices Commission
Government of India, New Delhi
The importance of the agricultural labour and smaU farm hdusehold
sectorin Indian agriculture is obvious.
This sector constitutes not only
the potential for growth hut also provides the market for a sustained process
of development.
In a practical context9 the problem of small farmers and
agricultural labour is one of poverty an. unemployment
poor and the unemployed, are located in the rural areas.
poverty is much larger than that of unemployment.
are not entirely delinked.. The Draft Plan for,
the bulk of the
True9 the problem of
All the same9 the two
l978-.83 by providing an
overriding 'emphasis on employment, has recognised that an employment oriented
strategy for agricultural and rural development can serve both the objectives
of raising the production levels and the earning capacities of the poorer
sections of the rural sector as also of generating employment opportunities
for them.
But then9 it is not merely a question of evolving'the aropriate
approach to the problem but also one of ensuring that the benefits meant
for th
target groups do accrue to them.
Dimension of the Problem
Tiflille planning for employment in the agricultural sector9 it needs to be
noted that for years to come, this sector would have to em'ploy the bulk o
Views expressed are those of t1
authors
the
138 -
addition to the labäur force in the country.
About 7
per cent of the total
work force of 226,9'mili1iS-Ln 1971 was reported to have been in agriculture.
Further, during the seven years, 1971 to
esUinated to have increased 'by 35
1978,
the ]abour force has been
ilhioflS,0f which nearly 29
absorbed in the agricultural and informal,sectors,
.iJJ.ions were
In general, only a small
fraction of the increase in labour force (about 10 to 11 per cent) is able to
enter the organised sector.
The rest, about 90 per cent drift either into
informal activity, charactorised by under-employment or absolute chronic
unemployment,
Projections for 1983 indicate that out of the expected addition
to the labour force of the order of
29,5
million persons, the organised sector
will absorb only about 2. T miU.tons, if the rate of growth of industrial
production continues at 5 per cent, while about 2lmilhioswould stay on in
agriculture.
Even at an increased rate of industrial growth of 7 per cent,
the extra absorption in the organised sector would not materially alter the
1/
aforesaid picture.
Not only this but also a substantial portion of this
additional labour force to be provided with productive employment would 'be in
the small farm and the agricultural labour household sector,, Here it is
pertinent to note that the unemployment rate in
197273
measured as the ratio
of person-years unemployed to person-.years available is estimated at 8.2 per
cent in the rural areas
According to the Agricultural Census of
1971,
holdings below 2 hectares was 49,l millions forming
number of operational holdings.
the number of operational
69.6
per cent of the total
Of these, 35.7 millions were holdings of less
than 1 hectare in extent.
Though these holdings were distributed all over the
country, 50 per cent of them were in the reg.ion comprising four States of Bihar,
Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal.
Another 25 per cent were ih'the SOtithern
States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala arid Tamil Nadu. The Agricultural
1/
-
'/
Government of India, Planning Comm.ission, Draft Five Year Plan
pp 82_8I.
Ibi& 'p.'62.
1978-83,
- 139 -
Census indicates that nearly two-.thirds of the holdings below 1 hectare
were wholly unirrigated and formed 50 ocr cent of the total number of such
wholly unirrigated holdings.
The number of agricultural labourers, bther
than cultivators9 in 1971 was estimatco. at 5O.
millions.- Assuming that
there are 3 workers per fiily of agricultural labourers on an aeiage, the
number of households of agricultural labourers may be placed at
in that year.
i6.8 millions
(Table 1)
It has been shown that over a period of tim
Indian agriculture has
been progressively acquiring not only a small farmer but alo a small farm
comp1exion
Between 1960-61 and
1970-719 as per th National Snnple Surveys9
the number of operational holdings upto ii..99 acres had increased by 24 per cent,
with their relative percentage to total holdings also increasing from about
62 to 68 per cent.
The medium and tho large 3ized holdings together registered
a decline in this period both in absolute-and in relative terms.
While the
small holdings predominate numerically, icirge holdings predominate economically.
It has been estimated that 90 per cent of the total foodgrain production
emanates from less than 50 per cent of the holdings9 the remainder bding almOst
outside the ambit of the production systemE
That apart. the new technology, although scalcneutrai, has been observed
to have been adopted it a quicker pace on the larger farms due to their
relatively larger requirements of working capital with the result that the
inter-farm economic inequalities have a tendency to widen,
It is, therefore,
of utmost importance that the strategy of agricultural growth focusses on this
sector both for promoting higher production and emplo3nnent in this sector and
from an egalitarian point of view.
1/
2/
What is required is a small farm oriented
Table 1.89
97
Mainaprings of Agricultural Growth, Dr. Panse's Memorial
Vyas V. S.
Lecture, August, 1977.
Ibid.
Ibid.
,
growth strategy, the tTo major objectives thereof being to improve the
productivity and the returns on small holdings and to increase the job
opportunities for those sections of the rural community who are currently
unemployed, via a low-cost and a high labOurinteflsivC technology. Considering that the current problem in the economy is not one of inadequacy of
foodgrain availability but of lack of demand:, the n:ed for enhancing the
the
purchasing power of the weaker sections becomes relevant for maintaining
tempo of agricultural development.
There is evidence to show that labour use pr hcctare may increase on
intensity or the
the smaller holdings either due to rise in the cropping
a4option of a more labour-intensive cropping pattern or through a greater use
Greater availability of family
of labour per hectare under individual crops.
low incomes)
labour in conjunction with the income o'fect (arising out of
their labour
induces thorn to do their utmost in increasing outpi.t by maxirnising
of
Large fari'iers, on the other hand, with smaller families per unit
input.
operations
operated area and higher incomes are induced to mechanise farming
technology
especially in those areas where the introduction cf' seed-fertiliser
had the
has increased labour requirements and the shortage of labour has
given the discipline and the strict
effect of pushing up wagca.HoweVer
the smaller
time schedule of the new technology, the leisurepreforeflCe of even
with a
farmers with increasing incomes and the rise in the cost of labour
widespread adoption of high rielding tochnolrigy, the extent to which the
get
overall employment effects of prociution schemes for small farmers would
modified, needs to be kept in view.
1/
Mebra Shakuntla
SQrne Aspects of Labour Use in Indian Agriculture,
Occasional Paper. June 1978 Cornell University,
Ithaca, New York,
L
Strategy
The strategy for exp3.nding the employment opportunities could comprise
of (a) policies which promote land-based activities and (b) programmes which
generate employment in asset creation and tertiary sectors associated with
The plan for rural development should
crop production and allied activities
have an employment orientation and employment planning should be done at the
micro-level.
More specifically, the instruments for maximising employment in
agriculture and for exploiting the eployment potential in the non-agricultural
sectors are as under:
Ci)
A redirection of the pattern of investment in a manner as to
create more public assets in th rural sector not only for providing
direct employment on the asset creation activity itself but also
for generating larger farm employment as an indirect offshoot of
increases in productivity resulting from such capital formation
is the first step in this regn'd.
The problem for the vulnerable
sections cf the rural popu1aton is one of increasing the income
levels through measures aimed at (a) providing employment at higher
levels of productivity to those who are already employed and (b)
generating employment avenues for those who are currently unemployed.
In this context then, it becemes nedessary to impart an employment
orientation to the planning strategy via (a) the adoption of a
lahour.-intensivc technology for infrastructure creation as
irrigation, transport, mark2ting and storage (b) measures for
diffusion of the new technology to the small farms and backward
areas and strengthening th production base of these farms/areas
(c) development of small and cottage industrial activities suited
to the local availability of raw materials and other subsidiary
operations such as poultrr, dairying and pisciculture and (d)
adoption
of
apDropriate polic:Les for curbing the labour-displacing
ichanisatiop of farm operations.
(ii)
Considering that labour absorption is relatively higher on the
smaller farms and also that labour use in crop production
generally depends on the very factors which influence productivity,
it is important to remove the constraints to the adoption Of the
new technology by these farms.
While the extension of the pro-
duction frontiers of these farma would. enhance, in the first
instance, the demand for labour
this would have imp:Lications for
the wake rate depending upon the degree of open unemiloyment
prevalent and the relative prices of different sources of energy
in the given context.
The three main problems in the diffusion of the new technology to the smaller farms refer to the availability of water,
supply of capital and
:ovi.ion of "knowledge, and hence irri-
gabion, credit and ecbension should constitute the policy package
for the purpose as detailed below
(a)
An irrigation policy oriented to the proyision of
cheap water which in its turn would help step up the
cropping intensity is req.uired.
In view of the catalytic
role of water in lifting the production possibility curve
of the small farms, it is necessary to regulate the future
utilisation of water in a socially desirable manner.
The
major scope for tapping ground water in the coming years
lies in the eastern parts of the country where the average
size of the land holdings is small.
The technical feasi-
bility of a tubewell could be appraised with respect to a
group of small farms and group loans arranged.
In the
context of distribution of water from public schemes, it
would be imperative to expeditiously attend to programmes
for coriolidation of holdings and provision of. irrigation
channels thereof.
Given the virtual non-existence of investible
surpluses on srall farms, tely and adequate supply of
cheap credit is necessary, ,A sizeable portion of institutiona]. credit should be channelised to the small farm
sector.
ttThe rim should be saturation-lending i.e. lending
for every worthwhile pr:jcct of every sinai]. borrower in the
command area of every lending agency within a definite
period of time
. -
A smooth transfer of technology from research stations
to the small fae5 holdings should be ensured via the
buld.up of an extension scheme that can infuse confidence
in these farmers about the profitability of the new practices.
A large number of demonstrations should be organised on the
small frms.
Also a farm management consultancy service for
the benefit of the small farms can he useful.
Suitable corpping patterns which are labour-intensive and are
of high value should be encouraged on the small farms.
instruments as contractual guaranteed prices
Here
for bringing
about such shifts in the product-mix of small/marginal farms
can be deployed.
Necessary supportive services of credit,
marketing., storage and transportation and also pricing
policies should he provided,
The scopc for diversifying the activity-mix of these farms
should be explored.
The integrated provision of subsidiary
activities such as animal husbandry, poultry and fishery would
not only expedite the process of transformation of the
potentially viable small farms hut also would contribute to
1/
Raj Krishna., Next Phase in Rural Development, Seminar No. 228,
1978,
2/
P.
August,
35
Government of India,
May 1978, P. 39.
enort cf the Study Group on Wages, Incomes and Prices,
the economic betterment nf the viable small farms and the
agricultural labour households.
Progranes like cattle or
poultry have a double potential in that they provide work
at home and thereby increase household income and at the
same time reduce the supply of lahour
particularly of
women, in the open labour market and thus tone up the
geneial level of agricultural wage rate
(v)
Much of the rural income inoquality derives from the
inequality in the distribution of assets, principafly land.
It may of course be recognised that land redistribution is
not a solution to the problem of land hunger given the
nature of demographic pressures on land.
Yet, land
redistribution has a crucial role to play in containing the
soclo-economic power of the rural elite and thus making it
easier for the smaller man to benefit from the process of
grovbh.
The policy of lana redistribution should be
accompanied by an effective programme for the development
of these ceiling-surplus lands.
jf
Ibid, P.
4O
115 -
The Programmes
Against this backdrop, some of the steps taken in the Indian context
to ameliorate the conditions of the weaker sections of the rural community
and create more employment for them are spelt out here:
(i)
There has been a concerted effort to allocate a sizeable
share of the planned investment to the rural sector for
agricultural and rural development with a vie
the demand for labour
to increasing
The Draft sixth Fiye-Year Plan has
allocated more than 13 per cent of the total plan outlay for
rural development with the PrOVi° for thissector having been
nearly doubled from Hs
15,000 cro:'es in the Fifth Plan to
1s. 30,000 crores in the current Pane
It has been estimated
that if the planned pattern of investment and production
materialises, it is likely to create 49.3 additional person
years of employment of which
228
million will be in agriculture
and allied sectors as a result of the planned growth of irrigation
capcity of 17 million hectares ar.d growth in the animal
husbandry, fishery and forestry subsectors.
The estimated
increase in employment in the agricultural and allied sectors
during the period
l97778
l982-3
by different crops and
other sectors may be seen in Table Ii. Out of the estimated
additional employment of 22.8 milion person years to be created
in agriculture and allied activities, about 10.5 millions would
be in crop producticn and plantation and 12.2 millions in other
allied sectors.
The main emphasis in the coming years is to make farming
a much more irtensive activity through extension of irrigation,
increase in the cropping intonity anc1 widening the scope
for the application of modern inputs and practices in
agriculture.
The Plan has announced that for maximising
employment lxi agriculture9 it will be necessary not only to
provide for the infrastructure and inputs which increase physical
productivity but also to push forward the implenentation of land
redistribution programmes arid schemes for consolidation of
holdings and to regulate the growth of farm mechanisation to
ensure maximum labour use consistent wit,h optimum land and
water utilisation.
The impressive performance of the agricultural sector in the
last year should have had a benign impact on the economic wellbeing of the rural sector.
exceeding 13 per cent in
With agricultural growth rate
i9T778
labour absorption should
have improved substantially considering that on newly irrigated
land, the average labour absorption per hectare goes up 66
per cent above the absorption per unirrigated hectare.'
The recognition of the fact that income inequalities in the rural
sector and the issue of poverty are closely related to the skewed
distribution o± th basic resource viz, land, is reflected
in the renewed emphasis in the Sixth Plan on land reforms.
The
1raft Plan documertt has observed that land redistribution will
increase employment in agriculture because small holdings
ystematically employ more labour per hectare than large
holdings.
And there must be no loss of productivity per hectare
because given equal access to credit and material inputs9 small
farms yield more output per hectare than large farms.
Further,
it is the established policy that preference would be given
1/
Raj Krishna:
Performance of the Economy:
January 10-12, 1979,
Times of India,
- 117 -
to landless households in the allotment of surplus land.
The
possession of small holdings will improve the social status of
the landless, particularly scheduled castes and tribes, and will
enable thorn to have better access to other means of production.
Even with small holdings of a hectare or less, the landless
families can cross the poverty line if the holdings are
irrigated and income from crop production is supplemented by
income from animal hunbandry, fishery, foresti7 and cottage
industrr' activities.
Given an interated approach and the
requisite infrastructure, the d.eveloment of animal hunbandry
in the surplus lands distributed to the landless families
appears to offer an excellent economic activity by itself.
(iv)
ihereas the land holdings are unevenly distributed among the
cultivating households) there is evidence to show that the distribution of adu.t female bovine population is less skewed;
compared to a coc:ntration ratio of 0.7 in the case of the
distribution of operated area, the corresponding ratio for
adult female bovine population works out to OJ in the rural
areas of the
country'
It would, therefore, appear that programmes
oriented towards anirnil huibandry
than others targettod towards land.
hould have less leakages
In this connections
Operation Plood II programme of the Government which has the
rural milk producers
s th benefieiaris and which is aimed
at securing to them substantial increases in cash incomes
throigh increacd milk 1Drduction and the assurance of a stable
and
ernunerative price for milk should help provide productive
employment to the small farmers and landless labourers.
1/
Government of India 1ational Samlo Survey, Thbles on Land holdings,
ientysixti 1ound, Tul 1971 - September 1972.
1)48 -.
Although there are no reliable data of universal applicability
regarding the distributive aspects of income generation in the
dairy industry, a number of individual studies are available
which yield the following broad conclusions:
Modern dairying is scale neutral so that a rich farmer
does not benefit more than a poor farmer in relative terms.
About 70 to 75 per cent of the households having much
cattle fall under the category of small farmers, marginal
farmers and landless laborers.
(a)
A large proportion of the total milk production and
market is also acoounted for by the small and marginal farmers.
(d)
Between 50 to 75 per cent of the total number of
much animals are owned by small and marginal farmers and
landless labourers.
It is calculated that when this rojeci is fully implemented,
year round gainful employment will be niade available to nearly
1.85 million people at th
le-vel of the rural households where
women would devote a bulk of thi otherwise idle time in rearing
the animals.
(v)
Rural Works Prograirrn
as provir of Tag
employment directly
to those who would othervie be uinloyed or underemployed was
started for the flrnt time as
a't of dev] opment planning towards
the end of the Second Fivc.-Year Plan.
These were taken up as
pilot projects for utilising available surplus manpower for creation
of infrastructure in areas suffering from acute unemployment
and underemployment.
The Ru:ai Woxk/Nanper Programme (RMP)
- 1149 -
the Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE) and the Pilot
Iitensive Rural Employment Project (PIREP) wore special
programmes of this kind executed from time to time. Also, a
for the chronically drought affected areas
as started during the Fourth Five-Year Plan a an employment
oriented programme but later on.; it was realised that the
public works pröranmes had very limited scope for providing
Rural Works Programm
contiiiuing employment after such works were completed.. As a
result the Rural Works Progreamx' for the chronically drougb
effocted areas underwent a oncoptual change and became
an area dcvelàpmoht rogramme under the name of Drought Prone
Aras Prograiinie. With regard to such special schemes for
the question arises as to whether ad hoc supplementary
schems can solve the problems of unemployment and poverty.
In fact; the soiutibn to these two problems of poverty and unemploymerit
employment has to be found withixi the framework of the development
plan itself.
(vi)
Reáently in April 1977, the 'Food for Work' Programme was launched.
The scheme has the following basic objectives:
To generate additional gainful employment to a large
number of unemployed and undermployed persons, both men
and women, ir the rural areas which will improve their
inôome ard consequently their nutritional levels;
To cmatc durable cornaunity assets and strengthen the
rural infrastructure, ihich will result in higher production
and better living standards in the rural areas; and
(a)
hunn
TJtilitieu of surplus foodgrains for development of
seurce
- 150 -
The
Food for Work programme is basically a development programme
and is quite different from the public relief works launched in
times of acute distress due to drought and failure of crops.
Being essentially an employment generating and anti-poverty
scheme, it seeks to utilise built-up reserves of foodgrains
for rural development.
0riçinally. the programme was started
as a non-plan schema for maintenance of public works.
Subsequently,
its scope has been enlarged to include on-going plan and nonplan schemes and now items such as capital works and works related
to floods.
The state.wise information regarding employment
generated during 19TT.T8 under the programme is furnished in
Table III.
For the year l978.Y9, a target of utilisation of 1
million tonnos of foodgrains has been fixed.
money
In terms of
Since
it means an investment of nearly Is. 130 crores.
the programme- will be supported by the cash contribution from
the State Governments, the overall investment will exceed
Rs. 200 crores.
It is expected that it will result in generating
additional employment of about 100 million mandays reckoning at
2½ kg of foodgrains per head. per day.
The programme has the
potentiality of becoming a major instrument of rural development
and employnient
(vii)
The Draft Sixth five-Year Plan document ias made a provision
of Rs. 2,800 crores for area oriented programmes of rural
development such as the Drought Prone Areas Programme
Command
Area Development Programme, Small Farmers Development Programme
and the Hill and Tribal Area Development Programme and Block Level
Planning.
by 1983.
It is aimed to cover 3500 blocks with these programmes
The stress on employment goal in the now Plan
ss
necessarily led to thc need for a dccentralisod approach to
the planning process as against ad hoc Drormc for target
151 -
groups or areas undertaken iu the earlier plans.
In this
context, the importance of involving the Panchayatiraj institutions,
cooperatives and national agencies for the effective implementation
of the plan has been recognised.
(viii)
The new approach under
Antyodaya" Scheme which has 'been
recently adopted by the Government of Rajasthan and by a few
other State Governments calls for micro planning at the real
grass roots level with the poorest of the families as the
target group.
It has now been decided that this concern for
the lowest among the low - which is the philosophy of the scheme
should be reflected in our approach and govern the selection
of beneficiaries under both the Small Farmers Development
Programme and the Integrated Rural Development Programme.
Since the Small Farmers Development Agency has been the single largest
on-going plan scheme for the economic betterment of the rural poor, we may
dwell a little more on the programme content and related aspects.
The SFDA/
AL Projects were initiated during the Fourth Plan with a view to reaching
the benefits of technological advancement to the weaker sections in the rural
areas who have either been by-passed or covered inadequately in the general
development prgranimes.
Basically, the philosophy behind the programme is
that a small farmer9 s holding is large enough for him to cross the viability
threshold provided the Government can ensure access to him of inputs and
..kow-how regarding agricultural practices.
No substantial investment credit
is likely to be required in the case of a small farmer except, of course, in
respect of schemes involving conversion of a part o± his dry holding into
wet by sinking minor irrigation wells etc. and complementary investment on
land reclamation, development etc.
What started as a pilot scheme in the Fourth Five-Year Plan period
confined only to Sy projccts was enlarged during the Fifth Plan period to cover
- 152 -
as many as 168 projects in which special agencies for assisting the small
and marginal farmers in an integrated manner through supply of credit, inputs
and services were set up.
Starting from 0.141 million small and marginal farmers
and agricultural labourers identified in
1970-71,
these agencies have by the
end of September 1978 identified 16.1 iillion participants belonging to the
category of small farmers
marginal farmers and agricultural labourers.
Amoflg these, against a mere 37,000 enrolled as. members of the cooperatives
by the eiid Of 1970-71, 7.0 millions had been brought within the cooperative
fold. by the end of September, 1973.
The number of small farmers and marginal
farmers and agricultural labourers who have been benefitted in the various
programmes by the end of September, 1978 was
6.3
millions.
These include
both programmes calling for substantial investments, such as minor irrigation
works, supply of much animals; poultry units and also programmes which confer
a limited or temporary benefit such as demonstration of improved
agricultural practices, rural works programmes and input subsidies -for
marginal farmers.
The total amount spent on the procraaiimes by the end of
September, 1978 since its inception was Rs. 1614.62 crores.
As the bulk of
expenditure by the Small Farmers Development Agency is on subsidy for
beneficiaries linked with institutional credit obtained either from cooperative
institutions or commercial banks, an expenditure of this order would have
given rise to lending of institntional funds on a significant scale.
The
total long-term disbursement by the cooperatives was Es. 112.65 crores by
the end of September, 1978 while it was Es, 82.01 crores under medium-term
cooperative credit.
Besides, commercial banks have alao given 1on ter1a
to the tune of Rs. 88.73 crores.
Some of the issues whichhave emerged out of the experience. of
the working of the SFDA are as under:
(1)
Evaluation of the programme by the Reserve Bank of India,
Programme Evaluation Organisation and other independent
- 153 -
institutions has highlighted the benefits that have accrued
to the target groups as a result of the programmes implemented
through th
specialagencies.
