Small Farmers

The small farmers generally have less than two acres of land in most of the states of India. These farmers are not well placed technologically and financially. Moreover, they do not have an easy access to the credit agencies. For the irrigation of their crops, they have to depend on the tube-wells oflarge farmers. It has been observed that at the time of peak irrigation demand, the tube-well owners (large farmers) either do not give water to the small farmers or they charge exorbitantly for the water, which is often beyond the reach of small farmers. In the absence of timely irrigation, the crops of the small farmers suffer adversely. Over a period of time, small and marginal farmers, by taking the advantage of rising land prices, sell out their land and attempt a new start in life.

Moreover, the agrarian institutions which are supposed to assist the small and marginal farmers, are not very helpful. The credit agencies as stated above, are serving largely the big farmers who are economically well off and politically powerful. The big farmers could easily pre-empt for their own use the bulk, if not, the entire supply of costly inputs like electricity, water, fertilisers, insecticides, and pesticides. Thus, the poor farmers have been deprived of enough inputs so essential for the successful cultivation of the High Yielding Varieties of crops.