IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/oxdevs/v43y2015i2p165-193.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Farm Size and Returns to Cultivation in India: Revisiting an Old Debate

Author

Listed:
  • Sarthak Gaurav
  • Srijit Mishra

Abstract

This paper revisits the long-debated question of the relationship between farm size and productivity by studying the relationship between area cultivated and net returns to cultivation in India using a nationally representative data-set. The analysis is carried out separately for the two major agricultural seasons, kharif and rabi , and for both the seasons pooled together. Our findings suggest the existence of an inverse relationship, even when we control for a number of household and farm characteristics and even when we treat factors such as household type (occupation), social group (caste), agro-climatic zone (region) and agricultural season as fixed effects. The result is also robust to correction for selection bias. However, the efficiency of the smallholder as a result of this greater productivity has to be treated with some caution as it ignores the low absolute levels of their returns, which raise questions about the sustainability of their livelihoods. This is further aggravated by the fact that they pay relatively higher unit costs and because of their greater dependence on purchased inputs.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarthak Gaurav & Srijit Mishra, 2015. "Farm Size and Returns to Cultivation in India: Revisiting an Old Debate," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 165-193, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:oxdevs:v:43:y:2015:i:2:p:165-193
    DOI: 10.1080/13600818.2014.982081
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13600818.2014.982081
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13600818.2014.982081?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bliss, C. J. & Stern, N. H., 1982. "Palanpur: The Economy of an Indian Village," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198284192.
    2. Reddy, D. Narasimha & Mishra, Srijit (ed.), 2009. "Agrarian Crisis in India," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195695953.
    3. Roumasset, James & Lee, Sang-Hyop, 2007. "Labor: Decisions, Contracts and Organization," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: Robert Evenson & Prabhu Pingali (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 52, pages 2705-2740, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rezitis, Anthony & Mishra, Ashok & Kumar, Shalander, . "Indians Demanding More Plant-Based Protein but Farmers' Profits Drop: Empirical Evidence to Understand the Dilemma," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 49(01).
    2. Varun Kumar Das & A. Ganesh-Kumar, 2019. "Commercialization, diversification and structural determinants of farmers' income in India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2019-042, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    3. Kilic, Talip & Zezza, Alberto & Carletto, Calogero & Savastano, Sara, 2017. "Missing(ness) in Action: Selectivity Bias in GPS-Based Land Area Measurements," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 143-157.
    4. Gautam, Madhur & Ahmed, Mansur, 2019. "Too small to be beautiful? The farm size and productivity relationship in Bangladesh," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 165-175.
    5. Giller, Ken E. & Andersson, Jens & Delaune, Thomas & Silva, João Vasco & Descheemaeker, Katrien & van de Ven, Gerrie & Schut, Antonius G.T. & van Wijk, Mark & Hammond, Jim & Hochman, Zvi & Taulya, God, 2022. "IFAD Research Series 83: The future of farming: who will produce our food?," IFAD Research Series 322005, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    6. Agarwal, Bina, 2018. "Can group farms outperform individual family farms? Empirical insights from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 57-73.
    7. José I. Cuesta & José G. Díaz & Francisco A. Gallego & Felipe González & Guillermo Marshall, 2017. "La reforma agraria chilena: hechos estilizados a la luz de una nueva base de datos," Estudios Públicos, Centro de Estudios Públicos, vol. 0(146), pages 7-48.
    8. Julien, Jacques C. & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Rada, Nicholas E., 2021. "Productive efficiency and farm size in East Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 60(3), August.
    9. Raynold Runganga & Winnie Njoroge & Syden Mishi, 2022. "Restoration of Land Acquired for Resettlement and the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, July.
    10. Bina Agarwal & Ankush Agrawal, 2016. "To farm or not to farm? Indian farmers in transition," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 012016, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    11. Varun Kumar Das & A. Ganesh-Kumar, 2018. "Farm size, livelihood diversification and farmer’s income in India," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 45(2), pages 185-201, June.