These evaluation studies have
also indicated that minor irrigation and dairying prograes
have resulted in positive advantages by way of additional
incomes and empoymont opportunities to the selected beneficiaries.
hat the programme has envisaged is that even without recourse
to substantial investment credit, the vast category of small
farmers who constitute a very sizeable number of the total
dentifiod participants would be ena1led to become viable while
being encouraged arid assisted to take to improved agricultural
practices and thus obtain more out of their total land holdings.
Basically, this is a problem of ensuring a continuous supply
of short term credit and tying it up with the supply o
and provision of know.how,
inputs
Considering the fact that this
calls for no substantial investment credit and that this is
only a question of better organised extension effort being made,
it could be expectcd that the problem of small farmers among
the three categories of small farmers, marginal farmers and
agricultural labourers taken for special attention under the
programme should have been solved more effectively.
This
however, has yet to be evaluated.
.Amonthe members of the target group, the more vijlnerable
sections are the margincl farmers and agricultural labourers.
The land holding of the marginal farmei is obviously not
enough for him to be able to eke out a satisfactory liveithood
We
even if he were to take to best agricultural practices.
have necessarily to thinic. of providing him the proverbial
second strin
tr the bn to enable him to supplement his income
- 154 -
through a suhsidiary occupation of his own choice,
Even more
difficult is the condition of the agricultural labourer who
has no fixed assets of his own., th. investment of which can
generate incremental income.
The need for concentrating first
on the most disadvantaged groups may be seen from the fact
that the total nimibar ci beneficiaries who have really
benefitted from the progrsIc1rc of the investment credit under
the SFDA and similar programmcs inludin the animal hunbandry
programmes such as calf rearing is only 2.5 millIois as against
49.l
millions of operational holdings which are less than 2
hoctares in size and 5O.1 millions of agricultural labourers
in the country.
(iv)
The programme content of the SFDA projects has tended to
remain largely beneficiary oriented; so the integration of
this approach with a comprehensive area approach is required.
This apart, there is need for sufficient grass root participation
in the implementation of such programmes through the involvement
of the Panchayati Raj functionaries and voluntary agencies
in the task.
Experience of various rural development programmes in the earlier
plans has shown that a mere project approach or a sectoral approach is not
adequate to lead to an overall development of the area and distribution of
benefits to local populatIon, partiQularly the weaker sections of the society.
The distribution of unemployment and poverty and the potential for development
of agriculture and related
also
within
regions.
activities
vary widely from region to region and
Different areas in the country are at different
levels of development and have varying degrees of potential depending on
local endowments.
The current approach is to
akc the programmes area-
specific through an integration of various progranzres and establishment of
- l5 -
appropriate linkages for optimal utilisatibu of local endowments consistent
with the plan objectivcs local needs and environmental balance. The
full employment aimed at is on a feir remunerat ion for the work done and
the effort made, so that a fully employee family can go above the poverty
line;
The stra'cegy o
integrated ruural development in operation specially
focusses on the target group comprising smaJ.i and marginal farmers9
agricultural labourers end rural artisns, whose economic improvement is
The on-going rural development
an important concern of rural development.
programmes which are broadly area development programmes having the uplift
of small and marginal farmers and the landless iaboui ers as their main
thrust are being utilised according to their relevance in particular area
to achieve the twin objectives of generating employment opportunities and
increasing production.
Table I
Number of Small/Marginal Farmers
(Figures in Thou;$ands)
S. No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
114.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
Operational Holdings
State
Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jamiu & Kashmir
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Nagaland
Orissa
1-2
1 ha.
ha,
2)491
1065
1120
1467
148714
1109
579
250
355
713
146)4
1081
8140
1880
1683
268
891
878
12)42
33
9
1)475
9140
3126
10453
174
2528
Sikkirri
NA
Total
35579
U. TS.
103
Total
35682
Upto
2 ha,
3556
1587
5983
1013
173
123
1423
15)4
867
1921
1478
21)48
257)4
2120
314
67
52
16
107
1121
260
691
1109
2689
2596
778
1631
131142
147
221
55
518
Punjab
Ra5asthan
Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh
Tripura
West Bengal
Source:
Upto
25
14235
9142
NA
3)470
NA
13393
48972
39
1142
131432
149u14
Governni.ent of India, Agricultürai Census
197D-71.
- 157 Table II
Agriculture:
Employment Generation:
1978-83
ip1o'ment*
(Millions)
Estimated
Increase
(Millions)
1977.T8
l982-83
2
3
60..087
70.626
PadIy
16.127
19.019
wheat
6.150
7,1413
Jowar
14.1436
14,757
Bajra
2,257
2,698
Other cereals
14.326
14.1314
(-) 0.192
Pulses
3,1408
14,192
0.7814
Sugarcane
2.
3,276
Jute
0.7140
0,9141
0.201
Cotton
1.972
2,1439
0.1467
Plantation
14.1467
5,222
13,3714
16.535
39.126
51.355
0.755
3.161
12.229
99.213
121,981
22.768
1
(1) Crop production and
plantation
Other crops
(ii) Other agricultural
Sectors
Grand Total
10.539
2.892
1.263
0.321
Equivalent full-tine person years
Source
:
Draft Five Year Plaii, 1978-83, Government of India,
Planning Com:Lssiou p. 103
- 158
Table III
Employnient generated during 1977-78
under Food or Work' Programme
State
Employment generated
(Mandays)
Bihar
Himachal Pradesh
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
14,76,000
69,685
5,02,000
21,42,308
2,20,000
Orissa
68,68,820
Punjab
14,000
Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
6,87,000
58 19 ,000
218,43,000
159 -
CONSTRAINTS IN AGRICULTURAL E4PLOYMENT IN INDIA
by
B,G. Verghse
Fila
Gandhi ?eac Foundation Nc-w Delhi
Agriculture is and will long 'eniain Indias largest industry and
most important source of employment.
with land, eVen water
Few countries are as well endowed
certainly sunshine, and livestock.
Yet productivity
pr unit of land, water or bul1ock-power is abysmally low and9 with it,
employment too. A far higer country geogr.athicaiiy, though much of it
desert, China produces 50 per cent more grain than India on 30 per cent
less sown acreage.
With a far larger population packed into a smaller
arabic area and with a higher rate of ±emale participation in agriculti.re
but with far les bullock-power and, initially, mec1nanisatioxi, the labour
intensity per unit of land in China (as in Japan9 Korea, Taiwan or Egypt)
far exceeds that in India.
Indeed, arabic China presents the picture of
crowded farms in strong contrast with India where the fields are relatively
empty except during sowing and harvestin.
The other contrast i
of a
bare Indian countryside with large amounts of culturable land lying fallow
during the rabi and more so during sunmier.
employment peaks are fewer and smaller.
Predictably, the agricultural
Large numbers of agricultural
labourers do not enjoy gainful employment for more than
i8o
to 200 days in
the year while agricultural wages are depressed well below the statutory
minimum in many areas.
The reasons are clear.
Traditional faiing is still widespread even
in certain irrigated areas like Bihar and operates at a level of technology
that makes only modest demands on labour.
Poor land and water management
practices inhibit employment and iroductivity.
But even where superior
technologies are available, these are not availed of fully or at all on
account of inequitous and inefficient agrarian relations that are inimical
to progressive farming even of a capitalist variety.
The permanently
settled areas of eastern India1 which encompass a large part of' the fertile
Cangetic plain
phenomenon.
is the most striking thou'h not th.. only example of this
The honest irrplementation of minimal land reform
it bcicr the prescic ceilings (which have
much of
n any case been widely evaded),
and consolidation can no loncr be regerded as a pious moral gesture as in
- 160 -
the past.) but has become a social.) economic and political imperative.
The countryside must produce the food and fibre required by a rapidly
growing population and must further hold the bulk of the incremental labour
force in gainful employment over the next two decades if
cities
are not to be swamped by rural refugees.
inadvertent
Poi this to happen and
for agrarian violence to be averted, there will have to be structural
changes on the land and in agrarian relations.
Over large drought prone regions in the country, the zoverning
eonstrint is not land5 but water.
Large holdings, whiCh are common in
these part, have little or sometimes no meaning.
water.
They are arid without
In these areas, policies with regardtoater harvesting and water
utilisation have a great boarirg on agricultural productivity and employment
- policies that have so far received scant attention.
l950s
and
Right through the
1960s and in the early 1970s these areas were afflicted with
periodic droughts in view of unsuitable cropping patterns that were bound
to fail witbuncertain or erratic rainfall.
Large amounts would then be
spent with much political posturising on drought relief and test works,
much of them totally unproductive or perhaps only marginally productive.
It was soon discovered that while these areas
er
denied aeate
investments in development that would insure them against d:rought1 ostensibly
on grounds of paucity of resources, far larger amounts than the deyelçpment
budget, would be poured in by way of (unproductive) drought relief.
for the local people, i
As
this miserable situation, no year was so good
as a really bad famine year for then the purse-strings of relief would
be opened wider arid the. roorcst and most impoverished families would get
full employment for some months with bigger rations, protein rich supplements,
medicare, and a dhoti or saree thrown in for good measure.
As a newspaper
reporter, this writer ceptionccl. a series of articles on the Mabarashtra
famine of
i9TlT3
A Blessing Codenamed Fanine'.
That phase is over.
But much hard thinking on land and water policy remains to oe done.
It is only up to a :oint that food ro'iuction r,rovjdc;
Beyond that te eruat:ion ii rvcrscl:
iloent
aip1oyxnent.
rccitic;s t'ood (given the
- 161
potential for higher production)
For the past two or three years India
has carried a food reserve of some 15 to 20 million tonnes of grain, a
quantum only surpassed on occasion by the United States, and possibly
China.
Yet this was hardly a genuine surplus but only a surplus to
"effectiv&' demand, with millions emaciated or going to bed hungry for
lack of purchasing power
The lack of demand and bulging granaries caused
price support operations to weaken or falter resulting in distress sales
by small and marginal farmers. To some extent, larger official procurement
was offset by reduced offtake from the public distribution system, again
resulting in a downward pressure on prices. The semo has be.n true at
different times of sugrcane, cotton., oilsocds, potatoes and onions.
The
farmer and the consumer have tended to bear the brunt of the troughs and
peaks with the middleman netting much of the gain with every swing of the
pendulum. The disincentive to higher production is evident unless reasonable
price stability is maintaincid with price reductions benefitting the marginal
consumer who might thersby be induced to increase his consumption and
incidentally I iria up the market
Land use
atterns are germane to more intensive agriculture and
rising agricultural productivity.
But the trauition from subsistence
farming to more, productive commercial farming will not gather momentum
unless the tiller of the soil enjoys fixity of tenure and assurance of fair
rents even if not secure ownership.
This is best illustrated by the example,
admittedly an extreme case though not untypical of its kind, of the Kosi
region in north-eastern Bihai',
The heavily siit-laden Kosi river, traditionally Bihar9s 'River of
Sorrowt, had in 70 years swung 70 miles west in a great arc devastated
by nnuai floods until it was trained within two giant earthen embanients
anchored to the Hanumannager Barrage on the IndoNepal border in the late
l950.
This brouht immediate relief and the Kosi flood plain which has
become an inland delta criscrossed with innumerable spill channels and
derelict streams with depressions alternatinC with uplands built by silt
accretions btgan to atract bac1 those who had for generations migrated to
- 162 -,
other regions in search of employment and income. The completion of the
Kosi cana1s initially designed to irrigate l. million acres of laud, held
out the promise of revolutioniing th impoverished ecoriomy of Purnea,
Saharsa and other districts lling iithin the Kosi Command. A Kosi Area
Development Authority was set up and during the preat Bihar famine of
1966-67 this was literally the only green belt in virtualiy the entire
State. The crop pattern uridrwent change with mor land oiuing under a
second crop, the introduction of rabi wheat and some land impbents,
the most notable being the innovative bamboo tubowell.
However
land improvements and agriculturrij. productivity soon
levelled off and has remained on a platetu despite a vast untapped potential.
The Kosi project was admittedly badly designed., certain upland areas being
denied irrigation and there heing generally poor drainage, The irrigabie
area was subsequently scaled down to 1.1 million acres though some would
peg this figure even loTer. However, in iii. years since the project was
fully commissioned actual irrigation has barely exceeded 403000 acreas.
20 per cent of the canl system has silted up and possibly 15 to 20 per
cent of the command area suffers from waterlogging on account of lack of
horizontal or verticil drainage. Only 5 per cent of the sown area is
under a second crop while not more than J0 per cent of the :Land receives
irrigation for a third (summer) crop. The low cropping intensity is
matched by low annual yilds per acre which probably average 1.5 tonnes
for grain against five tonnes and more in Punjb and anjor: and a potential
double those figures.
North Bihar is 94 per cent rural and 92 per cent Qf the population
is dpendent on agriculture. The scheduled crtcs scheduld tribes and
other backward classes account fo:' over 50 per cent of the. population.
2 per cent of the land in Puruco. ditrict is under share-cropping. Average
agricultural employment is estimated at 180 days in the year with agricultural
wages down to between Rs 2 and Rs 2.50 (1us a meagre midday meal, perhaps
worth no more t.har 25 F tc 50 F) , C in2t a atutoy iin!rn: :qricuJ:bural
wage of R
5
The rea has bn tte scene 01
which wa put down with considerble
r.rian violence
'rt in the late 9)s nd early
1970s but now shows signs of recrudescence.
-
163
The paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty is primarily explained
by a wholly effete and oppressive land system which supports a feudal
social order on which the present. political system rests with larger
landowners - notionally operating no more than what the land ceilings
permit - controlling substantial vote-.-banks within their serfdoms. The
landlords have traditionally been paternal figures dIspensing feudal
charity from the manor in return for bondage under whatever name or
form as might be expedient. But with tile first threat of ceilings they
became chary of regular leases,
preferrIng to award tenants oral leases:
on rotating plots so as to preclude written evidence or possible title to
occupancy tenure through proven 1ong-terri cultivation.
Apart from thus
making the unfortunate tenant less "crcditworthy, th
system entails a
total deprivation of security.
Moreover, whereas the law prescribes a
distribution in the ratio of T5 per cent to the share-cropper (who bears
all the
risks) and 25 pr cent to the landowner (who pays
land revenue)5
the actual 'istribution is
a very nominal
more often in the ratio of
1i.o:60
though very, very occasionally a powerful share-cropper (bataidar)
any share at all.
might deny his small landlord
In the circurastanccs
whereas the landlord is physically and legally
unable to cultivate his entire domain
his insecure
rentier
and might well be an absentee
tenants have no stake
in the land and can have
little incentive to dig field channels and drains, undertake land shaping,
drill tubewells or undertake any other ii?roveInCnts.
circle:
Hence the vicious
the owners do ict manage the land while the operational managers
being share-croppers or under.tcnants have no reason to be good husbandmen
because they lack ownership or securi+y. Nor are the waterlogged areas
stocked for fishing which is a welL-established occupation in this part of
the country Indeed, the numerous water-bodies are choked with water
hyacinth which could be harvested for compost, fodder or bio-.gas feedstock,
but are not. Nobody is interested, Stagnation prevails.
It
fshioi
Iht 1c argut:d that the landlords are behaving in an untypical
They :ihi; he ez1oitative but should be
interested in maxirilsing
their profit from the land.
feudal social relations.
This does not happen because of Bihtr's
Lnnd
caste and politics arc largely inter'-
changeable terms and a whole social and political order niiht be threatened
given greater agricultural productivity and the modernising forces it
would setin-n1otiQn.
o the status ouo continues and inertia remains the
dominant force.
What is relevant here is that The whole system as it exists is antiemployment, oriented.
Given a modicum of incentive to put the immensely
rich land, rator and sunshine resoUrces of the Kosi command to optimal
use,, production and productivit
could increase tenfold and gainful
employment by a significant factor.
Even today, a few food for-work
projects randomly taken up on the area have immediately firmed up minimum
agricultural waesby up to a rupee a day.
Indeed, the kinL of on-farm
development required - land shaping, the construction of indiiival
field. channels, field drains, and field paths
the desiltin; of canals,
the compacting of canal ombankmentz and their turfing or planting with
fodder or other useful grasses and trees, the reclemation of dc:prcssions
or their deeponding into fish ponds after the water hyacinth has been
cleared3 social forestry, multiple cropning, animal husbandry and the rest
would be intensely labour.-oriented.
Labour cooperatives could be formed
to undertake land improvement and drainare works with farm fore3try,
pisiculture and, later, animal husbandry as major si'Ieline occupations.
Much of this could be done iith pick
.nd shovel, involving simple earthwork
and simple skills, and could he partly finencc with food-for.iiork which
would incidentally provih a nuchneeded nutritiOnal supplement to a
vulnernable section of the population. My millions of mari.days of
productive and gainful emlcunt could be provided for the next 10 to 15
years with relay cropping and massive use of organic
more labour in farming and farm-.suprort services.
nurco, absorbing
Agricultural marketing
and. processing by-product utilisation, and the development of rural industries
producin: siipl
rage-goods rouU tilt
would in turn trigr other devdop::ts.
drLm
b'rb a very
variety of occup.tions which
This is not a faiciful 'ipe
ractical vision of wvit coulc be, given a little political
will to set the process in motion.
- 165 -
The Ganga basin with 161 million acres under cultivation could itself
produce 250 to 300 million tonnes of grain with triple cropping according
to some expert estimates. There is a sea of groundwater to tp in addition
to flow irrigation which could be stabilised and augmented by harnessing
the Ganga in the Indo-Nepal Himalaya
could be drilled in UP and Bihar alone.
is drainage
Some
85
An estimated 12 million tubewells
But in some areas the problem
m ha of diara or flood-prone lands cultivated by
small farmers and share-croppers require pumping and appropriate cropping
patterns and supporting services to augment production.
LikewiSe many
million acres of degraded and eroded lands. and alkaline and saline lands
require treatment. These works are labour-intensive in themselves and
would enabl
more intensive cultivation once completed.
any irrigation project.s need to be remodelled and modernised as
they were designed for traditional cropping patterns and are a constraint
The
on the adoption of newer and more productive farm technologies.
problem of taIl-enders in many irrigation commands is acute.
The present rhythm of farming follows the earlier subsistence
pattern and commences with kharif sowings with the onset of the monsoon.
This was all right when rio better technology was available. But now with
the genetic
chemical and mechanical energy revolutions there are superior
technological options.
The kharif sowing over significant areas could
be liberated from the monsoon and advanced four to six weeks with groundwater pumping. This would reduce pest and disease attacks and permit
fields to be vecated by August-September when residual moisture and
temperature conditions are more favourable for rabi sowings. The rabi
crop would in turn be harvested earlier , thus providing opportunity for
a third (summer) crop with grouncater pumping which would in certain
areas draw down aquifers or tha spring lcvel in a manner as to create
pore space for greater infiltration and recharge with the onset of the
crcl would rectuire
uci
rounratei sr;
mon.00n, ti;us ,.upieUti)J
more energy
rhich
permit relay cr
aega and 4ra1iYautra could
jyr with a hv-y intt
rov'3:.
l.bour.
'
and would
- i66 -
Inter-basin transfers of water are possible that would further
redistribute the monsoon in time and space.
This is a longer-term
prospect but quite on the cards by the end of the century,, an :Lmportant
consideration in a country with
skewed rainfall iattern
A change over to more scientific farming demands consolidation
for better land and water management, and must compel serious thought on
shifting emphasis from individu.liced to communityo-r group action.
Watershed management and post control, for.example
cannot be done on
single mini-farnis orfraents. This is a sphere for approrriate social
and political action.
Meanwhile, water use planning in semiarid areas such as the Deccan
is overdue.
At present, concessional finance and other support under
the Small Farmers Development Agency scheme is available to small and. marginal
farmers who are defined as persons id-bk holdings of 2.5 acres and five
acres respectively,
But in these dry areas, an economically small or
marginal farmer may own 10 or 20 acres, the governing factor not being
acreage but availability of iater to irrigate arid acres.
But SFDA
programme makes no distinction with regard to land holdings in wet or dry
areas, and thus a semi-arid zone marginal farmer is denied SFDA assistance.
The Agricultural Refinance Development Corporation has prepared a
district--wise listing of the number of acres that might make up a stanaard
acre in terms of natural moisture conditions in Maharashtra whieh would
bring even owners of 10 to 15 acres under the eligible SFDA categories
depending on the district in which they are located.
Again, in the
undulating Deccan., the bigger or more :prosperous farmers own lands along
the valley or the lower contours which harvest much of the available moisture.
Is this historic water use equitable or should the water harvested from
a micro-catcliment be rationed over the entire area?
Then a.!ain
irrigated
areas tend to be put under sugarcane which is.highly profitable but which
also make-' 1arCc: demands on water.
or oncoura-d or would there he
Should such land usc be permitted
more rational,
c1uiti1e ind optimal
pattern of rat.r 'tilieion, par1y prottive anil :artiv devoted to
- 167 -
guaranteeing certain mininiu
mixed farming?
says fodder which will sustain
outputs of
These choices have a direct bearing not merely on eQuity
but also on employment
nd it neds to bc examined whether there could
not be a far better land and water USC mix than at present.
Deforestation and erosion have b.comc major problems in many
Large tracts in the
regions9 more especially in the upper catcbmcibs.
Himalaya have been denuded and threaten to become upland deserts.
This
has reduced infiltrations aggravated runoff and. erosion, and become a
prime cause of floods. At the same time the loss of valuable topsoil
reduces the productivity of the land which has to sustain an ever growing
This intensifies the attack on
population of humans and livestock,
marginal lands thus giving a further twist to the vicious circle.
As
steeper slopes are cultivated and. narrower terraces are cut to grow a
the land use pattern continues
pitiable food crop for national security
to deteriorate.
The iounting d.amands for fuel and fodder increase the
depredations on disappearing forest.
A reversal of these trends is ur nlv necessary.
Storage reservoirs
are silting up rapidly with sedimentation rtes 200 to 100 per cent in
excess of the esignd calculation. The horrendous 1978 Gang-a floods from
source to sea was a grim warninr.
This cycle can only be overcome by
energetic and planned measures for soil consc-rvation and -afforestation.
Floods and erosion can and must be controlled or moderated by agronomic
as much as engineering measures
for instance.
contour ploughing and contour bunding
Soil conservation and afforestation
contrary to common
belief, are remunerative ir terms of both direct and indirect benefits.
