(ii) Land Holding

In India the size of holding is too small. Due to the rapid growth of population during the last few decades and the existing law of inheritance, the agricultural land is divided equally among the male children of the deceased farmer. At present, the per capita available land is only about 0.10 hectare which is much below the world average of about 4.50 hectares. Over 75 per cent of the land holdings are less than one hectare. Such small holdings are not economically viable. In fact, small holdings can not produce enough to meet the costs of irrigation, improved seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides and farm machinery.

The average size of holdings and their percentage share in India have been given in the Table 9.6 (Fig. 9.5).

Table 9.6 The Average Size of Land Holdings in the Selected States of India, 2005

Source: Agricultural Statistics of India, 2005.

An examination of Table 9.6 shows that the average size holding in India is about 1.50 hectares which is too small for mechanisation and application of modern technology. The largest size of operation holdings is in Rajasthan being 4.00 hectares, followed by Punjab at 3.45 hectares, and Gujarat at 2.85 hectares. The lowest size of land holding is in Kerala, being only 0.3 hectares and Uttar Pradesh 0.72 hectares. In rest of the states, it varies between 0.8 to 2.50 hectares. On the whole, in most of the states, the size of holdings is not economically viable.