    12. Sarthak Gaurav & Rahul Kumar Singh & Thiagu Ranganathan, 2024. "Labour Supply of Cultivator and Labour Households: Insights From a Longitudinal Survey in Vidarbha, Maharashtra," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(4), pages 1117-1140, December.
    13. Sarkar, Biplab, 2017. "Household Crop Incomes Among Small Farmers: A Study of Three Villages in West Bengal," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 7(2), December.
    14. Conceição, Pedro & Levine, Sebastian & Lipton, Michael & Warren-Rodríguez, Alex, 2016. "Toward a food secure future: Ensuring food security for sustainable human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-9.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kurosaki, Takashi, 2011. "Wages in Kind and Economic Development: Historical and Contemporary Evidence from Asia," PRIMCED Discussion Paper Series 11, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    2. K. N. Harilal & K. K. Eswaran, 2016. "Agrarian Question and Democratic Decentralization in Kerala," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 5(2-3), pages 292-324, August.
    3. Mohammed SHARIF, 2000. "Inverted “S”—The complete neoclassical labour-supply function," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 139(4), pages 409-435, December.
    4. Michael Hubbard, 1997. "The ‘New Institutional Economics’ In Agricultural Development: Insights And Challenges," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1‐3), pages 239-249, January.
    5. John Lodewijks, 1994. "Anthropologists and economists: conflict or cooperation?," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 81-104.
    6. Pierre Dubois & Bruno Jullien & Thierry Magnac, 2008. "Formal and Informal Risk Sharing in LDCs: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 76(4), pages 679-725, July.
    7. Sreenivasulu, Y., 2023. "Forced Tenancy as a Trajectory of Tenant Farmers’ Suicides: A Study of Two Mandals in Nalgonda District (Telangana)," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), June.
    8. Mariapia MENDOLA, 2005. "Farm households production theories: a review of institutional and behavioural responses," Departmental Working Papers 2005-01, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    9. Kijima, Yoko & Tabetando, Rayner, 2020. "Efficiency and equity of rural land markets and the impact on income: Evidence in Kenya and Uganda from 2003 to 2015," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    10. Bharat Ramaswami & Shamika Ravi & S.D. Chopra, 2003. "Risk management in agriculture," Discussion Papers 03-08, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.
    11. Hagos, Hosaena Gebru & Holden, Stein T., 2013. "Reverse-share-tenancy and Marshallian Inefficiency: Landowners’ bargaining power and sharecroppers’ productivity," IFPRI discussion papers 1270, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Jayaraman, Rajshri & Lanjouw, Peter, 1999. "The Evolution of Poverty and Inequality in Indian Villages," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 14(1), pages 1-30, February.
    13. Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt & Mohanraj Adhikari, 2016. "From sharecropping to crop-rent: women farmers changing agricultural production relations in rural South Asia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 997-1010, December.
    14. Keijiro Otsuka & Yanyan Liu & Futoshi Yamauchi, 2016. "The future of small farms in Asia," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 34(3), pages 441-461, May.
    15. Giller, Ken E. & Andersson, Jens & Delaune, Thomas & Silva, João Vasco & Descheemaeker, Katrien & van de Ven, Gerrie & Schut, Antonius G.T. & van Wijk, Mark & Hammond, Jim & Hochman, Zvi & Taulya, God, 2022. "IFAD Research Series 83: The future of farming: who will produce our food?," IFAD Research Series 322005, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    16. Palanisami, Kuppannan, 2009. "Water markets as a demand management option: potentials, problems and prospects," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    17. Deininger, Klaus & Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Alemu, Tekie, 2008. "Impacts of land certification on tenure security, investment, and land markets : evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4764, The World Bank.
    18. Jeffrey A. Flory, 2011. "Micro-Savings & Informal Insurance in Villages: How Financial Deepening Affects Safety Nets of the Poor, A Natural Field Experiment," Working Papers 2011-008, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    19. Ayala-Cantu, Luciano & Morando, Bruno, 2020. "Rental markets, gender, and land certificates: Evidence from Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    20. Lanjouw, Jean Olson, 1999. "Information and the operation of markets: tests based on a general equilibrium model of land leasing in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 497-527, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:oxdevs:v:43:y:2015:i:2:p:165-193. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CODS20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.