Their importance in maintaining the ecological balance and preventing
adverse climatic changes are also cofling to be recognised.
here again, soil conservation and afforestation are highly labourintensive. The cultivation of ouick growing fodder, fuel and food trees
modern
and grasses, sitalr inter--cuJ5ure, i:
sstem3
would. sc-ll i'any advantages.
Th
productive agro-forstry
demrnd.s for fuel and fodder
- 168 -
would be satisfactorily met while the availability of nutritious fodder
could be coupled rith the propogation of higb milk yielding crossbred
alpine cattle which farmers would have an incentive to stall-feed, the
manure being composted or used in biogas plmr!ts.
The hills should be
under grass and tree crops, or suitable plantation crops or horticulture.
ll these programmes would generate large.scale employment
With the growing pressure of population on the land, land is a
diminishing asset (until sucl tiza, as oeopJ.
go off the land and. into other
However, animal husbandry, eep.cially dairying, offers
occupation).
multiplying asset.
Technologis have been developed. that would enable even
a marginal farmer or landlos agricultural worker to keep three crossbred
cows with a small irrigated fodder plot or on fodder cultivated. on.
community land.
Schemes have now been devised whereby land:Lcss persons
may plant degraded forest lands or other lands to fodder or other trees
wage spread over three years during which
with a
the fodder plantations and. the family crossbred herds maturc.
Thereafter,
faimors will be entitled to the usufruct of one acre of fodder planted,
without acquiring title to the land.
This progrmrnie, backed up with
technologies to raise forest nurseries in pots or polytheno baZs - which
for subsequenttransplaa'itationat social forestry
save land ad water
sites hold
out much promie.
In each case the primary enplovrent
ni income generation would
trigger secondary employnont while crdss linl:agas would stimulate the
multiplier efct.
Altogether
Indian agriculture holds out very substantial opportunities
for enlarged employment, direct and indirect, on more remunerative terms.
In a developing society, simple rural industries are part of the wider
spectrum of agriculture and also offer considerable scopt for gainful employment,
whether seasonal or f'lltine.
by-product2
The processing of agricultural produce and
grain:, cuar., milk
oilsecds, cotton. :tc,
fru:.t
can be donc
nd vcetbl's, fish, leather,
in the villages or in rur.l growth
- 169
centres and would thereby establish linkages and recycling possibilities
that could be tapped with advantages
They would. also keep employment
and the value-added in the villages rather than export these wholesale
to the cities, often at the cost of ;:eimporting these very same goods or
intermediate products on unfavourable terms of trade.
On the other hand,
one can think of a varietr of ways whereby certain stages of processing
could be done in larger urhanbased units 'cthich onoy economies of
scale or ensure superior quality, the final processing: being done in the
villages.
Leather would be one good example.
Citytanned leather and
rubber soles could be fashioned into sandals and shoes of high quality by
Village cobblers organised in. clusters or cooperatives and assisted with
material supp1ies
credit, designs and central marketing facilities.
The mechanisation of the countryside also suggests numerous
possibilities for iepair and maintenance facilities by simply trained technicians.
Such services and others like cold storeo, transport and warehousing
would provide vaJuab1e inputs
nto a more dynamic agriculture.
At the same time mechanisation of agricultural operations on account
of timeonstraints in multiple cropping cycles or because of unionisation
of labour could displace agricultural workers and more particularly women
workers.
Female participation in agrici,ltuie :is reported to be going
down in Punjab.
in cases
Examples of this phenomenon are probably more widespread
hero lap&Lords have resumed land for personal and mechanised
cultivation, as :weil as in various agricultural processing operations
which traditionally provided part
.me occupations for iural women.
This
aspect needs careful examination and policy directions.
Credit arrangements have been greatly extended over the past
decade but call for more improvement if the smallest and. weakest rural
clients arc to be effectively reached on terms that they find acceptable.
The drive towards Lecentralised. developmental administration through
.
revivif
d
nd reformed panchayiti structure and parts cipative micro
- 170 -
planning at the block and district levels would also give an impetus to
development and employnient.
Such schemes could in a few years become
the basis for meaninful employmont-guarantco schemes which Maharashtra
tentatively initiated some time ago.
or marginal to the "plan
process.
iployment works cannot he doles
hut must be central to the development
The concept of a land army has been advocated.
not material and organisational forms might vary.
The name is
There is little doubt9
however9 with regard to the tremendous amount of work waiting to be
done in terms of land and water devclonent. afforestation and conservation
alone.
Much of this could be seasonal.
But there is need for a substantial
core of skilled workers with some mechanised support to ensure continuity,
quality and timely and satisfactory completion of coniple
operations.
The Chinese farmland capital construction teams may offer some insights.
Quite clearly such activity presupposes close dovetailing with block and
district plans.
Surplus food and even cJoth could. be used for part-
payment in kind which would reduce the draft on monetary resources and
provide a less inflationary source of financing.
The Janata manifesto speaks of abolishing the fundamental right
to property and
work
instead, making the directive principle of ?the right to
an operational goal.
The right to property has already been
struck off from the list of fundamental rights.
It now remains to
fulfil the pledge to remove destitution within a decade, o:r which the
first two years have elapsed.
impossible or unrealistic.
The task is challenging, but by no means
- 1T1 -
THE DESIGN OF
PART I:
RURAL ENERGY CENTRE FOR PtJRA VILLAGE
ITS PRESENT PATTERN OF ENERGY CONSUbTION
N. H. Ravindranath H. I. Somashrkar R i?rash Amala Reddy,
an Ainulya Kurnar IT. Rddy***
K. Vnkatram
*
ABSTRACT
The pattern of energy consunption in Pura village was determined
from a study carried out in September-October 19T7
This study was based
upon a census survey of all the households, coupled with observations and
measurements.
Attention was focussed (1) on both animate sources of
energy (men, women, children and bullocks) as well as inanimate sources
(firewood, kerosene and electricity), and (2) on how these sources were
utilized for agricultre (nursery raising, ploughing, harrowing, manuring,
transplanting, sowing. weediog
hoeing, irrigation, harvesting, threshing
and agriculturerelated transportation), for domestic tasks (obtaining
firewood, fetching water, cooking, grazing livestock) heating bath water),
for lighting and for industry (pottery. flour mill) carpentry, coffee
shop).
The detailad
activity matrix.
rsults are
aggregated into an energy source-
The following are the major findings:-
firewood accouritcd for about 9O
fuel for about 7O
of the energy supplied
and cooking
of the energy utilized:.
agriculture is carried out predominantly (to the extent of about 75%)
with animate energy, l.a., human and bllock energy.
*
'
Institute of Science, Bombay
Reg onal Engineering Collegc, Tiruchirapalli
Indian Institute of Sciice, iiipalore
- 172.
1.
Intiouctibn
ASTRA, a programme of the Indian Institute of Science, is primarily
directedtoJards the generation of technologies appropriate for rural
development.
programme is focussed on the
crucial part of thi
satisfaction of rural e:ergy needs, the importance of which have been
0/
including .ome from ASTRA.
highlighted in several publicatiors
It is obvious that the frameork for rural energy technologies must
emerge from the charactcristics of current patterns of energy consumption
in
iralarea
With this viewpoint, ASTR embarked upon a dot ailed study of energy
consumption patterns in the cluster of villages in
an Extension Centre.
Thich it has established
Titis study has proceeöed in two phases of which the
first involved a preliminary survey of four villages (Yedavani
rid bhe second phase, a detailed
Pallerayanahaili and Kaggeriahalli),
Arjunahalii
invstigatiOn of six villages (Ungra
suggenhall. and Hanchipura).
Ungra,
In order
firstly
Pura Kilara,
to guide the computer
he 510 questionnaires obtained i
processing of the data contained in
second phase, and secondly, to provide the basis for a design of
the
rural
of the pattern of energy
energy centr, a manual analysi
has been rnad
consumption in Pura which is th
smallesb of the villages under study.
In view of the small number of houeholds in Pura
viz.
56
it 15
emphasised that the results of the Pura study must only be taken as
indicative of patterns wicb will he characterized more definitively by
the sii:-village study.
2.
Methodoloy
A questionnaire of :32 pa
experience of th
questionnaire
answers em
was finalized hy analysing the
first phase of study anc b
ficltesting a trial
rare was taken (1) to frce tne ciucetions so that the
oa: .
ii waia whic)
ar'? natu:ai aric custoniary to thti
173 *
locale, e.g., firewood consumption in hea&-load,s rather than kilogramines,
(2) to ensure that there are in-built consistency cbcks, e.g.., firewood
consumption by responses to direct qj.estions as well as by back-calèilatiOfl
from foodgrain consumption.
A satisfactory response to a questionnaire
required one to two hours late in the evening or
ar1y in the morning which
Since this is a
is when vil1agrs are usually available in their homes.
considerable imposition upon their horita].ity the canvassing of
questionnaires in a village was preceded Ly
Xblic meetings explaining the
purpose of the investigation end the importance of ceurate answers, and.
by lobbying the lealers of the various sections of the village. The field
investigators were alsotrained to supplement the responses with on.the*
spot observations
e.g., of the-type of lamp(s) used. for illumination,, and
measurements, e.g., of the kerosene capacity and consumption -rate of such
lamps.
The imperative necessity for such a comination of questions,
observations and measurements is one of the crucial lessons of the study
described here.
3.
Pura
When the stuftj was. carried out in September-October
a population
of 357
1977, Pura had
It may be noted in this context that 6o
567,000 villa:es have a population of under
OO.
of Thdias
Thus, Pura is a fairly
typical small village.
The population of Pura was'
distrieuted among
6 households.
Though the average numb'r of membrs in a houehoid was 6, this must not be
taken as n indication of the size of a nuclear family because a few large
The past tense is used hereafter to mphasis that the findings pertain
to the priod when tlie survey was carried out, It is clear, howver,
that, until major developmental ei'anges take place the Septemberfluctuations due to
October 1977 stuuy will remain valid except for
g, a severe drought.
abnormal climatic ccnditions,
families with as many as lI.i.-15 members pushed up to average.
The distribution of family sizes is shown in Table 1.
The percentage of illiteracy was about 77, the various levels of
educational achievement being shown in Table II.
The population of Pura consists predominaiy of the Vokkaliga
(agriculturist) caste which accounted for )46faiilies (82.15).
The Kumbara
Shetty (potter) case accounted for 5 fti:iilies (C9), and of the remaining
families, 2 belong to the Yaava Mallaru (cowherd) caste, and one each to
the Achar (carpenter), Lrahsiir (priest) and Harijai castes.
The occupational pattern in Pura is as showr in Table III.
Pura village occupies an area of ao6 scres of which 275 acres were
considered to be unavailable for cult ivab.oi and 20 acres to be cultivable
waste.
About 100 acres of the remainder consisted of irrigated land.
The land distribution was skewed zith 10 families (i@) being landless,
another 10 families (i8) holding less than 2.5 acres. 18 families (32%)
between 2.5-5.0 acres, ]3 families (23r) hetwen 5-10 acres, and 5 families
(9%) abo.re 10 acres.
Ragi and. rice are the two iain cereals esten in Pura.
16 persons
The average daily consumption
do not eat ragi. but 19 do not eet rie,
figures are 1.0. 0,8 and 0.2 kg of total cereal, ragi and rice respectively.
About 30
The only sweetener consumed is jaggery.
ms of pulses are eaten
per day per capita.
It.
Energy Sources in Pura
The animate sources of
and children) '-: buUoe3.
firewood,
er
31ie'r consist of human
T10
clectrie.y.
animth
Tr:
;oucce
bins (men, women
of en,ri:y consisted of
tbL s, ai
inie.tigation has
-
been made of' how these sources of energy were diStributed over the
d.bmestic tasks
ariculture
fol'owing activities:
Human i'nr: A total of 311 ,08
lighting and industry.
human hours were spent annually
agriculture industry and ouiestic activities which accounted
for 11, 7 and 32 respectively. The total human labour was
on
men. 3
shared thus
BulJock Energy:
women,,
and. children,, 19%.
Pura had a cattle population of
i6 out of which
As far as Fura is concerned, these
36 (25) were bullocks.
bullocks were used solely for agriculture where a total of 5392
bullock hours were cpendd
Firewood.:
As will be shom in Section 6,, firewood was by far the
predominant source of energy in Fura village
where it vas used to
thc extent of 96% for rlomestic purposes; the remaining 14% being
consumed by industry.
A total of about 217 tonnes of firewood was
consumed ever3r year by the whoie village!, i.e.) about 0.6 tonnes
per day
This corresponds
to a per capita colisumption of 0.60
tonnes per annum per capita.
Kerosene:
Apart froi about 150 litres per year in the flour mill,
1938 litres per
93% of the kerosene consumption in Furs.,, viz.
annum, was used for lighting.
Electricity:
Pur
consumption of
is an
electricity
electrified' village.
was ll,l2 kwh
this n&ry was distributed, over agricultu
and industry (7').
The annual
i.e.,, 30 kwh/day, and
(65)
lighting (28%)
.
176 -
5.
Energy-utilising Activities in Pura
5.1.
Agriculture:
The energy for Pura agriculture came predominantly
from animate sources (iG.5), i.e., bu1lock
human beings who accounted for about 30
women (11%).
which contributed 16.6% and
shared between menU (19%) and
The two important crops in Pura ware ragi and rice.
A study was made of the energy inputs into the following agricultural
operations:
nursery raising, ploughing
hrrow:Lng, manuring, transplanting,
sowing5 weeding, hoeing, irrigation, harvesting. threshing and transport
(for agriculturaJ,. and post-harvest operation).
The results are presented
in Table IV.
Of the human energy inputs into agriculture
flowed into ploughing (l1%)
irrigation
(i6)
transplanting (22)
and harvesting (l0f).
significant quantities
weeding (i8),
en and women play different roles
- wh.reas women did not contribute at all to ploughing, harrowing5 hoeing,
irrigation and. transport, they accounted for CG%, 17Z,
and 50% of the
human hours spent on weeding5 transplanting, sowing arid harvesting*
respectively.
Bullock power was used mainly for ploughing, harrowing) manuring
transport
.
and to a very small extent, for 3OviL'<, irrigation and
threshing.
agriculture.
Ploughing accounted for 66
of th
bullock enary used in
Manuring and harrowinr uach usd l2
of this energy, end
transportation of manure from house to farri anc of produce from farm to
house utilized
5,
The use of electricity in agriculture was confined to water-pumping
for irrigation.
for about 23. 5;
A total of 726)-! kwh was use. per annum,
This accounted
of the total energy used in Pura agriulture even though
All lit' rall:,r bek- ijre,ir tr&s.
- irr -
there were only four pumpsets in Pura (one landowner possesses two).
The electricity consumption in agriculture is equivalent to running four
3.75 kw pumpsets for about 1.3 hours per day9 which is a very low
utilization factor.
5.2.
Energy for Domestic Activities:
(a)
Obtaining Firewood:
The 217 tonnes of firewood used. annually in
Pura came from three sources:
(1) gathering (80.%)
(ii) the
private property of the user (i5.8), and (iii) purchasing (3.6%).
To obtain their firewood needs from these three sources3 6.8% of
the Pura families resorted solely to gathering, 8.9% to gathering9
supplemented with procuremant from their own sources3 3.6% each
solely to procurement from their private property and to purchasing9
and 7.1% to purchasing9 supplemented by procurement from their own
Thus, not only did gathered firewood accounted for foursources,
fifths of the firewood used in Pura, bitt threequarterS of the Pura
families depended wholly on this mode of procurement of firewood..
In view of the international preoccupation with firewood
consumption by villagers and the alleged role of this practice in
deforestation and environmental doradation ,'a study was made of
the type of firewood used.
The results are shown in Table V.
It is clear that almost aiJ. the firewood-gatherers (96%) collected
twigs as thir main fuel type9 and. branches (33%) and roots (13%)
thus, the order of preference for firewoodas secoidary types
gatherers was twigs, branches and shrub roots.
The purchased.
firewood was in the form of either branches and roots.
In contrast,
those who obtained firewood from their private property depended.
largely (to the cxtcnt of 7i) on logs obviously derived from the
It appears, therefore:, that neither gathered
felling of trees.
firewood
or firewocd Durchased in or near Pura contributes
sinifieantly .
defor:station.
- 178 Further support for this view comes from an analysis of
whether the firewood gathering wa
done piriniarily by women and
children or by men who are more likely to fell trees
show that, of the
5,094
human hours spent per annum on gathering
firewood, men contribute only
for by women
(36)
The results
35,
and the remainder is accounted
and children (3O).
The real problem, therefore, seems to be the enormous time
spent on collecting firewood as fuel.
To gather the
l71
tonnes
per' year, the firewood-gathering fanilies spent 1.5 man hours per
day per family, 1.2 women hours per day per family and 1.6 child
hours per dy per family, the average firewood gathering day
involving a distance of
knis per day and a collection of about
10 kg per day per family (18 families).
The utilization of children
for the purpose of gathering firewood has serious implications
which have been stressed in irevious publications:...
(i) children
become a vital necessity from the standpoint of activities which
determine the familyvs survival, (2) children must be removed from
school to carry out these crucial activities.
(b)
Cooking:
In Pura village, cooking is a chore which is performed
solely by women.
The total woman "hours spent on this activity is
59,678
hours Der annum, i.e., an average of 3 hours per day per
family,
ihe cooking is carried out predominantly on open mud
stoves (chu1as) which account for 85
remaining l5
cook with
of the cooking devices, the
consistinr of closed c3iulas,
only one pot at a time, while 79
simultaneously.
iUZ of the families can
can use two pots
The efficiency of fuel consumption is rather low
(of the order of 5).
so
The only cooking fuel used in Pura village is firewopd
that domestic cooking accounts for 8.3 kg per family per day or
82% of the total Pura firewood consumption with the heating of
water for baths consuming another 114%.
Fetching Water:
(c)
To obtain water for household use, the families in
Pura have the following sources
borewell, and a river canal.
a tank. a handpump attached to a
There is also a private well.
the families depended upon the tank
20%. on the handump (which is
more convenient but yields brackish water)
and 2% on private well.
day taking
l5
71% of
1%
on the river canal
On the average, a family made 2 trips per
hours (145 minutes per trip) to cover the 1.6 kms and
transport lO4 litres (14 Dot fulls) to obtain a per capita water
consumption for domestic purposes of 17 litres per day.
The total human hours spent on fetching water for domestic use
was 3214141 of which women contributed about 79% and children 20%.
(a)
Grazing Livestock:
Livestock are an important source of supple-
mentary income - often) the only additional income source.
Thus,
Pura had 1146 cattle (3c. builocks, 39 buffaloes, 149 cows and
22 heifers), 179 poultry. 1142 sheep and 69 goats.
Considerable
effort was spent on the grazing of iivcstock, viz.,
hours to which men contrihutd 56%, women, lO
118,293
human
and children, 314%.
Here) too1 chiLiren made a significant contribution to this
important economic activity.
(e)
Division of labour:
Of a total of 255,506 human hours per annum
spent on domestic activities, 18% went towards firewood gathering,
13; towards fetching water, 23% towards cooking and
livestock grazing.
Dung ca13s c:
ot
146%
towards
Further, the total human domestic effort was
at all in Pura
shared between men (32%), women (1i5%) and children (23%), and
represented about 12.5 hours per" day per family.
The distribution
of man hours over gathering firewood, grazing livestock and fetching
water
as
l9.7, 79.9
and 0.
rspective1y, while tha± of child
hours over these same ativities was 21.3, 67.7% and 11.0%
respectively.
Cooking being an additional burden for women, the
distribution of woman hours was as tilows:
and fetching water,
firewood, l4.3,, grazing livestock:, 10.9
The average time spent by men.. women and children on domestic
22.I%
activities was
5.3.
cooking 52.)4, gathering
i, 5.6
ad 3 hours per day per family respectively.
Lighting;
Though Pura is an electrified village:, only 1)4 families (25%) have
acquired domestic connections and therefore enjoy electrical illumination
in their houses.
These
fortunat&' foinilies consume 3078 kwh per year
which works out to 18.3 kwh per "fortunate
family per month.
The remaining
families must depend upon kerosene which is burnt mainly in open-wick
lamps and chimney lanterns
and
account for
and 19% respectively of
the 127 keroseno-based illuminating devices in the village.
The kerosene-using families consume l93( 1itre
per ,yearwhich represents
3.8 litres per fiily per month.
5..
Transport:
There were 11 bullock carts in Pura village.
They were used solely
for transporting raanuro and agricultural produce fro
and vice versa.
the house to the farm
Both of these activities are related to agriculture and
therefore the corresnondin
agricultural activities,
energy for transportation has been shom under
Between these two activities, the transport of
manure and produce accounted for 16% and 2l% rspectively of the total
number of bullock cart days
330 bullock
which was 292 in
rt dyE. constitutcs :Lon
'
Pura viJ.lage.
li.tio
292 bullock c:ct days rorents a very 1or ut
Assuming that
of' r. bLlo;k c2rt:, the
zaioi (only 3%).
- lea -
5.5
In4ustr?r
The following households/establishments have been taken as
1 coffee shop,
industrial in nature:
Toether. these units utilized 20730
ments9 and 1 electric flour mill.
human hours,
3.9
of electricity.
pottery and 1 carpentry establish.'.
14
tonnes of firewood,
156 litres of kerosene and. 820 kwh
The potters accounted for 7O' of the industrial
consumption of firewood (the halancc was used y the coffee shop) and 63%
whilE, the flour mill accounted
of the human hours devoted to industry
for all the industrial use of electricity in Pura.
Energy Source-Activity Matrix for Pura:
can 'be aggregated into matrices of the
The results described. ahov
type shom in Table VI. Such a matrix can be transformed into an energy
matrix (Tab1e.1I)by converting man hcurs
bullock hours
firewood
child hours,
kerosene and electricity into standard energy
The conversion factors for man hours, woman
kilocalories.
units,
woman. hours
hours and bullock hours have been based on the conclusions of
viz., 250 heal/man hour,
Eevelle'
200 keel/woman hour and. 2300 heal/bullock hour.
A child. hour has been taken to represent 125 keel.
The calorific value of
firewood and kerosene have been taken as 14700 keel/kg and
8980 kcal/litre
respectively, and 1 hwh has been taken to correspond to 860.14 keel.
The aggregated matrix f or Fura shows (1) th
various sources of energr
contribution of
(2) the distribution of the total energy over
the various activities, and (3) the magnitude of current enery consumption.
Thus, from TableVillitcan be seen that firewood is by far the most important
energy source in Pura todey
However
it accounts for olmost 932 of the energy.
the whole activity of agriculture is carried on without firewood
consumption and very largely witb animate energy (human beings and
buliocks),
-rn thc
due to fu'r
e
i'nut
o'
of
t,i're.
.rict into Fern
u,,et
.
agriculture is
h? domination of
- 182 -
energy supplies by firewood is associated with the requirement of' cooking
eney which constituted almost 70
Pura.
energy
of the total
requirement of'
The magnitude of the current energy consumption of Pura was about
1150 x 10
heal or L3 MTht per annum which corresponds to about 11 kwht
per day per capita.
In other words
at th
usual
o:
load factor, the
power requirement of Pura was about 250 kw
1.
Conclusions:
There are major developmental and technological
from the energy consumption pattern of Pura.
implications
arising
These implications which
'e discuse3. in the next pat of this paper.
warrant a separate treatment
Acknowledgethent
ASTBA is particularly grateful to Dr. J.P. taik, former MemberSecretary, Indian Council for Social Scienco Research, for actively
encouraging this work through an ICSSR sponsored project.
to Prof
project
Thanks are due
K. Krishna Prasad for his help in fonnulating and pilotting the
pr000sal
and to Dr.
.
Somasekhara (and his assistants
K.S. Thotappanavar and M. Venugopala Naidu) for carrying out the educative
pilot phase of these village energy studies.
References
(a) A. Makhijani and A.
World
(Cambrige5
(b) A. Makhijani
Institute
for
Poole, 'Energy and. Agricultire in the Third
Mass:
Ballinger Puilis1ing Co
1975).
Energy for the Rural Third World" . International
Environment and. Development
London5 1976.
(a) C.R. Prasad., K, Trishna Prasad and A.K.I. Rcddy9
Economic and
Political Weckly August 1974.
(b) A.K.N. Reddy and K. Krishna Prasad
Economic and Politial Weekly,
August 1977.
A.K.N. Reddy
Bulletin of the Atomic
E. Eckholm, 'Losing
Ground:
Prospects., (iew York:
5.
R. Revelle5 Science.,
)4
nvironmenta1 Stress and World Food
W.W, Norton
June
Scientists5 Jun 1978.
Co
1976., p.. 969.
1976).
Tb1e 1:
Size of
DitrThtjori Of Fni1y Sizes
Family Number of Families
Size of Family
1
1
9
2
3
10
11
i2
13
14
15
6
3
8
10
7
5
6
1"
6
8
Number of
ami1ies
0
2
1
0
1
1
5
Table II:
Education
Educational Level
1umher ot Perso±is
Illiterat3
Can read and rrito
Niddle school
High school
255
17
7
Post-high school
Table III:
5
Occupations in Pura
umber of
0cc upat ion
in
Landownini aricu1turi st
Ariculturc 1abourr
iottcr
Shop..oiner
Teacher
Coffee shop
Carpent r
Priest
L6
6
2
1
1
Families
Subsidiary
1
20
2
-
1
1
1
26
-
l'j
IV:
185
nery
Th Agriculture
Bullock
Hours
Hours
Woman
Hours
Human
Hours
Nursery Raising
1913
312
2230
Ploughing
3816
3816
35814
Harrowing
688
688
6614
Manuring
1236
312
1548
672
Transplant ing
1752
5990
7750
Sowing
2148
336
581i.
Weeding
856
272
5280
6136
tJan
Hoeing
Irrigation
5656
Harvesting
1672
-
1014
5656
16
72614
-
Threshing
9814
2328
i6
Transport
-
)156
296
3143148
5392
1149314
-
272
33814
19914
(KWH)
140
1112
TOTAL
Electricity
7264
-
Trpes O Fioo Ued...
Table- 5:-
-Source (Number of Families)
Type of Firewood
Gathered
Main
Twigs
( 4)
2
nought
Sec oniary
46 (96%)
Branches
0rn Source
Roots
2
3 (50%)
%)
(
LO (33)
1 (1)
3 (50%)
6 (13%)
Logs
5 (11%)
Coconut Husk
-
Table VI:
Etiergy Soi'ce
1 (i4%)
d 4ctivities
Agriculture
Domestic
Human hours
34846
255506
20730
(Man hours)
(1914)
(82376)
(16485)
(Woman hours)
(14934
(113928)
(4245)
(Child hours)
-
Firewood (kgs)
Industry
(9202)
207307
Kerosene (litres)
Electricity (1cTh)
Lighting
8930
-3936
72614
3078
820
Table VII
Fura Sou ceActivit iatrix
Agricultire
Human
7.97
(Man)
(1i98)
(Woman)
(2.99)
Domestic
(no6
kcals/year)
Lighting
Industry
4.97
50.Tr
(20.59)
(22.78)
(4.12)
(0.85)
Total
63.71
(29.69)
(26.62)
(.4o)
(7.140)
(Child)
Bullock
-
12,140
Kerosene
6.25
Electricity
26.62
TOTAL
iO27.43
Total Energy
Table_VIII:
(?an)
5.6
(2.6)
(Woman)
(:.3)
(Child)
Bullock
(3.7)
1.1
8.8
Iorosn
.1ctricit
17.141
i.1i0
i8.8i
26.148
0.71
33.44
43.89
49.05
1146.99
o6 kcal/year
=
11147 x
=
1.333 x
=
3651. 5 kwht /day
=
10.67
O6 kwht/year
icwht/day/capita
Pura Eiei'g Distribution
Activity
Source
Firewood
1018.63
Activity-Wise
Source-Wise
Human
141.97
976.66
Firewood
12.40
2.0
Lighting
2.3
89.6
3.8
Inaustry
4.3
Agriculture
Domestic
- i88
Supplementary note Presented by G.V.K. Rao at the SemLnar
I have stressed the need for an employment oriented strategy for
agricultural and rural development at the micro-level. More particularly,
the strategy should focus on the small farm and. the agricultural labour
household sub-.sector, the two major objectives being to improve the
productivity and returns on the small holdings and to increase the job
opporutnities for those sections of the rural community who ar.e:currently
unemplored, via a lowcost and a high labour-intenSiVe technology. The
getting into
economy has emerged out of a rscarcity trap but seems to be
increased
a Tlimited consumption trap. While technology can be scale-neutral,
production in the absence of a matching demand depresses farm prices and
the production processes. This would gretly affect the employment
weakeli
and income prospects of the small and marginal farmers and agricultural
research and analysis
labourers. There is therefore need for continuous
purchasing
and. reshaping of public policies and programmes for ensuring that the
power of the rural masses increases.
Experience of various rural development programmes in the earlier
plans has shown that a mere project approach or a sectoral approach is not
adeqj.iate to lead to an overall development of the area and distribution of
benefits to local population.
The current approach is to make the programmes
area specific through an integration of various programmes. The programme
for integrated rural development attempts to nount a frontal attack on rural
poverty through intnsification of developmental activity in rural areas.
It is expected that this programme would help generate gainful employment
nutritional
for the rural unemployed and underemployed, raise their incomes and
thereby
and living standards. Durable community assets will be created
strengthening the rural infrastructure.
Similarly, the Food-for-work
Programme has become a major instrument for rural development and employment.
Views expressed are those of the author
- 189 ..
Be it the Small Farmer Development Programme or the Drought Prone Area
Development Programme, the Antyodaya Programme or the Operation flood
programmes or the setting up of the District Industrial Centres, the objective
is to tackle the twin problems of rural poverty and iflemplonnent.
Programmes for employment generation include (1) those for the creation
of assets in the rural sector (consisting of on-farm development and investment
in irrigation and power, droughtprone area development, soil conservation,
flood control and afforestation) (ii) supply programmes for the production
and distribution of new and better inputs and diffusion of technology
including supporting programmes for research, extension, credit expansion,
input delivery systems land.,reforms and price support (iii) development of
allied land-based activities such as dairyinp
(iv) development of rural industries.
poultry and pisciculture and
Programmes under Ci) and (ii) would
raise crop production and generate investment in the tertiary sector viz.
in the construction of link roads, markets and warehouses and in thc provision
of processing facilities.
Also,the employment effects generated in the
first round lead to indirect and. secondary employment effects in the
industrial sector.
It would be useful to have an appraisal of how these
different programmes have been functioning.
The fulfilment of the employment goal implies a certain political
commitment to build up the institutions and see that they function effectively.
The entire approach to planning has to be necessarily decentralised for
ensuring sufficient grass-root level participation by the Panchayati Raj
functionaries, voluntary agencies and cooperatives in the implementation
of the area programmes.
The success of the einploynemt plan rests on a consistent
set of interconnected public policies which will ensure that the different
elements of the programmes are intugrated in a coordinated manner.
- 190 -
While examining the question of enhancing the employment possibilities
for the small farmers and landless labourers, it would be relevant to assess
the relative rierits of a programme for the diffusion of the high-yielding
technology to the small farmers compared to that for evolving genetic
varieties that would be land-saving and labour-using and which would increase
cropping intensity as also c'op productivity.
In other words, should the
action programnes be directed to the spread of the available high-yielding
technology to the small farm subsector or should genetic research be oriented
to the development of a crop technology suited to the small farms unde'r
different ecological conditions?
In fact, the solution to
he problem of
empioEent has to be sought in a regional context considering that there are
wide inter-regional variations in agro-climatic conditions, land-man ratios,
institutional factors and the like.
Whether it is through asset creation or through programmes aimed at
improving the cropping intensity and productivity levels, the seepage of the
employment and income benefits to the poorer strata of the rural sector
would greatly depend upon the institutional framework within which the
farmers operate.
This has to be kept in view considering that the institutional
factors affect different sections of the rural community differently.
The
relationship of land ownership and employment needs to be explored.
As for the small farmers, it is not merely a question of a coordinated
supply of credit, inputs and services but also one of tackling the problem
of risks confronted by them so that they can make most effic.ent and effective
use of the resources extended to them. In this connection, the evolution of
varieties with relatively more stable yield levels becomes relevant.
In
respect of the landless labourers, it is important to reckon with the fact
that they are generally unskilled.
In devising employment policies, programmes
for upgrading of skills and functional education for the rural masses
should thus receive duc attention.
Here, the importance of self-employment
schemes which are ancillary and compleuentcry to agriculture in particular
and rural economy in general has to t.o recognioed.
- U91 -
Emploent planning9 as all planning9 is an adaptive process which
requires prompt information9 monitoring feed-back nd ccrrective systems to
guide the action progranmes in the field where operations are afoot every
moment.
We may consider whether the approach9 progranme content and
organisational arrangements of the current proremrns for rural development
would suffice for reaching the target groups.
We need to know what should
be the policy-mix for achieving our rural employnent goals without sacrificing
the output targets we have set before our lv. We need a lot of interaction
between the professionals and. the policy-raakrs in this process of
and concurrent evaluation of the design for rural development.
cotnuous
192
Industrial Sector
4
rl
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(drd c
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PART III
LPBOUR ABSORPTION I
1NDIP
AGRICULTURE
PROCEEDINGS OF A TECHNICAL SEMINAR
HELD AT THE
INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH
NEW DELHI
19 - 20 JANUARY 1979
Sponsored by
The Indian Comcil of Social Science Research
and
The Asian Iployment Progranm1e Asian Regional Team
for Yp1oyment Promotion (ARTEPY IL0 Bangkok
We are grateful to the IMian Council of Social
Science Research for agreeing to sponsor this Seminar
jointly with the PRTEP.
Our special thanks go to the
Institute of Economic Growth
New Delhi for making
excellent hosting arrangements and to Dr. Hanumantha Rao
Director of the Institute for acting both as the organizer
and the general rapporteur of the Seminar
193 *
SESSION I
l4aterial for Discussion:
I?Agric.ntural Growth and 4anpower Absorption in India" by
Y.IC. Alagh, G.S. Bhalla and .Amit Bhaduri in Labour Absorption
in Indian A ricu1ture
some ex.lprator
investir.. ions, ARTEP,
1978.
Chairman:
Dr. M.L. Dantwala
Principal Discussant:
Dr. T.S. Papola
Rapporteur:
Dr. B.M. Desai
Comments by Dr. T,S. Papola
The question whether the growth of agricultural output has been,
and would continue to be, able to absorb increasing rural labour force is
of not only analytical interest but also of inunense policy significance
at the. present juncture of economic development in India.
Addressing
itself to this Question, the paper has thrown up a number of interesting
and useful analytical insights and has also drawn some broad implications
for policy.
The focus of the paper is on exploring the relationship
between growth of yield, which is found to be a major source ot output
growths with, growth of labour per unit of area.
Specifying labour absorption
iiversely in terms of land-man ratio, the authors examine the relationship
In
on a cross section basis using data for 281 districts of the country.
general, there is found to be a negative relationship between growth of
yield and change in 1andman ratio implying thereby that an increase in
yield has been accompanied by the absorption of a 1arer labour force.
Increase in labour absorption is, however, found to have taken place even
in the case of districts which experienced no gwth in output and yield
or registered a decline over the 10-year period covered in the study.
l94 -
The major importance of the paper lies not so much in providing any
defiiitive conclusion on the issue but in raising a number of relevan
and
interesting questions on the operation of relationships between growth
of output and employment, and its significance for fpture growth of
agriculture in India.
We will deal here with some of these questions,
to' the' reliability of the statistical ielationship observed,
causality of the relationship between growth
of yield and labour absorption and also the policy issues raised towards
the end of the paper.
The observed relationship between yield growth and labour absorption
is not only found to be statistically significant but also quantitatively
strong
virtually tending to unity.
There are, however, at least three
accounts on which further light needs to be shed before the relationship
could be taken as definitive and reliable.
First, i-b is some what surprising
to note that the relationship is found to hold when changes in the variables
are considered but not when their levels are considered.
No doubt the
analysis in the paper is based on cross section data, but it assumes, as
the authors claim, a 'dynamic' character by specifying the variables in
terms of change.
It is generally contended that, cross section analysis of
levels of variables gives more reliable estimates aid, if that is so,
one wonders as to what really intervenes to make the relationship ineffective
on a pure cross seption basis.
o, while the land-man ratio has been
found declining in all categories of districts
percentage decline during
the 10-year period has 'been much more marked in the case of districts
with very low or negtive rates of growth of output and yield as compared
to districts with higher rates of growth.
Districts with a growth rate
of output higher than 1.5% and with above average growth in yicld, registered
a decline in land-man ratio of around i1% while districts with positive
but low (less than
i.5%)
gro'th of outiut and with below average rate of
growth of yield experienced a decline in land-man ratio to the extent of
2G% and districts w:th ncative rates of outDu-t and yield f-rowth experienced
- 195
a decline inland-man ratio of around 20%. The strengthof the relationship
between dhanges in yield and land-man ratio.gets somewhat reduced in the
face of these trends. Three, the fact thtt land-man ratio has declined,
irrespectie d±' growth of output and yield and there has been a substantial
decline in i In the low nd negative growth, distriats raises doubts
about the 'cusa1 relatiohship between growth, yield and labour absorption.
ThealithorsE cbnteition that in'.thesedistricts it is the larger
dependence on agricü1tuc due to non-.availabiJ4ty of alternative
opportunities that is reflected in a decline in land-man ratio seems
plausible. &itthen it raises doubt, about the implication drawn in the
paper that it is higher yield that leads to absorption'of larger labour
input.
The last observation leads us to the ciuestion of specification
of the labour variable. It looks that the stock concept of labour input
that has been adopted in the paper represents not only actual labour
use in agriculture but also is a reflection of supply of labour in
the regions. The authors have been careful throughout the paper not
to use terms like emloymnt' nd 'lahoui utilization but have stuck
to 'labour absorption'. From the policy view point, however, it may not
be a useful specification of the variab1e for what one is interested in
is productive employment and utilization of labour in the production
process and not in 'absorption' of labour at low productivity and low
income lvels. No doubt, the non-availability of data n intensity of
labour use on time and productivity/incomecritria preclude the possibility
of attempting a large scale afl-India'analysispf the type attempted ix.
this paper, but it is that type of analysis which.would prove morG useful
even if it can be ttenipted only in case .of.certain regiqxis and at micro level.
The authors' decision to take male workers oily as a proxy for
total labour force has also created problems.. As a matter of facts
exclusion of female woikrs has no other justificat±pn except comparability
of 'at:. betwn 1961 and 1971 Censuses. But the procedure involves a
highly unwarrant. assimri.ption of uniformity of the extent and behaviour of
- 196 -,
female labour participation in agriultuie aeross the VnrioUs regions
of the country. That it can produce serious distortions can be shown by
a single example of difference between districts in eastern U.P. and
western U.P. In a predominantly rice producing district of eastern
U.P., the female workers constitute 152O% of agricultural
orkers
while
their percentage is as low as 2% in the predominantly wheat producing
district of western U.P. Growth in yield through increase in crop intensiiy
in the eastern U,P. is likely to lead to a larger increase in the number
and intensity of employment of female workers, as most of the operations
in rice cultivation are traditibnally performed by women, although all
male workers are not fully employed elsewhere.
Obviously, the authors
procedure would involve a gross underestimation of labour participation
across the regions with different crop pattern, technology and social
tradition.
Even if one broadly accepts the positive relationship
between output and yield growth and utilization of labour, the question
of causation and conseauence is important from policy view point.
Although
the authors have refrained from making definitive statement of causality, th
?suction mechanism suggested by them, as a hypothesis for explaining the
relationship, implies that it is the increase in yield which leads to
an increase in the utilization of labour.
mechanism.
It is obviously a demand induced
It is found. to hold in high growth districts, but the case of
low and negative growth districts suggests otherwise.
One can accept
the demand induced mechanism as a plausible hypothesis, although it is
equally important to investigate whether there are possibilities of an
increase in the intensity of labour use resulting from a higher yield per
hectare.
The more important question however, is, whether an increase
in yield irrespective of its pattern and sources would lead to an increase
in the use of labour per hectare.
The available evidence from various
micro studies does not suggest such universal occurence of the phenomenon.
It is obvious that the various sources of yield growth such
s cropping
- 197 -.
intensity, cropping pattern, irrigation, mechanisation Of different
processes, use of improved varieties of seeds and fertilizer would have
different implications for employment of labour.
It is, therefore,
important that we have a more detailed analysis of the yield-employment
relationship in terms of various sources of increase in yield without
which it would look premature to postulate positive relationship between
yield and employment of labour as universally
pplicab1e.
As pointed cut earlier, the 'suction mechanism" hypothtsis advanced
by the authors as an explanation of the process of higher labour absorption
accompanying an increase in yield is found limited in its application
to the extent that the mechanism is not found. to work in the reverse
direction in districts with low growth or decline in yield.
There are, of
course, some basic questions regarding the development process as such
that arise from the authors
depiction of
'
irechanism'.
They seem
to suggest that increase in yield in the high growth districts is
attracting larger numbers of workers from non-agricultural occupations.
In fact, agriculturally better developed districts are also found to have'
in general,a larger number of their labour force in non-agricultural
activities and it is expected that,with further develepment,this proportion
would increase.
This generally observed phenomenon does not agree with
the processes of growth implied in tile exposition of the 'suction mechanism'
in the paper.
It suggests that the developed areas would tend to have
a larger number of workers in agriculture and that population pressure9
in general, might lead to different patterns of increments to the agricultural
labour force wi-tb increases in yield and higher growth of agricultural
output.
The question of occupational and inter-aria migration that the
authors have -touched upbr need to be examined in greater detail before the
'suction mechanism' and the implied pattern of development could be
accepted as a valid proposition.
- 198
The pplicy implications given towards the end of the paper seem
o have been pronounced not necessarily based on the results of the
analysis in the paper.
A negative relationship between output and yield
growth and land-uan ratio suggested an encouraging trend to the extent
it implied that growth of agriculture, particul'rly through increase
in yield9 is capable of absorbing larger numbers of workers in agriculture.
The authors
conclusions9 primarily conditioned by the finding relating
to low and negative growth districts9 however9 do not reflect this
optimism.
Without any detailed ?xamination of whether a substantial
increase in yield is feasible in the low growth districts and what type
of labour use pattern might take place if such growth can be effected
in these areas9 the authors conclude that absorption of labour in Indian
agriculture in general, and in the slow growing regions in particular9
through significant increase in yield, is likely to be a restrictive
process.
Therefore, they think that growth of nonagricultural activities
anö more particularly
of the manufacturing sector9 may be the only way
of providing employment to the increasing labour force.
Industrialisation
may be necessary even independently of employment generation consideration3
but if it is to be used as an instrument for providing employment to the
large mass of labour force it is necessary to examine the question of
relative advantages of agriculture and industry on the one hand and among
various nofl-agricultural activities on the other, from the view point of'
their capacity to generate employment.
In the absence of such examination
a general statement favouring shifts from agriculture to other activities,
even though gene'ally acceptable in principle.3 does not seem to be useful
for policy formulation.
The painstaking efforts that have gone into this exercise have
proved highly rewarding to the extent that a possibility of positive
relationship between output and yield growth end labour absorption, and
also some indications of the constraints on the operation of this
relationship have been providd in this paper.
It seems nccessarr,
- 199 -
however, to pursue the efforts further
particularly in the direction of
exaining this relationship at micro levels and in regions with particular
geographical conditions and cropping pattern,with more direct specification
of the labour variable.
The causality and sequence of the relationship
could also be examined
along with
questions relating to sources of
labour supply -. unemployed, non-agricultural occupation and migration -
for larger absorption in agriculture.
ost important is the question of
differential impa.ct of the different sources of yield and output growth
on emplotment of labour, which needs to be examined in detail for policy
formulatofl in the direction of making agricultural growth associated with
increasing utilization of labour.
eport on the Discussion by Dr. B.M. Desal
The various issues that were raised for discussion can be divided
into three categories,.
These-
Issues relqting to the main question posed for analysis;
IsSUes relating to the specification of the framework for
empirical analysis; and
Issues relating to empirical results and their use.
The main question posed for the analysis is what expleins the
labour
suction mechaxiisu
in Indian agriculture.
Once the question is
posed in this manner the issue iihether yield is a cause or effect gets
readily settled.
However, the issue which is very complex to settle is
how does one specify three broad factors which need to be considered for
proposing a reasonable answer to the above mentioned question.
These
three factors are:
migration;
occupational shifts including those of land-owning cultivators
becoming siial1 businessmen. and
- 200 -
c)
agricultural growth.
Each of these factors re influenced by a wide variety of variables.
For example, the decision to migrate could be a function of, among
other variables
seasonality, distance, and reative gains.
Similarly9
agricultural growth can he due to change in area, 5.n yield and also in
crop-pattern.
Therefore
what seems necessary is to further decompose
the effect of each factor to explain the labour
In
suction mechanism.
this context, a methodology for decomposition rather than regression
analysis was suçgested.
question
Finally, if analysis of the above mentiohed
was pursued for a district, then sheer non-availability of
relevant data could compel one to specify a simple framework.
In regard to the second set of issues, in the above context,
right at the outset mention may be made that the specified relationship
between output per acre and man-land ratio was considered Thadequate.
That a rectangular hyperbola was found in the observed relationship
between these two variables itself suggested a need for a fuller model
rather than a simpl
linear modeL
The relationship chosen for
empirical analysis was considered. underspecified in the context of the
standard production function approach too.
The implied econometric
limitations of such a specification were also recognized.
while such were the issues raised strictly tot. discuss the
specification of the framework.. several questions were raised in regard to
the measurement of the variable of land-man ratio as a proxy for labour
absorption.
This proxy variable did. not permit interpretation of labour
absorption in the sense of employment - the 9flow9 variable.
Secondly, the
omission of female labour, time disposition aspect and the non-worker
population were also considered as major sources to suspect the results.
Thirdly, what is interpreted as occupational shifts being a labour
suction mechni&
on the basi.s of estimated relationship between yield
201
and man-land ratio may be due to omission of these variables rather than
due to genuine occupational shift.
Fourthly9 the estimates of elasticities
based on the specified relationships have to be viewed with reservation.
Strictly speaking, even the estimates of migration bàsedoñ siich
model
Lastly, given these
cannot be taken as a surrogate, for migration.
limitations it is better to treat 1suction mechanism
aspect separately
from the aspect of growth in yield and in labour use.
As regards the third seb of issues on empirical results it was
first pointed out that the regional profile of agricultural growth was
a very valuable contribution of this paper.
Similarly, the finding that
the high growth districts supported an increase
productivity was considered very valuable,
of workers with higher
Even the apparent puzzle about
high growth in male workforce in districts with low and even negative
agricultural growth is not difficult to reconcile once we recognize that
labour absorption in such regions is merely a
society must tolerate.
sunk
phenomenon which the
Yet another context in which the empirical
results have something very valuable to reveal is the question of changes
in absolute poverty.
It is quite likely that absolute poverty may have
declined in the bigh growth districts fhere labour productivity has increased.
Similarly9 occupational shifts from household industries and services to
agricultural labour in high growth districts as inferred by the authors
need not be viewed as contradictory if these findings are seen in the context
of regional disparities in agiicultural growth and in the growth of male
workers.
However9 what is difficult to reconcile is the result that the
rectangular hyperbola relationship could not be maintained when landman
ratio end yield levels rather than yiold growth rates 'were used. Two
additional points raised on the results and their use were (a) the need for
further segregating those high growth districts from the ones where area
changes rather than yield changes accounted for much larger change in
output
and (b) the need for considering avenues like darying as another
alternative to crop-farming and non-agricultural occupations while weighing
policy altrnativs for emplo3nnent generation for the rural workforce.
-
202 -
SESSION II
Material for Discussion:
"Labour Use in Indian Agriculturer
An Analysis based on Farm
Management Survey Data" by A. Vaidyanathan in Labour Absorption
in Indian Agricultiresome exploratory investigations, ARTEP,
1978.
Chairman:
- Dr. T,N. Sinha
Principal Discussant:
Dr. Krishna Bharadwaj
Rapporteur:
Dr. N.S. Jodha
Comments by Dr. Krishna Bharadwaj
I would like to preface my comments with a couple of general remarks.
First, let me confess that paradoxically enough, despite its apparent
simplicity and straightforwardness I could not always discern the
structure of arguments in the paper.
I was all the more
nhappy because
as I read through the paper I found myself not in agreement,
I am aware
of a possibility therefore that I might have missed somewhat the thrust
of the paper and. if so
I am sure, the author would put me right.
Secondly, let me state that my disagreement on analytical grounds with
the author in no way undermines my appreciation of the elaborate and
painstaking efforts that have gone into his empirical work and the candour
and carefulness he has shown in bringing out the. limitations of data as
well as of the inferences based upon their analysis.
I shall present my comm.ntr in a sequence on Vaidyarathans:
(1)
analytical frameworks (2) Specification of the framework in terms of
statistical relations as well as specification of variables in the
arguments of the functions; (3) Results, interpretations and possible
policy inference,
- 203 -
I take up the question of the analrbical framework first.
The
purpose of the paper, I gather, is to study the relation between overall
human labour use and agricultural production and factorsT determining
them.
Vaidyanathan feels this aggregative aspect has received scant
attention while rnore ample studies are available concerning variations
in the intensity of labour use as between crops, regions and classes of
farmers.
My own view is that a meaningful understanding of the technological
processes at work9 as practised, is hindered and perhaps even distorted
by looking upon the mass of cultivators as belonging to a homogeneous set
of producers.
But more about this later.
Vaidyanathan intends exploring
the differences in intensities of labour use in agriculture using the
Farm Management Survey data and spanning both inter-district and intradistrict information.
The analytical framework Vaidyanathan presents
suggests that in order to arrive at a macro-level explanation of differences
in intensity of labour use, he seeks to obtain a certain specification of
technological relations which would capture the essential and basic
material (input--output) links in the production process.
The conventional
production function also attempts the same and reduces the detailed bills
of material inputs to some kind of
primary
factors9 capital and labour.
Vaidyanathan is not 9however,happy with their formulation (see p.
for reasons which we shall briefly mention later.
35-36)
Vaidyanathan, if I may
so put it, attempts a different reduction, partitioning the inputs into
two sets, the bio..-physical factors which maybe called 'primary9 in a
sense and the 'energy' inputs ihich may be called derivative inputs,
I
call them so, as Vaidyanathan imposes a certain causal ordering on them.
The bio-physical factors (or physical factors, in short) are quality of
land:, quantum
nd seasonal pattern of soil moisture represented by rainfall
and irrigation, land nutrients in the form of manures, fertilizers and
plant protection chemicals etc. while te energy inputs are human labour9
bullock labour and mechanical power.
The former are the principal
determinants of the energy requirements, the allocation among different
energy sources being in turn dependent upon their technical (substitutability
- 2O1 -
or complementarity) character and relative prices of their services.
If one were to crudely simplify Vaidyanathan9s approach one could call it
a land theory of output and employment.
I shall follow Vaidyanathan's sequence of arguments in commenting
on the analytical points.
production function.
Let me take up his criticism of the conventional
I am neither a great admirer, leave alone a
protagonist of that approach and it is not to defend that tool of analysis
that I intervene.
I am of the view,however,that Vaidyanathan's criticisms
of the conventional production function are limited and transcendable
within their context and what is more, his own attempt at capturing the
technology in terms of bio-physical factors would not necessarily escape
from similar difficulties.
For example2 the difficulty that Vaidyanathan
sees for the conventional production function when capital stock is being
measured at the farm level (p. 35)while land and water improvement is
undertaken by the public sector for the benefit of large groups of farmers,
would not disappear in his own formulation,
The problems of such
reollective goods9 poses severe problems precisely because the access to
them and hence their productivity effects are not uniform for all farmers
but may be systematically biased in favour of a few.
If their effects
were uniform and universal, they could be easily treated as 9social overheads9.
As to Vaidyanathan9s objection toheterogenous capital assets with
differing employment implications, an ardent production function analyst
would list their services separately, as Vaidyanathan himself realizes.
As to the multi-collinearity problem, Vaidyanathan cites the irrigationfertilizer
case as one of complementarity giving rise to such problems.
But in his own. specification of the yield function, both these appear as
arguments.
Vaidyanathan of course is careful to recognize many of those
difficulties., He rightly raises a doubt against the interpretation
usul1y found tMt the existence of high correlation between inputs (say
- 205
irrigation and fertilizers) is often mistaken to be indicative of
technological complementarity and while such an inference is apparently
reasonable in sta-Listical ternis
actual agronomic experiments suggest that
a fairly wide range of variability is possible.
This, I feel, is important
to understand the limitations of interpreting the fitted production
functions whether in the conventional form or in the form suggested by
Vaidyanathan as depicting strict technological alternatives.
raise only two main points here.
I shall
Firstly, it does not take much more
than conimonsensical obsezvation to note that in agriculture cornplementarity
in the sense of fixed proportions would be somewhat of a rarity (excepting
in cases, such as
one person using no more or less than one sickle at
a time in a particular operation).
Complementarity however may be given
a wider interpretation with a certain statistical margin of variability
e.g. a certain type or level of irrigation may be the minimal condition
for a certain kind and level of fertilizer use.
Thus there may be some
kind of packaging of inputs with one or more acting as limitational
inputs at each level of technology.
within each package.
There may be possible variations
The problem of the macro production function would
be that there is a possibility that those different levels of technology
with cjualitative shifts would be represented as observed positions along
the same function.
Secondly, a more general problem arises, I suppose, because what
we observe are not ex-ante potential technological choices but results
of decisions already made.
I refer to the wellknown distinction between
the theoretical production furction and the statistically fitted function.
Given the distribution of resources, particularly a land distribution
which we all know is heavily skewed with a predominant number of small
holdings, the observed input-combinations may reveal much less diversity
than what in fact experimental technology permits.
To draw inferences
concerning the general technological relations or concerning properties of
technology or material relations may not always be warranted and is
certaii4y misleading.
- 206
These points I have mentioned in order to indicate my sense of
unease at treating observed or practiced 'technology
parameter, independent of distribution and
as an independent
oduction relations.
Such an
attempt seems to be implicit in Vaidyanathan's depiction of the production
process as in the conventional production function and this raises an
important question again concerning the appropriate unit of analysis.
As to Vaidyanath.an's criticism of the faulty inferences drawn
concerning marginal productivity of particular inputs in the resource
allodational exercise9 I have nothing more to add.
I agree fully.
Coming to Vaidyanathan's approach which he adopts in vieu of the
pitfalls he identifies in the conventianal production function approach.
I find that his departure lies in the particular specification of the
relations and not so much in the basic approach.
His aim is to explain
labour use as a function of output9 the feasible technology and relative
prices of energy inputs.
There is no basic departure from the conventional
model of technological choice and resource allocation.
By now, the short-
comings of such a model based upon an analogy of competitive firms has
been discussed widely.
units
It presumes a homogeneity among the cultivating
in terms of their involveiiient in riarkets, in market situations and
in the particular type of maximizing behaviour.
As this has come up
frequently in other contexts and I am afraid it is a point on which I
have repeated myself at a number of places, I shall refrain from entering
into detailed discussion.
technological relations
Coming to Vaidyanathan's specification of
as already noted, he begins with a distinction
between bio-physical factors, 'active determinants', if I may so put
it
of yield per acre ,while energy inputs) in turn, remain passive
participants, being determined by the bio-physical factors.
a two-tiered separation of inputs with a one way causality
There is thus
croprields
being determined 'prior to' the determination of the levels of energy
input.
If actual yield levels fall short of what could be e:ected
- 207 -
from the application of bio-physical factors
Vaidyanathan attributes these
failures to what he calls 'institutional factors', namely the loss of
efficiency in adopting techniques, lags in learning process etc. but
not to the shortages of energy inputs.
this one-way dependence is rather overdrawn by Vaidyanathan
I feel
especially since9 in his physical factors
fertilizer use.
ho includes irrigation and
It would seem that the resource position of a household
in which I include land9 labour and bullock availability as well as
access
to
resources considerably influences the type of crops grown,
the particular mix of operations thosen,and the intensitywith which particular
operations are conducted.
The labour and bullock availability, I
suppose, plays an important role in determining the inaintainance and
utilization of irrigation
assets and even in creation of irrigation assets.
In Vaidyanathan's scheme where energy uses are made causally
dependent upon yield in a one-way direction, there appears to be an
implicit assumption that the energy sources (labour, bullock, mechanical
power) can be freely purched and disposed of on the market at certain
competitive prices so that their availability or unavailability by itself
does not predominantly influence the techniaues chosen, except via
relative prices.
The causation would be reversed if one were to recognize
that the involvement of different sections of peasantry in markets is
qualitatively different - the feasible set of choices open to the different
sections are not the same nor the terms offered on the markets.
In
concrete terms, as I have argued elsewhere, on-farm work and off-farm
work, hiring in and hiring out labour, or of bullock labour, are not
symmetrical phenomena with the market prices measuring 'opportunity costs',
as would be the case under competitive situations where entry into or
exit from the markets is all dependent upon the ruling prices and there
is uniformly free access to all.
Under such conditions, the availability
- 208 -
of energy inputs (in terms of ownership and access) would play an eQually
important role in determining the technical relations.
This again is a
more complicated issue and I shall not enter into it here.
[ may remark
in passing that Vaidyanathans finding that the relative energy costs
(especially human labour and bullock labour) do not appear to be statistically
significant in influencing the intensity of labour use,riey also be a
reflection ef the oculiarityof exchange processes I have just indicated,
Vaidyanathan is correct in pointing out that not much ana1'rsi
been so far undertaken of the relation between
namely laboir, bullock and mechanical energy.
deta5.led study
operations,
has
different energy sources
Vaiöyanathan offers a
accordirg to .overall use as rcll as use in particular
Histatistical results are not cor.iclusive as to th
complementarity or substitutability of labour and bullock power.
iechanical encrgy
b.c notices, appears to be displacing bullock power
more than labour power.
his particular freniwork
However, I do not see that Vaidyanathan requires
to carry out the analysis.
The particular
structure of causality he builds into his framework plays no special
role in this part of the study.
Moreover, once Vaidyanatban adopts
yield per acre as a simple proxy for the bio-physical factors, and
simply relates labour use to yield the distinctive character of his
approachdisappears.
More about this later.
I turn to Part II of
the paper where Vaidyanatban takes up the analysis of data.
The analysis of data is carried out in two stes.In the first
the author attempts to find out the extent to which variations in yield
per hectare are explained by differences in bio-physical factors.
At
the second stage, the intensity of labour use is attempted to bQ u:plained
in terms of yield, the technical substitutability or complcmntarity with
other energy inputs and relative prices.
- 209 -
For the first exorcise9 yield per heetare is regressed against
percentage of area irriated3 amount of fertilizers/chemicals used per
acre and the amount of raiifall as well as its seasonality as measured by
the percentage rainfall in the poriod JuneScptember.
Vaidyanathan is
himself very conscious of the limitations of data9 especially as regards
irrigation and is careful in the interpretation of results.
There is a
certain problem in taking absolute level of rainfall as well as the
particular measure of seasonality as dependent variables in the interdistrict cross.secticnal analysis.
More so9 since we take the aggregate
value of crops and. not individual crops.
The cropping
attern will have
adjusted to the peculiarities of climatic-soil conditions and to conditions of ?normai
More or
level of rainfall in the particular district.
less rainfall than the
normal
would adversely affect the crop.
It
appears therefore that in the inter-district analysis one could not
postulate a stable or monotonic relation between the absolute level of
The same difficulty would arise in the case
rainfall and value of crop.
of the seasonality factor.
The optimum or
normal2 value for the absolute
level of rainfall for the seasonality would vary from region to region.
Vaidyanathan introduces cropping pattern in the argument but with
not much better results.
The fact that his analysis of yield per acre
and of labour use within the same franicwork9
hen applied for a single
crop9 paddy. does not yield any better or more significant results
suggests that possibly the crcppin
pattern does not adequately explain
the weak results ho ob-bains in the aggrogat,ive exercises.
For the analysis cf variations in homan labour use Vaidyanathan
proposes the hypothesis that the level of human labour use per unit of
area is determined by (a) the level of productivity of land which he
takes as a proxy for the more
fundamental dctc-rminants
o
the energy
inputs (b) the use of enLr-y soureco other than human labour; and
- 210
(c) the relative costs of the ener.'y inuts.
A;ain Vaidyanathan
recoznizes the difficulty of measurinc: the energy inputs9 a
to brin
s difficult
it
in the intensity of work input or the utilization aspect of
machinery.
The staistica1 results show that the 'tlative costs of en..rzy
ihuts are not si:nificant determinants in the majority of cass. fart
xchane
from the questions raised above concernin.: the peculiarities of th
procees and hence price forriulation in rural narkats and responses to
theri
we have the additional probles of reckon:inj: the price of bullock
services, where a considerable part of the services are fran owned bullocks
or on exchange basis.
Turnin
to the results of statistical analysis) Vaidyanathan is
fully aware of the limitations as well as the inadeuac es of the data
base and comments extensively on the inconclusive results h. obtains
1fliat is ernharassin
he obtains:
is the disparate character of the statistic'i results
the results of the inter-.district analysis arc auit
variance with those obtained from the intra.-district and vhen
often et
of
roup
districts are considered the results of analysis are neither consistent
nor systematic as between districts.
Attempts at additional refinements
such as introducin' the ouality of irristion (throuh introducin
tb
proportion of area irrigated by wells and tubewells as a separate
variable) or cropping pattern does not improve the results very iuci,
Jhe
explanatory power of Vaidyanathons yield function remains rather low
Given his framework, Vaidynathan finds th' disparity itween
inter-district and intra--district results somewhat puzzlin.
would not be cxpccted if the basic preposition re;ardin
factois hcin
However, thcse may he explainable on other
For example, the irriationyicld relation appoar: to be :uc
wea1er in the intra--district cxercise invo1vin
districts..
the biOphyic.l
fundamental determinants in the manner postulated by
Vaidynthan were true.
roürid,
Such disar!ti:s
iffercnt farms then acros
Possibly the latter, i.e. the iater-5istrict data9 allowe
much wider variations in irrigation levels and for more conap cous
or
- 211 -
effects on yields and if the effects on yield of irrigation (as measured
by percentage area irrigated) are not continuous but involve productivity
jumps with levels of irrigationthe relation would come out much better
in the interdistrict analysis.
As to the analysis of labour intensity per acre, Vaidyanathan
finds a more systematic Dositive relation between labour use per hectare
and yield, while the relation with respeot to bullock labour is neither
uniform nor systematic in the various exercises.
The relative prices
of energy input appear not to play a very significant role.
Although Vaidyanathan admits candidly the limitations of the
exercises and the rather inconclusive statistical findings, he concludes
that the analysis of variations in human labour corroborates his hypothesis.
I do not think so.
The positive relation between the labour use per
acre and the yield per acre can be interpreted in various ways and the
causal direction need not be necessarily from the former to the latter as
Vaidyanathan presupposes.
Vaidyanathan himself is not unaware of this.
In fact.., recognizing that there are differences in his inter-.district
and intra-district analysis which cannot he explained within the framework
of analysis, he remarks on p. 59:
"It is possible that.., apart from the limited number of observations
for individual districts and the inability to include some of the
explanatory
riables which figure in the interdistrict cross section,
the level of labour use both in absolute terms and relative to other
forms of energy within particular parts are also influenced by differences
in the quality of land, availability of' family labour, access to and
relative cost of different energy sources - all of which may be related
to the size o'holdin
.If this were so) it calls for a change in the
basic unit of analysis as well as approach.
- 212 -
On p. 60 again Vaidyanathan hints that in order to reckon the
quantum of effective energy input,certain factors systematically
varying with the classes of farmers
wilihave to be considered.
In the rest of the paper where Vaidyanathan considers hired labour
input separately or of changes in labour use over time, important
questions are raised but I find the discussion is unstructured, ii the
sense that the basic analytical frame appears no longer to be significant.
For example, given Vaidyanat1ians :aPProch there is hardly any scope to
distinguish between hired and family labour, yet the distinction is
important.
However, Vadyanathan conducts his statistical exercise
without going into any of the analytical problems associated with hiring
in or out of labour.
Again Vaidyanathans operation.wise analysis of energy.use
(especially human and bullock labour) shows considerable variations in
energy-mixes within and among operations.
It is not obviou$ that these
variations can be ascribed to physical factors alone.
To the
xtent
that .these variations may be determined by factors such as relative
resource position of households or their differential access to resources,
Vaidyanathan s depiction of the one-way-causation, namely, physical
factors determining yield and yield in turn determining labour use along
with other energy inputs 4s not very convincing.
To end with a brief last point:
draw from the exercises?
what policy inferences can one
I remain unclear on this point, partly because
the last section (on changes) of the paper hints at a much wider set of
problems (the problem of the growing landless etc.) which are not at the
centre of the analytical framework initially presented.
from the initil setting of the pper,
Proceeding
Vaidyanathan rican to
suggest that the policies for labour absorption in agriculture should be
directed towards initiating appropriate c1anges in the fundamental
- 213 -
determinants of yield, namely irrigation ad fertilizers?
Howev:r,the
limitations of stressing purely the technocratic content of such
policies, I think, has by now been evident.
Report on the Discussion by Dr. N.S. Jodlia
Dr. Vaidyanthan initiated the discussion by briefly indicatini
the genesis of his study and highlights of the study in terms of na1ytical
framework
data base and results of the study.
The subsequent discussion
(except for parts of the comments by Prof. Bharadwaj) was largely
focussed on the analytical framework of the study.
The attempted novelty of the approach to study the relationship
between agricultural production and human labour use, actually lies in the
different way in which the whole agricultixal production process is viewed,
The key components of the analytical framework are as follows:
(i)
The production factors in agriculture are broadly divided
into two categories:
physical aid biological factors both inherent in th3
eco.-system of the region as well as those consciously
manipulated (even at farm level) by human effort.
Soils,
with their inherent as well as supplemented fertility
and other characteritics; moisture situation both, natural
and manipulated artifically. seeds,both natural gerniplasm
and man-made crossed, etc. are
nc1uded in the first
category of factors of production later described as primary
determinants of production.
second category consists of all energy sources biological (e.g. human and bullock labour) and mechanical
(e.g. tractor, eta.).
- 2l
(ii)
-
The physical-biological factors are considered as primary
determinants of agricultural production potential and hence
they set the limits to absorption of energy in:puts in
agriculture.
Within these limits the actual use of energy
inputs (or the passive participant in the production process)
is determined by the technical complementarity or substitut
ability between different energy sources and their relative
prices.
While operatibnalising the above framework the author is constrained
by paucity of usable data as well as poor state of knowledge about
actions of and interactions between the socalled ?primary factors,
As a short cut9 crop yield is adopted as simple proxy for the combined
impact of primary factors on agricultural production.
Finally9 using the
one way causality9 the labour use is analysed as a function of crop
yields.
How uncomfortable this approach proved to the group is amply
indicated by the fact that except for the principal discussant9 literally
nobody commented on the results of the paper and the discussion wholly
centred on different aspects of the analytical framework only.
The key
points of the discussion are presented below.
On Two-Tiered Separation of Production Factors
In the first place the group was not happy with
he clear cut
division between physical-biological factors versus the energy factors
in agricultural production process.
No doubt the ecological factors
determine the broad framework within which agricultural production takes
place, hut the latter1s manipulation on constant as well as irregular
basis (even at farm level) is part of the production activity.
To th.
extent that such rianipulations significantly contribute to rroduction
-. 215
it is difficult to
o along with the above clear-cut division (of active
and pasive factors of production) to facilitate understanding of
agricultural producbion process;
Secondly some participants questioned the superiority of the new
approach.
The sources of dissatisfaction with conventional produetioli
function approach 3uch as the problems of mu1ti.eQlliriearitY and
created by colleetiv
cömplication
goods etc. will continue to exist in
the nCw approach too.
Thirdly
even if the new approach is aCcepted in principle, its
operationalisation i
full of practical problems.
Apart from the
difficulty of Clearly separating stock and flow type of components of
hysicaibiOlOgioal factors (part of which are outcome of farm level uCe
of energy inputs themselves), a clear-cut specification of agro-biological
inputs and their interaction is difficult.
not yet been fully undeistood even on experimental
relationship ha
stations i
The complex soil-water plant
different ecological zones.
Hence using district o
regional level averages for the purpose of analysis would grossly
mis-specify the variables in new approach
Several participants presented
real world situations to illustrate this.
Fourthly, as mentioned by Prof. Bharadwaj, for reasons like the
ones mentioned above the actual application of the approach did not
give consistent results when inter district and intra-district situations
were compared.
The only systematic result presented in the paper is that
higher yields 1-jvi
led to higher per acr lab3ur use.
But this could be
due to other factors too and hence this cannot fully establish the
validity o
the now aimroach.
well as approach was suggested.
A need for cbange of unit of analysis as
- 216 *
Finally, if all the aforesaid problems are ignored, the real
question arises about the policy implications of such analysis.
The
paper of course is not very clear about it.
On The One WeyCausation:
The second major issue of discussion was the one way causation
crop yield)
where physical-biological factors (or their simple proxy:
determine the absorption of energy inputs - given their technical
complementarity and relative prices.
In the first place, this implicitly assumed a situation of a.e'rfect
market where input availability is free guided solely by competitive
price.
However, in the case of rural factor and product markets charac-
terisedby several imperfections arid non-visible interlinks, the above
assumption does not hold good.
In pratieal situations oneE access to
various inputs is guided by on&s own economic and social position.
This restricts the availability of various inputs (including energy
inputs) in the case of several small farmers.
Their production decisions
as well as final production are thus dictated by resource availability
and not vice versa as visuauised by the paper.
In such a situation the
one way causation gets reversed.
Secondly, to the extent human organisation or institutional
arrangements prevailing ma region influence the use efficiency of
?primary determinants of productions the one way causation aLso loses its
strength.
- 217 -
On Salvaging The Approach
Notrithstanding its criticism the approach does try to separate
ecological determinants from other determinants of agricultural proauction.
The discussion remained unconclusivo on various approaches to it.
Soparatio f flcr :'nd stoc3 types Qf components of 'primary
determinants? in production as one of the first steps suggested and
contesteth Separate analysis for different homogeneous agro-clitnatic
zones for differnt categories of farms was another suggestion
during the course of discussion. Both recognition and inorporaticn
of institutional factors in the approach was felt essential.
- 218 -
SESSION III
Material for Discussion:
'VOn Labour Absorption in South Asian flice Agriculture with
particular reference to Indiafl by Pranab K Bardhan in
Labour Absorption in Indian Ariculture7 some exploratory
investigat.ons
ARTEP, 1978.
aj Krishna
Chairman:
Dr.
Principal Discussant:
Dr. N. Krishnaji
Rapporteur:
Dr. R. Thamarajakshi
Comments by Dr. N. Krishriaji
Pranab Bardhans paper is an attempt to explain variations
(across farms of different size) in the labour input per unit area under
the cultivation of paddy.
The results of his empirical analysis show
that these variations are, by and large, positively associated with
factors such as the intensity of irrigation.) the use of improved seeds
and fertilizers, and the number of family members; and negatively
associated with the village farm wage rate, the farm size and land
tenancy.
These results are shown to be in conformity with certain
expectations derived from a theoretical framework, the main features
of which are, (a) a farm production function with a multiplicative
shift factor, which allows for positive shifts in response to land
improvement factors and negative shifts resulting from "institutional"
factors such as land tenancy; and (b) a household (farm) demand
function for labour specified indirectly through a relationsiip between
output per manday on the one hand and the wage rate and the bargaining
power (facing the farm) of labourers on the other.
We may thus regard
output, 0, and labour ir.put L as the endogenous variables and the
remaining as exogenous variables of the
ysten; considered by the author.
- 219 -
since the observed correlation an acquire meaning and predictive
value only within a satisfactory theoretical framework, "theorizing"
In our view, the difficulties in setting up a specification
is essential.
labour
for the data arise mainly from the interdependence between the
Labour input per acre cannot solely depend on the
input and. the output:
productivity per acre
wage rates it can be expected. to depend also on the
which itself would depend on the labour input (apart from other inputs).
Bardhan has not satisfacto'iiY resolved the underlying problem of
specification.
Labour Input and the Wage Rate
We shl1 discuss some of these difficulties and argue that the
passage from his theoretical framework to linear regressions is not
quite smooth,
Labour use by each farm is assumed to be governed by
W = g(b) g1 > O
2
...,.
< 0
where W is the village wage rate
a.
(1)
is the farm labour productivity
and b an index of labour bargaining power facing the farm (g1 and
are respectively the partial derivatesof W with respect to q and b).
If the theoretical framework is to lead to a valid empirical
specification, appropriate to the data being considered> (1) should
form
be rewritten in th
a. = f(W.. bj
,, .,
.th
where the sufix d>notcs th.t 1
1
1' the
0. IL.
1
lam. Ths is necessary because W
given and hencc are independent (exogenous)
and b are assumed to b
variablesanci a.
(2)
outnut rr man dav
is the dependent
variable (ratio of the two endogenous variables in the model). We may
note that (2) is. rather an old (though quite acceptable) way, whatever
for specifying how L.is determined; one
be its theoretical conveniCDCe
would nornafly specify L., ite1f as a function of say. acreage A, O
and otir viab1-': 2u'::.
U
(2).
T'ruinZ baelr to
austion (1) we
- 220 -
can see that it can at best be regarded as an expost relationship between
labour productivity and. the wage rate (modified by the imperfection in
the labour market as reflected in labour bargaining Dower) and caflnot
obviously he used. for specifying how
is (statistically and causally)
On the other hand, if we assume that it is (2) rather than
determined.
(1) which Bardhan has in mind, it is not clear (a) what exactly bargaining
power facing each farm represents (and how it differs from fari to farm);
and (b) how such bargaining power enters independently of the wage rate
into the determination of labour use.
An additional difficulty arises
from the fact that for farms within a village the wage rte is given and
equation (2) would require productivity variations to be explained entirely
b
differences in the bargaining power faced by t.he'fars!
But that is not all.
(2) can be inverted under certain conditions,
to yield a mathematically eauivalent form
W'
g
(3)
b1)
but its partial derivative. tells us nothi
rates (with respect to variations in
and b) for the simple reason that
(3) is not the wage determining equation.
by Bardhan in
(1).
about the behaviour of wage
Yet this is what is assumed
His observation that aggregation of (1) over, all
farms yields such information (on wage behavioi.) is not valid.
To see
this let us assume linearity for the sake of simplicity and rewrite (2)
as
...
= a + cW + db1
which
aggregated over farms
(Ii.)
yitlds
a + oW +
..
(5)
where the bars imply simple weraging over
Isnt it now clear that th
inverted form
(6)
is not necessarily the wage equation
be determined by a and b7
See next page for foothot.
although the wage rate may indeed
-
Th
221
difficulty aris..s frori the fact that for crosssctions of
fra within the same villare (at a point of tie)
!ven and nothin: can bt said about wege behaviour iii
a:o?-enou.sly
v
rela:biort to productivit
so lon; as
raust
r'te is
the wc
th
It is thus clear that
lations across farms.
iris
data refer to the sace vil] eo. oxX.ccttiors of
sij'rS of' coefficients in () o.nt. not in
)C derive, from th.
Lut as we have already rar'jrked (1:) or (2) cr'nnot b
(E)
aclecuete for exlainini:
articularly whtn bargainirw-
labour nrc.uctivitv varictions across farms
rower is not wellde fined
om: of this difficult: disaiars onc
deta refer to farms rot all in the scn
ville.
informatort on sr'ntial variation in wage rtos
wa :eeribr t]t ardhan's
end hnc contain some
or a more stisfactorv
theofetical and enpirical analysis we therefore recuire
x'zilanations :r
(a) variations in deman1 for labour across faras within the sari: villaie
for
iven wec: rates (su&i variations possii:ly doT endin
in :rroductivitr per acre)
also or variations
and ('b) spatial diiferencos in wao rates
(which would depend. on v'riat5.ons in overall labour sunply -uw' derrand)
e sh;ll rturn to this uroblom of conpietre spcci:eic,tiou
'i.o the Bardlata typ.
a2proirilte
of data- but let us now reconsider his sp;cification
from a sli'htly cJiff,fcnt
oin'b of view
Linetriiv
For ivn ware rte
(1)
nd (2) of the Ea:c
riiiiri
\s
.nd acraa:
equ.atiofl:$
ian uaper would coi:L;tely snecify the rqodcl, for
there are only two cndocnouz var
the output O
power
e have
tles
lrcady notod
viz
the labour inout L an
secifyin an ecuation for 1,
would Bardhan arruc that \-rae rates ar. determined 'by evei'arc
roductivity o in (() and that therefor somcthinliia, (3), conncctn
wac rate and individual fern Productivity IS valid? such n erumcnt
can be shown to be invalid
-
222
the
However
rather than for OIL9 would have boen the usual procedure
two equations as spcifid are sufficient to derive a reduced form
equation for L/A. the labour input per unit area9 in ternis of the exogenous
variables
Here a difficulty arises .fro;i
the fact that such a
reduced form
equation will be linear only for very special forms for equations (i)
and (2) in the Eardhan paoer
P.s they
e
cciiec1 now they
cannot
This can be easiy checked from the
lead to a linear forn' for L/A
partial derivatives in cauations (it) and (5) o
Bardhn1s paper
For
a linear form both these have to be constant and hence their ratio has
to be constent
It can be SCrJ that this would require A, the acreage
to he constant over all farms
which is an absurd condition
Linear
regressions are thus inconsistent with the specification.
Moreover, for L19 the iartial derivative with respect to x to be
constant (as linearity of L would imply) it is necessary that
f(a)/f(a) = const/a
2
implying f(a) = exp(-const/a)
Thus Bardhan?s production function (2)
has to take the form
O/L = exp(x
which is of coursc
homogenous in L and A as postulated
but rather an
odd form for a production function!
Two Types of Specification
For thee type of data analysed by Bardhan, which rtfer to farms
of different size, not
seem possible
ll in the same village3 two kinds of specification
one in which wage rates can b
assumed to be given and
the other incorporatinF as much intr..villae information as possible
for explaining wage. differenc cc.
223
If Wage rates are dtcrmined exogerously and all w. try to
explain is the variation in labour input per acre: it
alread:r rerked.
110W
iS
not
ClLar)
as
bargaining strength of the labourrs enters th
model independently of the nae rate.
hence the use of both wage rate
end the bargaining power of labourer. as
be 'L&njustified ii-.. such a framework
explanatory variables vould
(Incidentally, in l3ardhan s
niiricai
analysis. unlike in his tbeorctici specification, bargaininr power does
not apper as an exilantory variable excpt in the data relating to HoogLiy)
Iodsls in this category can treat th. way. rate. acreage and othEr icieui;s
as exogenous varinbles and. the output and lahour input as endognous
variables in s simultaneous eçuat ion systcm
Bardhans model can be
justified in this senner but, as implied in the discussion thus far
rnor
a
careful specification is needed so as to (a) lie consistent with
thoris (especially those which posit a relationship beteen the
Droductivity end the uuge rate) and (b) yield reduced forms which can
be estimated by conventional methods. Leglinear forms may be more suitable
for this purpose than linear forms (since output per man, a ratio of the
two endogenous variables enters the specification
the ratio of two
linear functions cannot be linear).
Itnay however bc more rewarding to treat the wage rates also as
endogenous to the system, especially since the data refer to different
villages where the wage rates differ.
Apart from specifying functions
for the output and the labour input, this would. require th
of a function portraying wage behaviour.
specification
It is here that bargaining
power could play a useful explanatory role apsrt from, of course) the
supply of wage labour (the variation of which is completely ignored in
The appropriateness of the proxy used there) viz.) distance to
nearest torn etc, is open..to question.
221k
the Bardhan paper)*.
In models formulated in this context9 the supply
0-f labour and the wage rates as well as demand for labour and. the output
will get deteined simultaneously for given values of acreage, other
inputs and the bargaining power
Such models cannot, however, be employed
for explaining variation in the labour input for one crop viz., paddy,
unless it happens to be so predominant that it plays the crucial ro'e
in the determination of the wage rate.
Bargaining Power
Let us now turn to bargaining power of labourers.
measure it?
How does one
The different farmers fate different levels of this rower
(as Bardhan postulates) and. if so, why?
Does the barJaining power of
labourers influence only the wage rate or does it also influence the
number of days of work available to labourers
Does it fulij- reflect
the asymmetry of the relationship between ware labourers and their
employers?
Isnt the bargaining po-Ter of ti-ic latter more relevant for
some areas of the country?
We are raising these questions mainly to drive home the point
that the current state of knowledge of the suibjoct does not permit us
to force bargaining power into linear regression models except in an
uncritical fashion.
Linearity would imDly that the marginal effect
Some recent work of A. Vaidyanathan is based on such specifications.
The rcg±onal vaiations in Kerela in the birgaining strength of labourers
and their ovarell impact on the labour market- are sufficient to
illustrate the ran(e of ossibilities, Kuttanad and Palghat are two
regions whore agricultural weikers unions are the strongest and most
militant in Kerala, In Kuttanad, thc; unione have in recent times
hip-her wage rates nd regulation of hours
and achieved
fought for
of work per day while in Paighat, at least according to some observers,
the unions fight more for continuity of employment from one season
to the next rather than for increases in the daily wage rate. In
other areas of Kerala, where the unions are not so strong, the real
wage rates have been risin, albeit with a time lag in comparison to
similar rises in Kuttnad and Paighat. No simple explanations in terms
of simple measures of 'bargainin strength for these differences is
explauctions
Eaifactory but by n meaIs conclusiv
i-osible.
exist of course -'nd rust for their validity on fctors behind the
historical evolution of these unions and their modes of working.
Origin of Trade
We may refer to A,V. Joses work in this contect
Unionism among Agricultural Labourers in Kerala, Social Scientist,
-
July, 1977.
-. 225 -
of bargaining power vould remain constant all along the scale, howsoever
it is measured
Hired Labour Use
On th intensity of lured labour use and it variation over farms
of different size B.rLhan has no tbeorotial formulation but nevertheless
establishes its correlation with such v:riables a the size of the farm
and the size of the family. lie has also a third ot of equations to explain
the variations in the ratio of hired to total labour use across farms but
these arc obviously redirndant and inconsistent with other equations. They
are redundant becaUs once the total labbur input nd its hired eomonent
are explained t1e ratio of the latter to the former is automatically
and if both hired and total labour inputs are linear in given
sets of variables (with some corrL'non elements) the ratio of hired to total
labour cannot be linear in the variables considered by Bardhan (log
linear forms can take care of this difficulty). Hence the inconsistency
in the estimated models.
What are the determinants of hired labour use especially in the
smaller farms? The observed correlations are not unexpected, even without
an adequate theory. It might be more fruitful, however, to examine the
seaonl pattern (i.c. operation-crise) of hiring bboth small and big
farms. It is ouit rosible that small farms lcjre in labour to a
significant '_xtent only for operations such as harvesting of the crop. This
will imply that the roportion of hired lThour in the total will vary as
between oper.tions. Apart from this th size arid cothposition of households,
their tcnancy/ownership status, and ti-ic social and economic constraints
governing th enplo nt of' femaL.-. and child labour, arc all relevant to the
determination of hired labour use, as Eardhan him'elf notes. Our knowledge
in this area is too scanty to allow us to theorize and attempt modelling".
226
Issues for Discussion
The empirical analysis shows that the labour intensity per unit
area is positively associat.cl. with precisely those variables which can
be expected to be similarly associated with the oixbput per acre.
The
main problem thus appears to lie in devclopinL: a satisfactory tháoretical
specification which would take into accou± the interdependence between
labour intensity and the productivity per acre (and 'ossibly the wage
rate as well).
Bardhan seeks to accommodate this through a production
functicn and a relationship between the wa
The resulting model is of doubtful validity.
rr.tz and labour productivity.
Alternative attempts mu.t
somehow rsolvc questions relating to the determination of the wage rate
and labour intensity as well as to the production process in a more
satisfactory 'ay.
Bargaining power and hired. labour use are iniportarit related issues;
but it is doubtThl if we can theorize about them given the present state
of our knowledge.
Comments by Dr. G.R. Saini
It has been observed that labour absorption rates per acre and
correspondingly output per acre are much higher in rice agriculture of
countries in East Asia than in South Asia,
1hile this may suggest
considerable potential for further intensive cultivation in South Asian
countries Professor Bardhan has rightly underlined that some agro-cliniatic
Asian
conditions and cultural practices that are particular to Eas
countries raising their level of human labour use may not be reproducible
in the South Asian context.
Intercountry comparative studies of
differential methods of eu.ltivation
infrastructural facilit:Les and
in understanding
institutional framework can of course provide important cluc
differential labbur use.
But in view of the difficulty of gtting
comparable date ir suici1t t'pth
'cr
cauutr
tueis and
- 227
in view of the fact that for some time to come substantial changes in
current afronomic practices and institutional conditions are unliLely.,
Prof. Bardhan feels it may be more useful to analyse the cross sectic.aal
variations in labour us
in sma1
in a given cliniatic-cultural institutinai coitext
regions in South Asia.
He therefore proceeds to analyse labour
use patterns ac revealed in Farm Managemeirb Studies in India.
The study
Tanjore
is confined to three rice producing districts viz, West Godavari
and Hcoghly.
Reference is also made to similar work in Mymcnsingh
district in Bangladesh.
Prof. Bardhan also examines farm labour use
pattern from National Saniple Survey household data for rural West Bengal
In Section II of his paper Prof
Bardian presents the theoretical
framecrk for explaining crosssection variations in labour use with
the help of seven equations which express the relationship hctueen labour
use i]tensit:,-9 wage rates labour productivity) labour bargaining pover
farm 5±ZC; market wage rate
yield increasing or land. improvement factors
and institutional factors etc
etc.,
In his empirical results Prof. Bardhan analyses the determinants
of labour intensity which he d.efines in three ways
Total man.days per acre of ëultivated aroa
Hired man.days per acre of cultivated area; and
Hired proportion of total farm days.
He employs the rnultile regression technique.
In our opinion
the first two sets of analysis are adequate to explain labour intcnsit:i
and the third set appears to be ratr redundn.
In his regression models Prof. Tardhan uses a number of explanatory
variables like net area sown. multiple cropping index
percentage of
area irrigated, number of fragments per acr3, percentage of area leaseöin
and village wage rates.
Por some districts he also includes other
- 228
explanatory variables like value
of
fertilizer reid manure per acre
proportion of cropped. area under jute) proportion of cropped area not
under paddy, proportion of paddy crop
Pongst the
rca harvested etc.
ithportant variables in his analysis of the hired nandays per acre of
of
cultivated area, mention may be made
the nuthei, of adult fathJy workers,
hired bUllOCiZ labour days
percentage of crop area under improved. paddy
per acre9 hired. proportion
of
total bullock labour days used
is also made to study labour use in
operations for a single
Prof. Eardhan niakps an attempt to capture the bargaining
crop like paddy.
power of labour
railway station
snecific
An attempt
through such variables as distance fron' the nearest
and distance from the nearest torn.
Multiple cropping index) percentage of area irriated value of
manures and fertilizers, net som area and village wage rateE emerged
as the most important factors explaining in general the labour use intensity.
This paper nakes a direct Qttorilpt at deternining the factors
associated with labour intensity but as one procLtds along there are
certain points which need to be explained.
In what follows we offer
our observations on some aspects of Prof. Bardhans paper.
Choice of the years:
It is well knom that the Fari Management
Studies were carried out for a period of three consecutive years.
t'ree years 1n each case.
Prof. Jardhan analyses data for only one of th
While in the cse of West Godavari ho chooses the socond yCC]', in the
cast of Tanjoro it is the first.
l95Os, it
not offer nr
for the
does
For Hoo
hlr
w-il
it is the last year
is the first year for the repeat survey period.
x:pltnabion for the choice.
A çlanc
He
at the de:ba
suggest that he has ch.'son the years with either th hihest iultiple
cropping intensity or a very high labour intns t
Choice of ve,ri:bles:
basic
oiol i
;
r
o
p r acre.
The roression odls do not re7eal any
'Jr:i1,lc
a'
i:icludcd/oxcluded
without assigning any reason. This makes a comparative study extremely
difficult. Prof. Bardhan also changes the definition o-f variables. For
ins;ance irhil. in table 3 he takes i?propox.tion of cropped area under
jute" in table v ho opts 'or proportion of cropped area not under
paddy. It would have been hotter to define this variable in terms of
cash crops alone or for that matter in any other uniform crop category.
I the absence of any correlation natrix it is difficult to finid
anr clue as to th inclusion or conclusion of the explanatory variables.
While in the theoretical model Prof. Eardhan starts with a reference
to productivity it is a pity that it does not enter his regression
analysis anirhere as a variable.
III,
Choice of the function: Prof. Bardhan has not stated the .srecific
reasons for his choice of the form of function. while he appears to
prefer in general a linear r:iodel, the log form suddenly makes its
appearance on page 9. Prof. Bardhan does not explain which one be
chooses - a linear or double lop. It is surprising that the only reason
for not taking logs for some of the variables has been given in toriis
of some observations taking zero values. The choice between linear
or log forms depends on hard reasoning, technological as well as econornic
rather than the emergence of some stray zero values. omo values of
the H2 are extremely low, For instance 0.052 in table 5 A. While th
F.value is 25.h it is not clear what reliance can be placed on this
model in explainunr' the variations in the dependent variable.
are some factual rasinterpretations of the results, On
page 11 it has been observed that .. ,net area sown (NSA) is positively
associated with total labour intensity and negatively with the hired
proportion of lahour. In fact., table 2 shows the reverse of it. For
the observation in the very next sentence there arc no corrospondin'
regression results in tabi 2.
IV.
Ther
-. 230 -
varieties of paddy
Prof. Bardhan observes that the high yieldin
changed more the composition of labour use than its total,
This phenomenon
may be due merely to the rate of adoption of high yielding varieties
associated with different farm sizes.
Prof.
Bardhan s explanation does
not appear to be logically convincing.
Some arithmetical errors also seeir t hwo crept in.
For instance
on page 9 the log of total nan-days applied per year per acre of cultivated
)4,3.
area (mean) is given as
in th
The figures of labour &ys par acre given
paper do not tally with th
Farm Management Studies.
figures published in the offIcial
In the case of Hcoghly (r
the total mandrs applied as 135 days
16) if ye accept
then hired man&.ys should be
65 and not 51 because 18 per ccnt of 135 comes to 65.
to thoroughly check the figures
V.
i)hil
There is need
iven in the 1aper.
Prof. Bardhan confines himself to the rice rroring districts
of the country
he mahes no attempt to oxplain the observed inter-district
variations in labour absorrtion per acre.
In iis analysis r'nitiplc cropping
index emerges as one of the wost important variables determining labour
absorption but as is evithnt from the following table this index alone
cannot explain the initer..district variations.
If productivity and cropping
pattern had been directly included, as explanatory variables, it would
have made a significant differenco and perhaps explained a large part of
the inter-district variations as veil.
Average Multiple
CropDing Index
District (Years)
Averac Labour use
(Man-dey s) per
cultivated acre
1. 36
Hooghly (1910-73)
1.51
Tanjore (1967-10
1.62
W. Godavari (1957-60)
73
io6
- 231
Prof. Bardhans paper does not measure the labour absorption in
agriculture.
It is underestim3ed even in crop production because it
leaves out the labour spent on the upkeep and raintenance of draught
In view of the
cattle.
hangs in agriculture that are now taking place
we perhaps ought to take a roro co:plete picture of the labour absorption
in agriculture which includes crop as well as livestock sector.
VI.
Prof. Eardhm analyses the crts
Though ioortent
Hooghly.
analysis of th
of a single crop viz, paddy iti
single crop studies are not adequate for an
labour absorption in crop production because with an
increase in intensity of cropping overall labour absorption may increase
even when labour use per hectare of individual crops declines.
We ought
to study the change that is taking place over time and not necessarily
confine the anal?Tsis to a single point of time.
It is my feeling that
in this context the data for Hooghly could have lent itself for the
purpose and provided an excellent study of change in labour absorption
over tine.
Report of the Discussion by Dr. H. Thamarajakshi
The issuis which come up for discussioi related to (i) the adequacy
of the theoretical model and the consistency of the theoretical model
with the empirical exorcise; (2) the statistical results which were derived
in the paper and (3) the concept and measurement of bargaining power.
The Model
The following questions were raised on the specification of the
analytical framework as provided, by Prariab Bardhan:
(i)
Bardhans function governing labour use i.e. function
1'-.
rxost riationship
't hc't be rered :
not
fouct2vit; rn wie rate ano.
,.ur
,'.
(i)
'
232 -
lebour use function.
function
The proper specification of the thnd
for labour would be 01/L..
output, L was the labour input
referred
g(i b1)
h'e 0. was the
W was the wage rate and h
the bargaining power
which, however, gav
to problems since its inverted form was
n;t nec
rise
sariLy th
ciage equation.
An apDarent problem of internal ccnsitency oven within the
fronework postulated by Bardhan was pointed out.
the partial
derivative of
W with respect to b wa
in equation 1 cu p. 2 the sipn of equation
ierea
negative
I on. p. 3 of the
paper was positive.
The specification of the labour use function should include
enong other variables the intensity of use of other forms
of
enerçr.
Two alternative approaches to the formulation of the tIoorctical
model were suggested, viz,,
(a)
Thilo dealing, with cross-section of farms within the same
village at a point of
time, waLe rates were exogonouslr
end the question of bargaining power entering as an in
variable for oxplaininr inter-fari
'per acre did not arise, Here
could 'be trcated cs endoeriou
variations in labour'
then,
gV)
pendont
input
output and :Labour irput
variables in a simultaneous
equation system,
(h) Vhero it was sought to deal with data across rcgions
wage rates also would have to be treated as endoerious to
the systei and a oystui of siirultaneous equation iflC1UCiifl
a wage behaviour equation would hvv't to b
wherefrom the supply of labour, wce rates
forr;ulated
the demand for
labour arid output would get ciôterninied simultneously for
given values of acreage and other inruts and the baoining
parer.
233
The system of ejuations as spec if id by Bardhan did not
lead to a linear form for the reduced ecuation for L/A9
i.e. the labour use per acre.
It was based upon a strange
condition that A (acrcag) would be constant over all
farms and an odd form of nroduction Lunction.
Linear
regressions were considered to be not consitont with the.
specification in the parer.
The production function specified in Bardhans paper
the line.
would require substitution all alor
It would
be better to define the ranges within which substitution
was possible,
(r1±)
The auestion of using a conventional production funtion
approach in explaining the variations in labour use in
different situations was also raised.
The need for
disagreatin the data and distinguishing between areas
operating under conditions of traditional technology from
those that have undergone a transition arid again between
farm holdings motivated by subsistence and those motivated
by profit consideration was stressed.
It was felt that
chances in labour use could as well arise from changes in
roduct-nix9 chanes in the ecosystems9 changes in
technology
(viii)
nd changes in the modes of production.
The empirical relationsirpo fitted by Bardhan for explaining
the use of hired labour and its proportion to total labour
(tht latter was considered redundant and total labour and
hiro
labour were separately explained) did not drive
from the basic theoretical model :resented in th. ppor.
Thpirical
esults
The paper did not provide the specific reasons for the choice of
the particular year in resooct of the three districts.
It
s
however
231
observed that these hapned to be generally the years of eitht.r highcst
cropping intensity or highest ldbour iut per acre.
set of variables was presented.
without assigning reasons.
Again3 no basic
Variables wcre inciuced or excluded
ITo int.er.correlotion matrix
as provided.
Definitions were changed from one set of ecuations to anothcr. as was
the case with the regression for Hochly whore for the first p':irt of
time, the proportion of cropped area under jute was taken
ill: for the
second poi.nt of time) the proportion of rca net under tad
as on
of the independent variables.
Further no rationale was pr:ser:tod
for the choice of a particular form of functien
were linear except the equation B on rage
9.
almost
.
with regard to the
ala
functions
Also preseetior. of co-'
efficients with zero level of significance was unusuol.
discrepencies
was tabLe
om
factual
en.days per hectaro furniabod in the
paper and the relevant information in the Farm flangement gurvav re! orts
were pointed out.
lie systematic pattern of relationship was observed in the paper
between multiple cropping and labour use.
The variations in hirLd labour
per cultivated area did not get fully explained in terris of the multiple
cropping index and hence the need for
to look at
r.:oro complete idol,
The need
not merely a sile crop but the entire crop proluction system
and not merely crop activity but th
activities was
pointed
complex of non-airicultural
out, for having a complete picture o:' the labour
absorption problem.
In general
it emerged fror the empirical results thct labour
intensity per unit arc-a was positively
associated
rith precsel- those
variables which could be expected to be simultanously assc.ciatt1 with
outtut per acre.
equations in th
But productivity
did
not directly enter any of the
papar.
The question of comparability between the farrL managcnt
at
for two points of time was raised in view of the changes in the sarr1inp'
235 -
design which led to an over-representation
latter period.
f the larger farms in the
In fact. it was felt that the changes in labour use over
time required to be decomposed into (a) autonorious increases due to
demographic pressures and. iixcreases in labour forces (b) changes in sample
design, and (c) changes resulting from such factors as irrigation, land
reforms, etc. It would also be useful to work out the potential for
labour absorption in
rriculture given
irrigation and structural changes.
ortain targetted increases in
It was important to examine not
merely as to what haperied to lbour use when outut expanded but alap
to see the resultant picture when labour force itsel grew. How much
of labour would hi absorbed due to ccnsequenta1 changes in techniques
of cultivation and what happened to participation rates with increas'is
income were also relevant issues.
Concert and ioasureiient of Lar:ainin
Fewer
The cLUeS LlCfl of bargtining power had to be studied at different
levels viz. at the level of tbc farm, at the level of the village and
the entire problem of the spatial di±'fer2nces in bargaining power had
The apprepriat moss of using distance to the
to be carefully explored.
nearest town cr the nearest railway station or even the factory wage
rate to measure bargaining strength was doubtful.
bargaining power vuld. include, among other things
The factors governing
the size of the
landless labour pcpulation. the state of tenurial arrangements, the
prevalence of boned labour arid the proportion of permanent to casual
labour in a, given setting.
In this connection, the theoretical framework
of an exercise being undertaken by Vaic9ranathan for studying the
interstate variations in wage rates as also the broad. nature of results
thereof were presented.
It was hypothesised in that exercise that wage
rate was a function of bargaining power and degree of open unemployment.
The system of equations 1cc! to the reduced form of the equation.
= f(O/A.. A/LT, i)
-
vharo,
W
-
236 -
ae rate
o
output,
A
net ara som
SLT
-
total labour supply, and
I
-
inequality indox.
In this connection. the problems of deriving the suply cirv
of lc,bur when the labourers were getting incomes from ãiffrent 3curcos
ard where 50 per cent of the workforco was cwning land, and mec.suring
the inequality Darameter were referred to
rate the data requirements for measuring bargaining power
It was felt that :t aILr
w.re not. mt
by the inforrnaticn available from the farm management r&norts.
237
ETSSION IV
General Ses sian
H. Raj
Chairman:
Dr.
Principal Discussant
Dr. C.H. Hariuirantha Jao
lpporteur;
Dr. C,H. I
hh' )ao
ni
Professor K.N. Raj, Chirman of
the Session
jentioed at the
outset that th proceedings of the tochriic.l sninar were inte
ie'
to go
as an input in th n:d seminar, on the saite theme) being hel3 in te
last 1.reeh of
February at
i3augaiore.
comments on the papers discussed in the seminar may
n'ibing to Dr. C.H. Ha:urnantha Rao.
discussion in the Gsnerai Session is
making sr:
pass them on.in
Participants desirous of
He also pointed out that the
desianed not so much to conctntratc
en individual papers hut to bring out the major issues as well as policy
implications arising from the discussions in the previous three sessions.
Mter his rmarks Dr. E.M. Desai
t:
Dr. )'I.S.
JocTha and Dr. R. Tharaarjakslii
rapporteurs for the preceding three cessions presented their
respective retorts.
Dr. A. Vaidyanathen
Dr. A. Vaidyanathan-initiating the discussions pointed out that
whereas there is a gr:at deal o± scope
'or labour use in capital
formation such as construct ion and imDrovemcnt of irri;ation works
improvement etc.
the scope for labour use u-i
constrained by institutional factors.
land
such activfties is sevcirdy
As regards labour US: in current
crop operation. tre is a pos5tive relationship he-twcen the intensity of
Dr. GJ. Chadha of the Contr: for the Study o Regional
Development, Jwaharlal nehru University, for his kind cooperation in
the preparation of this report.
I am grateful to
238 -
croppii-lg arid labour use.
bt it is rot invariant to institucoai
factors. Decisions about crop nix croppi;
influinc ccl b
the institutional
incnsity etc. aro oft.:n
framework cithin which a farimr
operets.
verthe1.ss, two points nocr. to be emhaisd (1) Chartgc: in croT?pin
:oattcrn which could have a positive effect on :Labour alorrti.o1j L'r'C
cons idred inöepnent of the demand for airieultirai prodi:cts
(2) Although mechanization of
certain
opertius may he
r1:Yio
thcrefore labour using) some othr forms of mechan aoi my
labour displacing. tlnless th se are sortd ou in detail it
not
possible to take a definite view on the impact of mechariiz.'iün on Lbour
and
use
Further if the effect of different machires is different for hired
arid for family labour then the
be categoryspecifie,
recommendation on labour nbsorption has to
We should work out the possihi:Lities and. implications o:' 3roduc.tivity growth in crop and anima:L husbandry on per capita incomes anJ
consumtion sttnards of 'J.i:fernt cultivat.inc classes. We should also
work out the indirect effects
of sech an increase in arricultural out
the increa.ie in the demand for nonagricultural
its impact on rural industries and employment
namely
commodities ane
Our ultiiiate objective is lbour asorotion at increasing incom
levels Therefore apart froii the factors influencing the use of l&bour
on the supply side, the demand for
farm products also assunis oquriJ.
significance, l'urther, oceration of public institutions for the sapply
of credit ar±t inputs should bc so geared that the oxietin diriniaatiiir
against the small and marginal farmers is rectified.
- 239
C.H
Ranumantha iao
Dr. Hanumar.'ha
ao who also initiated the discussion suggested the
need for an adequate theoretical frenework of analysis wi-i oh incorporates
oLlrceendovmerits
the interploy of fnctors stch as
institutions, techno1oica± ehaige arid public action.
population growth,
Unfortunately
a1:e asc'rt ions rather than provide a
either we he.vo th'orics which
enomena or
framework for understardiiit: t'r:
e have theories instantly
constructed to fit the observed facts
of labour for current crop production cannot be
The alioc.tio
divorced froi the allocation for c
Also, the allocation for current crop production cannot be
concurrently.
invariant with r:eot to th
institutional frimtiork which affects
Production function analyses either of
different farmers diSfrcntly.
or of the .:1isagregative type cannot be discarded
the conventional ty
altogether.
itaJ. construetion which takes place
What is important is to draw only those inferences from such
exercises which ar
given the limitations of the analysis -
perreissibl
both theoretical and eroiricai.
While onìe cannot disagree with the 1suction mechanism
in the paper by Alazh
Bhalla and Bladuri
brought out
the real issue is the rate of
absorption of labour in reistion to the rate of investment awl the rate
In a eountxy
of output growth.
whore there is abundance of labour and
scarcity of ctal, the question of optimum cauital-..labour ratio for any
region within the ounty becomes imporf;ant
a disaggreative stuuy of t3i
If it were possible to make
pecformance in theb high growth districts,
he suspected that the labou.r coefficient in
uito a few of the high growth
districts would be very snr.11 or near zero.
thought that in a large
country like India where economic and psychological costs of interregional
migration of labour
re hih
would result in lo-er levil of
a hic1ür uneven rate of regional development
with a mor
e'.
rate o" rJ'
r. into er'aloment than would ho possible
- 2L.O
One- of the implications of the :ozrs ander discussion particularly
th
by Bardhan, is that
tenancy leads to lower labour usc per hLetarz
question before
But one has to go deeper into the
drawing policy
inferences
If the tenants are small farmers leasing in land froi th
large lanctholders It is aulte possible that the labour use per hectare
anrig these
t.enanted
farms would be higher than if th
cultivated by the large landowner.
On the other
sairi
land is
hand, in Wst Bengal
Ban1'desh large landowners seem to be leasing in
land
nd
from the
mail
and marginal farmers for thu baro crop which requires large investment
Therefore the quesl;ion as to who leases in and who leases out and their
relative access to resources becomes important for policy purposes.
Similarly whereas
irrigation
IS known to have positive impact on
mploment one has to go deeper into the question to work out the
im'lications of different types of irrigation.
For exarple
public
irrigation can benefit all classes of farmers at Last proportionately to
their
area and private tubewell irrigation
hnefits only those
who have
access to investjhj.o resources.
Whereas it is true that wage rate and
labour use are negatively coreiated, one cannot recommend lower levels
minium statutory wages.
However
to promote agricu]tural
development
,
of
this dees imply that ou'oU c investment
in the labour--abundant and low-iage
regions may result in greater cm3 oyment than if the soue mv tment is
tade in regions which are alrec.iy developed and whore wee rats
re high.
A.R Than
Dr. Than was of the
opi; ion that
more issues were irvolvd. ii th
problem of labour thsorpt ion than those :oosed by the three paper.
The picture that cones out from these papers is one of pessimism in rcgar
to the prospects for labour absorption in Indian ariculttre. These
studies show at best what has actually happLnl to labour ahorption in
Indian agriculture under the giv.n sot of institutions and with the given
policies. What has actually been achieved cannot be regarded as optifurr
which can be attained if right
policies are follow
.
He thought that
- 21l
there is a neeö to looh ahe. mci expior
He sL
incrased :abour absorotion.
be
usid to alter or !eodiiy. the
eationeö. in \Taidraaathan s
lobour
tc.. for
iven
for
that labour can
ernple
icaJ. iDio1ogicJ. cons.raints
i3arThn is also
aner.
pOSS1l)1l1ti5
the future
:9ssii3tic about
hsorpfioo rhon he compares Last isia with South Asia and
attributes part of
topographic
he
faetore
iffrenees in out)ut an
the pict;r
c'we-r
may not be that pessimistic in
the lirht of his own finhin, viz., tenancy
as impoft ant factors for
pronotin,
enploysient per acre to
intituticns and irrigation
i'ouetivc eiuployacnt
The r.eJ.
aeestion to asks thore:ore, is wheth:.r labour absorption couJ..d not have
btin grater if aJ.tcr.tive policies
were followed
and if the society
could organize its institutions in a better way.
',S. Papola
Dr. Papola felt that the line of causation between the yield level
and labour absorption swgosteO. in all the three papers has not been
a:ctuately qualif5.eu.
We hve evidence of both types viz
as a cause for the us
of human labour and vice-versa
cases.
yield act in
-i.t least in some
All the same> aeceting this iarticular line of causation brought
out by the papers
e
awe also to loo:
sources of y-icicl. increes:s
into the pattern as well as
because these bear different implications fof
the i1ereo of labour ahsorptimi.
Ariong these different sources
pettern and irriiation n. greber emrhasi
poirit..ed out that the cxamp:Le of laroers in cc:
cropping
In this connection he
of the dry districts of
T.Tttar Pradesh not waUng uso of ±rric'ction facilities for the fear of
land ceiling law
brings ou
the complex nature of interaction between
institutions arid tchriolo&,
Bhalla-.haduri.Alughs suggestion for
to investigate the
ar;io:rnt
the low growth districts is
oDportur>ities outsite agriculture.
possibly hold true for some areas
T1iis ury
Whereas one would agree with the
autbors that high growth of aricu1ture wo1d absorb larger lebour force
2l2 -
this neei not iiply that slow gro-th of agriculture necessarily points to
the need. for industrialization for providing more employment.
On Vaidyanathan
papr he thought that there is a missing link in regard
to accessThility of resource inputs, either as
flow part of biophrsical
factors or non-labour part of the energy factors
Regarding the negative
relationship between the wage rate and employment
he observed that in
areas with larger supply of labour
in greater employment
wage re±es would he lower resulting
13argaining power of labour
he thought
is
traceable to two sources, viz., the market or the supply and demand
factors and the unioniztion of labour, The pa'ier by J3ardhan considered
,
the former source only, overlooking the J,atter factor.
Krishna Bharrlwaj
Professor Krishna Bhardwaj observed that there are three important
related issues:
J.
What explains employment, as it exists?
discussion do not lave
the
The papers under
necessary framework to answer this
quest ion.
What is the potential or optimum employment that can be
generated?
Policy matters:
intervene?
In what form and in what way one should
One particular model caenot answer all these
questions concerning labour use.
issues
There are a number of policy
The problem of irrigation:. the relationhip betieen
wage and mployment
the question of the technology - induce I
employm.nt potential etc. We seem to be ini:dug up several
issues in tiying to answer all of them in terms of one rarticvaar
model,
There is also the confusion surrounding the issue of
l&bour absorption itself:
Is it the present agr:Lculturi
situation that is absorbing laiour or the employment programmes
of t1e Government? She thought that the issues have not been
posed clearly and directly.
- 243
ii. Raj
At this stage Professor K.J
Cba:Lrma
Raj
of the sessiou
ir.t.ervenecl to sa7 that the issues urnier discussion
re fain
cicar,
The main ohjectivs of thst papers is to look at the ludian oxponiunce
with the help of the Ishikawa trpe of anaLysis irj1 to srnive at some
undurstanding as to
Th
answers ar
:at could be done to
not conclusive but th.
initiated which has a :pronise of
ft :
u
labour absorption0
rocuss of thinking h%s bn
irriprovirig our understanding on this
,uest ion
V.5. Vyas
Professor Vyas posed the question as to how much labour can he
absorbed in Indian agricultur.
For a country like Iu.iia, he thought
that the employment output elasticity is likely to be
3 or
This implies that if the proportion of labour in agriculture is
o r:iain
the samo as at present and if the growth of labour force is 2.2 per cent
then wuat we need i.s
4,5 per cent groth in agricultural output to absorb
The question then is whether this rate ofgrowth
the growing labour force.
of outtut is possible.
greater I
ortance.
he decomposed..
at
1
In this connection the demand factor assumos
The demand for foodgrains and nor-food output has to
On all accounts
prr cent per annum,
the food.grains output cannot be sustain.d
Even with the most egalitaniaLt pattern of
incomc. distribution tl:er: is an ultimate limit to the increase in demand
for foodgrains
Therefore
groidng workforce in
the
roodrins sector alone cannot sunport the
country si3.m
What contribution can he
matter of labour employment?
expectud
from the nonfoor. sector in the
If we include supplementary occupations sech
as dairying, fisheries etc0 in the non-food sector
thtsc:
activiti:s have
be supported largely by public effort involving large public sector
investment in infrastructure including marketing and storage.
The delivery system cannot be attuned to the requirements of th
farmer unless
State steps in, in a big way0
sma:ll
2J-
it'dirct affects of employment , Prof\ssor Vyas observed
that the intcrsctoral :Linkas in agricultura have been töund to ho vary
weak so far because of the: weak consurrnt ion i:inhags The available
studies show that the purchasing power in tb ri.ral sector is concentrated
in a few hands so that the class of people wno have high purchasing power
On tht
in the rural sector are in no way differnt ±row the urban consumers of
the corresponding income groups
G.S. Shalla
Professor }3haila did riot thin that iri countris of Asia the
solution of riployment lroblern lies in a;ricult urnJ development only
He thought the ultimate solution lies in both inInstriad and a,riculturaJ
developruor;t
If we divide Indian agriculture into brLadiy 3 growbli zones
namely high rrowth. nedium growth arid low growti zores, different zonespecific ooJ.icics rill have to he tbouh out Ia th high growth
districts there have h.en ignificant changes in i;he 70s awl yield is now
areas every effort should
the most important sourc cf growth. In t1i
be made for inrearing cropping ±fltLflSlt. iL ointer1 out that cropping
intensity is no incrasing in Punjab. In ietiun growth districts
institutional constraints are more formidabl than 'biophysical factors
Bihar provides a clear exatupiL of such a smifeeal agricultur.
In the low growt1i districts, comprising main1y th: wLstern dry zone,
land--man ratio is favourabl and the institutiol problems are not as
severe as elsowb..re The unavailability of ap:copriate 'try farming
technolor is a ma;]or constraint. If it is osubleto provide irrigation
and appropriate technology a,ricuiturü output in the. try areas may rise
at a faster rate In this context Oric should work out alternative costs of
employment generation in various types of tctivitias
- 215
P9.o
i)r
Rae obs red that the implementation of th minimum wages Acts
has baen slow in svcral States
'Real wages of agricultural labour have
declined, except perhups in Punjab.
Rise i. real wages is important if
bttcr incomes for t1e
incrcasd ±abour rsortion is to res'at
Re aL;o t,hought that there iarc farnc re leave a good part of
labourers
their land fallow an'i cult:Lvs;be on1.
.
rt of thir land intensively
there is a case for laod reforrs.
S, Jodha
r. Jociba observe3 t1it the countries of East Asia are more
homogeneous wrGb rect to ecological coriitions than different regions
within India
Therefore3 we need to have different sets of policies
suited to differiw ecological conditions in India.
He pointed out that
in curtain dry areas tractorization helps to raise yields and, therefore3
results in increased labour uses
Own resources other than labour are
also better utilize3 because of the yield incrtses.
true of one reqion is not true for others.
Therefore, what is
The second point he emphasised
was that the policy prescriptions by economists should be based on the
capacity of the system to implement them.
political constraints
There are several socio-
nd administrative bottlenecks.
If the economists
are not realistic they may be ignored as in fact seems to have been the
case in au.ite a few situations.
Sukh 'imoy Chakrvarty
Professor Charavarty list ed five points as relevant and important
for the current discussion on labour absorption in Indian agriculture:
1.
Re:ioncd dimension is extremely important in devising
employment policy
-
216
lyss have reached the
Cross.-sction production fun'tion
sta
Vaidysriathan s formulation
of siarp climiriishinC returns
is no doubt (ilsaggregative with respect to physical factors
But the effect of institutio:al factors should also be sbudied
in a disrrgat manner no as to establish correspondenccbetween natural and injtitutional factors
Fublic surport or public intervention should distinguish
inputs; between collective
btwc1 tradable arni non-;ra.abl
in uts
arid divisibl
out the institutional
Onshoal'l
jff:;r:nt re.4oris for such types
fra?.lework thet is nccssary in
t luations
of :oubl;Lc interv;nt ion in iiffer:n
)4,
gr3[
be takinr c1eand for
We nem t
It is extremely
eneretinr etratiry.
inportant now to have a derfiand
Otherwise
price saport and buffer stocl:s of foodgrnins will not
by
thiS:lv'5, Serve the puroe
The isse of trms of trade b.tuen aricultur
and int.r;eetoral balance in the
and industry
velomtat process is very
inportant
N . N. Bandyopadhyay
Dr. BanTopadhyy
ointe1 out that'be cause of the bi.nodel
distribution of land and the rs.iltthg landle.sness and smaller size of
fara in India
it is not possible to absorb si&ffiient labcur :Ln agriculture
through the present structure,
agriculture consista
operativization of
Hethou,çcht that
of 1omogenecus closes
. :
the small farsicrs and
the landless, is necessary to absorb more labour through capital construc-
tion etc. whr there is surplus I abour because farming with individual
profit motive will
ot absorb sufici:rit labour.
217 -
Utsa Patnaih
Dr. tJtsa Patriih sut that the question of labour absorotian
in Indian agriculture should 'be viewed in the coitcxt cf much bredr
ISSUeS.
She
TJ0112
ed out th '.t ihe rate of
rew-bh of the economy wa
down btcause of the slow growth of public investment.
slowing
Green Revolution
may heve made sonic impact but its potcr:tirtj. for labour absor'stior iac
been low,
The
Stpping up puhlic investment
t1tcrefore
becomes necosscry.
iostion then is what type of activitis 1ivc to b..
action.
chosen for pubJJc
If it is Maharashtra type cf Emrioyniect Generation
ci1em.
the question of mobilizine. the necessery resources becomes important.
This is because one should opt for non.inflatjonary type of capital
formation and la1:our absorption,
This c'in hcst he achieved through the
necessary institutional changes and organization.
Sukhamoy Chakravart:'r
At this stage Professor Chakravarty
the
intervened to
suggest that
industrial output growth in India was not expected to provide
adequate direct
respect
mployrient.
rphe simple elasticity of tmploynient with
to industrial output is not meaningful.
The loic of industrir;LL
grorbh in Thdia has been such that short period employr-i:nt objectives
have not been consicered realistic.
The objective of industrial output
has been to provide thc necessary input mi: for agriculture, transport
aid for
promotion
of foreign trade etc
We shouid
therefere
look at
the problem fron. the poirrc of view of changing the structure of honogLacous
capital
stock
with foreign trade possibilitlos
of 'particular type with
agriouitur&.industry linkages and their imlic ctions for finances.
All these problms cannot 'be ignored even from the' point of view of
providing employment in agriculture itself,
218
K.N
Raj
Professor
Bj t:rtI suimnirtr iyo bhc discussion by answering
:.
What i
the question raisc: by Professor Krisina Bh..rh
He said tit we
about"?
.re trying
ir
o s
learn anything from our expz.riencO r
ar.Lin
cipioymont or
problem of poverty
In this cnnccicr hc
on employment fcr uho
iargiiiol
1,rr
lad,
ahsornt:on.
xriially a
that unlike in Japn
ciitrl lrbour d.onclent
itinct ctc;oris in I3ic.
there are two
this whether we can
r.±cn is
b
He pointed. out that
rLl
this all
work i
rebl r:
nothcr cate,Qry is
trall farnerE for thom OVLrT'fi an3 net ue.er.rployment
nd
Our cata on
latter problom
i-that is na3 is rore
more remunc:rativ
work for th
rploient reflcts this
çlo'ncnt nri. e
is the problei
i'irit
orl.. fcr
ategory and
CvLrwor: for women among
cond category
agricultural lhorr belongs to this clasz of rolar, as
or1eri have to
attend to houschoU. york heides undertakin wre mploymnt.
th'y cui. lea
wage labour was very small in pronortizu a
ven this small çrotortiori of ia;e lataur
institutional frauework
in l.ind
in th. n :ure of attachd
'T
w;n
labour so that there was no cc traieti.c'rt
In Japau
e employrient and the
.nd th ladlorio could mcii:iiizt surpluses within
that institutional fraiework.
It is usiful to pursue the Ishikna wa.r of loel:ing
components of labour
bsorptior
production and non-agricuitnral
upon the non crop
depends on income Lvel.
threfore
In this connection
th
ctivitio.
Ho nointi cut
O.r
W
gricultur'l activiti
except perhaps in Punjnb.
output is .
crcp production
thLt
non.-crop agricultural
aprs have not. touched
Je nt know the data
ttn ieiiai for milk
Th; denand for such nin ero
a major constraint for
t the potential
xpandiiig
agricultural
mpioyrent
he referred to the eriployment potential envisaged in
Sixth Plan in respect of non-crop ariceltura.L activitics rather than
to provide more erployment to those already
-
2L9 -
crop oubpu± is going to be the ror
dterrninan of npiytnt for some period as this would also inf3,u.nc&
the denand for non-crop output, He th rofirred to the yl;ld-!abLur
He
therefor'.
thoutht tht
undcr discussion
r:lat5onshin in t.hc
ua t:ought that it
raf
necessary to h1i'd1iht this rlationshi bocouso what is impurtrtnt is
riot emplo'xnent per s
but increase in inco;';e
or
remunerative ecpl(riacnt.
It is lsc importaet to ases both the loa.trii ané short-tor.i
perspct.7os in ret:arU tO
factors as )rrequisitos of yield are
potentiaL
.Siol:'gical piysal
moloyrcent pote't:Lal.
important in un
rstandlriç this
Howevr) they arc not sufficient eonitions
Inst itutiojial cngcs thus, become impor-bout in this context
This leads one to
larger set cf issues;
social conditions in our country?
of one's own I
clo;ictl position
is outside the realri of
or so.
llowc-vr2
what
arc th political ad
Due cannot aruc on this indcpentent
Fe
thought that
prsibilities in India in
Chinos
rrienc;
the next 20 yars
cooperativ:Lzaticn needs to b.. exuerinicntccL
Social
and political forces are different in different parts of the country
Therefore, it is necessery to look at small regions and consider tochnological possibilities and institutional changes that are fiasible.
If we are vague on these issus it is bevtuse of bur ilnorance and doubts.
What is, therefor, necessary is to study.s-uall selected reJ:ions in each
part of th country and piece together the analyses and findings in orier
to get an integraed picture.
- 250 -
NOTE
Included here is a reply by Dr. A. Vaidyanathan to
th
comments of Dr. Krishna Bharathrcj on the paper 'Labour
Use in Indian Agriculture - An Analysis Based on Farm
Management Survey Drta",
Prof. P,1. Bardhan was not present ab the Seminar
to react to the comments on his paper.
reached. him very lete.
These comments
As a result he did not have an
opportunity to reply to the comments for inclusion in this
volume.
The ARTEP hs decided to publish in a suitable
form his replies and any comments received on these papers
or on comments already made on them.
It will be much
appreciated if such comments are forwarded directly to the
ARTEP.
- 251 -.
Eeply by_A. Vaid.yanathan to Comments of Krishna Bharadwaj
it ws difficult for
Given my meargre knowledge of theory
However9
me to react to your critique of my paper at the Delhi Seminar.
having read the comments carefully after returning to Trivandrum, I
feel better placed to react in the hope that we can continue the
date clarify the issues and lay the basis for a better formulation,
and testing
of hypothese's.
I will first offer detailed comments on particular criticisms
elaborated in your paper and then come to what I see as the central issues.
P. 2O3
I am really not trying to develop any general theory of the
relation between human labour us
and agricultural production.
My concern is trying to understand the reasons for the wide
variations in the degree of labour intensity observed, in
different parts of India.
The basic framework of analysis
involving the distinction between bio-physical and energy
input and the assumption of a oneway causation is not, I
discovered, really so novel after. all.
Bartsch (Employment
and Technology Choice in Agriculture) has the.. same'conception
(see especially para 2 on p. 2T)..
He also refers to
1919
article by Earl Heady arguing along similar lines.
P. 2OL
What exactly do you mean by "land theory of output and
employment?
As I understand it the classical economists
spoke of innate qualities of land.
But my formulation does
not imply that land quality is a fixed.) god-given fact.
In
fact the physical bioiogical factors include all important
elements of human intervention whi&i modifies the "innate"
production properties of the soil and the amount of output
which a riven piece of l'nd can sustain.
- 252 -
Lines LLl6 of middle para -. I would claim that my formulation
does get around the problem presented by public investment
in land and water because I do not have to use any index of
total capital stock at the farm level
.Those elements of
capital stock which affect the physical biological factors
(of which irrigation is by far the most importnt) are
adequately captu'ed by taking the total irrigated area (inc.ding
the area served by public works) at the farm :Level.
Lines 16-20 - This is not a problem so far as. one is concerned5
as I aan
with explaining
observed. variationsY?.
If iay basic
hypothesis about the separability of physical biolog:Lcal factors
and energy is even approximately eorr-.ct (in the sense that
the bulk of variations in irield are explainable by the former
and that the latter isa demand derivpd from the former)
differential access to inuto
and intcrrelated markets do
not bother me as their effect is already reflected in the actual
use level of physical biological irrnuts.
1hether the latter
is optimal, or is systematically affected by the market
imerfections facing different farm groups, can be viewed as
a question for independent. analysis
Last line -. I ciuite agree with tbis
for,, as I point out in
para 7 below, there is the possibility of very considerable
va'iations in fertilizer input, at a given level of irrigation.
How to capture this satisfactorily in any regression needs to
be examined
You seem to be hinting at some possible ways of
handling the problem (p
205) and I would be most interested
if you can crystallise the ideas further and indicate the kind
of functions which may help capture the above important
nuance
In any case I submit that this is no argument for
rejecting the basic view of the production process.
- 253 -
P. 205.
Line
i6 -
but it does not bother i'ie so
This is a fair point
long as I am concerned with explaining why yields vary in
relation to different input combinations rather than why
varies.
fertilizer us
P. 206
First para
16-20.
See my reactions to your comnient on p. 20
?iri-s
1 would add that your uneasiness is well founded if
one uses land., labour and canital as the input elcmnts in
the production function
the problem is not as serious., Lf
it exists at all, when you use observed levels of physical
biological inputs.
Also please note that my object is to see
whether we can find a more satisfactory explanation of observed
variations in labour input by using the proposed schematic
view of production processes.
Since my purpose is not to
estimate parameters of the production function, I feel that
you are overstating thL point here,
Third pam
my aini- let me reieat
is not to assess whether
or not the allocation of resources in different farm classes
is optimal.
Of course if this is
that we want to study
all
the problems arising from differential positions of farmers
in factor and product markets, "5 wull as from interlinking
of markets, become crucial.
Last iara .
This problem, as I said at the Seminar, does
make me uneasy.
But I will bother about it only if I find
that the physical biological factors do not':plain most., if
not all, the observed variations in yields.
I recognise t1ar.
are problems in capturing all the important physical variables
(especially soil quality) satisfactorily for regression
analyses.
I have some ideas on this (e.g. I would like to use
value of land. per acre or land revenue per acre as a proxy for
25
land quality),
But this may still leave several other bio
ph'rsical factors which cannot be satisfactorily quantified
and I would not t}..erefore expect yield variations to be
fully explained by bio--physical factors included in the
reres s ion.
Middle para
Are you saying that yield is not deteriiined by
water and fertilizers alone or that the energy mix wifl be
determined br these factors?
The last sentence in
as I explaincd, is beyond the scope of ny
relates only to current labour inputc
r,cu;aent which
There is no diagreenient
at all about the' possibilities of substantially increasinr
rural labour absorption through labourosque capital formation,
Last pare -
If you mean that dependence on hired labour and its
costs will effect overall labour intensity
I think a rough
test is possible.
Last sentence of first para
is not quito correct:
1hat
I find is that the coefficients for relative energy costs ar
not sinificent for thL intcrdistrict and intra-district
c'oss sections but they are when you pool all intra-distMct.
cross section.
Howevor it reiains true that this still
explains but 5
of the variations in hired labour demand!
buJ'lock labour demand.
This may be due to problems of
ncasureient of bullock labour demand in standard units
at
last in part.
Second para
I dont quite see how you can analyse the enerr
mix variations without having an explanation for total
eneri use.
-'
r-
J-._I
L)
L.-.i-
cr); I:Y
I have very little to say on your comments in Part II except
that some of the problems (not. all) can be taken care of by using
whb-I
:
indiviciii .fs,rp dat which
L-m
tx'. ai4aee .ato.ur
a14v PPSitQQjn the
question are:
.I -viiaiic t;olL9win.
:C
f re1a1Loas,
i j --
Yield
f1 (rainfall seasonal distribution, iriçation5 soil
quality, and nutricnts)
Total energy input f2 (yiold) = f,, (rainfal
-.
L
'
Huma
laboiir input
seasonal distribution
quality and
nients)'
f3 (total energy input relative costs of
energy source and degree of
subtitut.bility btwàen them)
The major cx'itieisms against' this., asI understand them, are
as follows:
The implication that energy input by itself will not have
any effect on yield is questionable because (a) under given
soii-moisture conditions, the crop mix can vary depending
on market conditions and since different crops require
di:ferntanounts of energy there can be considerable
vara-tions in energy input, for any given level of hio
physical factors and (b) there are operations where
higher energy input persç can make for largo yield
(tractor ploughing, speedier operations being the most
coiouly cited examples).
It is possibI that the level and composition of biophysical inputs, under given agroclimatic conditions, vill
- 256
itself be a function of the cost of energy reciuired to
apt.1y them cffectively.
I
this were so, the levcls of
enegy and hiophysical inputE ar3 inter-d.oendcnt.
3.
Data relating to actual lev.ls of bio.-physical
inrut reflect decisions made by fari
institutional contexts,
under particuJir
To the extent that intitu±ional
factors significantly inf'luenc
energyniix
ni eneriy
choice of technolo'y and
and are variable across space and fari type,
it is wrong to use expost data to infer about productivity
and labour intensity.
iy answers to the criticisms are
(a)
ifl
as
'ar as crop.pattern differences are determined
by soil quality (depth
texture and composition) and
moisture availability. they are a function of bio--ohysical
factors.
Whether crop pattern car. and does vary significantly
under the same bio-physical conditions needs to he established
Whether r'aru
anagement Survey data permits suct a test
:Ls difficult to say:
one way would be to compare farms
roughly thc. same area., revenue retin
0.'
and irrigetion
intensity.
(h)
I
rould rely on independent evidence (i
Binsiiangcr
to reject this).
This ic indeed a possibility.
Put in order to chtck
whether this is a sinificant possihility
test the
I would first
xteit to which the selectuci bio-physicai
factors can explain observed diffrenccs in yield.
they
rb
If
not, (in the sense of beaving a large unexpalined
rsiival) I would then introduce energy inputs and their
cost as an exr,licit explanatory variable.
- 257 -
5.
I don?t see this as a serious problem because I am only
interested in explaining the variation in human labour
input associated with bio-physical factors and not in
expl'aining whether the use of bio.physical factors and
associated yields are optimal.
If institutional factors
are indeed important in deterninin
lwman labour intensit'y
independently of hio'physical factors, this should come
out in the inability of the central hypotheses (v±a
the
predominant role of bio-physical factors) to explain the
observed variations in yields.
In order to test whether
the energy mix is influenced by the resource position and
market status of different classes of farmers we can
introduce farii size., tenancy statii.s and number of owned
bullocks per worker as additional explanatory vari;bles,
My purpose of writing this is riot so much to rebut your critique
(that is not possible unless one does more empirical work) but
essentially to clarify what I am trying to do.
I would very much hope
that you will give suggestions about how precisely various elements of
the hypotheses right be formulated for testing.
-. 258 -
PARTICIPANTS
Dr. C . H
Ftanunaantha Rao
Institute of Economic Growth
New Delhi
Dr. H.S.
Siddhu
Punjab Agricultural University
Ludhiana
Dr. I. Bandopadhray
DeDartment of Labour
Calcutta
Dr. S. Chakravarty
Delhi School of Economics
New Delhi
Prof. M. L. Dantwala
Indian Society of Agricultural Economics
Bombay
Dr. P.C. Joshi
Institute of Economic Growth
Ne Delhi
Dr. S.D. Tendulkar
Delhi School of Economics
New Delhi
Prof. V.5. Vyas
Indian Institute of Management
Ahamedabad
Dr. Sheila Ehalla
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Nw Delhi
Dr. G.E. Saini
Ministry of Agriculture and Irriration
Government of India
New Delhi
Prof. Raj ICrislana
Planning Commission
Government of India
New Delhi
Dr. N.S. Jodha
International Crop Research
Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics
Ryder abad
Dr. B.L1. Desai
Indian Institute of Management
Hyde rabd
Dr. R. Thamarajakshi
Menthcr.-Secretary
Agricultural Prices Gommission
Government of India
Now Delhi
259 -
Dr. T.S. PaDola
Girl Institute
Lucknow
Dr. Krishna Bharadwaj
Jawahrlal iTohru University
New Dlhi
Dr. Utsa Patnaik
Jawaharlal Uehru University
NeT D.lhi
Dr. Kantha Ahuja
Jaipur University
flaj asthan
Dr. 11. Knishnaji
Centre for Development Studies
Trivandrum
Dr. K, Subbarao
Institute of Economic Growth
New Delhi
Dr. A Vaidyanathan
Centre for Development Studies
Trivandrum
Prof. G.S. Bhalla
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Dr. M.A.LL Rao
Labour Bureau
Chandi garh
Dr. R
Mr
.Ramanna
A.V. Jose
University of Agricultural Sciences
Bangalore
Centre for Developmcnt Studies
Trivandrum
Dr. A.R. Khan
Asian Employment Programme (ILO-.ARTEP)
Bangkok
Dr. S.M. Nasecin
Asian nployment Prorarame (ILO-ARTEP)
Bangkok
Dr. K..N. Raj
Centre for Development Studies
Trivandrum
Dr. Abdul Aziz
Institute of Social and Economic Chc.nc
Banralore
260
Dr. S.N. Miohra
Institute of Economic Growth
Ne Delhi
Dr. P.L. Roy
Jaahnrlal Nehru Univesity
New Delhi
Dr. G.K. Chadha
Jaraharla1 Nehru University
New Delhi
Dr. M.T,R. Sarma
National Council of Applicd Economic
Research
New Delhi
Dr. H.
Aro-economic Research
University of Delhi
Laksbminarayan
Centre
New Delhi
Dr. A,S, Kahion
Aricultura1 Prices Co,mmission
Goverr)ment of Indic.
New Delhi