IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bwp/bwppap/012016.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

To farm or not to farm? Indian farmers in transition

Author

Listed:
  • Bina Agarwal
  • Ankush Agrawal

Abstract

Few studies of agrarian transition examine what farmers themselves feel about farming. Are they cultivating out of choice or a lack of options? What distinguishes farmers who like farming from those who do not: their personal and household characteristics and endowments? The local ecology and regional economy? Or a mix of these and other factors? Understanding farmer satisfaction is important not only for assessing citizen well-being but also for agricultural productivity, since occupational satisfaction can affect a farmer’s incentive to invest and reveal production constraints. Using a unique all-India data set which asked farmers—do you like farming?—this paper provides answers and policy pointers, contributing a little-studied dimension to debates on the smallholder’s future and subjective well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:012016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/gdi/publications/workingpapers/GDI/GDI_WorkingPaper_1_Agarwal_Agrawal_Updated_v4.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Massimiliano Calì & Carlo Menon, 2013. "Does Urbanization Affect Rural Poverty? Evidence from Indian Districts," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 27(2), pages 171-201.
    2. Imai, Katsushi S. & Gaiha, Raghav & Garbero, Alessandra, 2017. "Poverty reduction during the rural–urban transformation: Rural development is still more important than urbanisation," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 963-982.
    3. Peter Lanjouw & Rinku Murgai & Nicholas Stern, 2013. "Nonfarm diversification, poverty, economic mobility, and income inequality: a case study in village India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(4-5), pages 461-473, July.
    4. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    5. Angus Deaton, 2008. "Income, Health, and Well-Being around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 53-72, Spring.
    6. Krishna, Anirudh, 2006. "Pathways out of and into poverty in 36 villages of Andhra Pradesh, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 271-288, February.
    7. Sripad Motiram & Ashish Singh, 2012. "How close does the apple fall to the tree? Some evidence on intergenerational occupational mobility from India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2012-017, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    8. Gaurav, Sarthak, 2015. "Are Rainfed Agricultural Households Insured? Evidence from Five Villages in Vidarbha, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 719-736.
    9. Lowell D. Hill, 1962. "Characteristics of the Farmers Leaving Agriculture in an Iowa County," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 44(2), pages 419-426.
    10. Ravallion, Martin & Lokshin, Michael, 2002. "Self-rated economic welfare in Russia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1453-1473, September.
    11. John F. Helliwell, 2006. "Well-Being, Social Capital and Public Policy: What's New?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(510), pages 34-45, March.
    12. Sitakanta Panda, 2015. "Farmer education and household agricultural income in rural India," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(6), pages 514-529, June.
    13. Gaurav Datt & Martin Ravallion, 1998. "Farm productivity and rural poverty in India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 62-85.
    14. Christiaensen, Luc & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2014. "Poverty Reduction During the Rural–Urban Transformation – The Role of the Missing Middle," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 43-58.
    15. Thomas Glauben & Hendrik Tietje & Christoph Weiss, 2006. "Agriculture on the move: Exploring regional differences in farm exit rates in Western Germany," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 26(1), pages 103-118, March.
    16. M. Shahe Emran & Forhad Shilpi, 2011. "Intergenerational Occupational Mobility in Rural Economy: Evidence from Nepal and Vietnam," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(2), pages 427-458.
    17. Pratap S. Birthal & Devesh Roy & Md. Tajuddin Khan & Digvijay Singh Negi, 2015. "Farmers' Preference for Farming: Evidence From a Nationally Representative Farm Survey in India," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 53(2), pages 122-134, June.
    18. Pratap S. Birthal & Shiv Kumar & Digvijay S. Negi & Devesh Roy, 2015. "The impacts of information on returns from farming: evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(4), pages 549-561, July.
    19. Agarwal, Bina, 1997. "Gender, environment, and poverty interlinks: Regional variations and temporal shifts in rural India, 1971-1991," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 23-52, January.
    20. Imai, Katsushi S. & Gaiha, Raghav & Thapa, Ganesh, 2015. "Does non-farm sector employment reduce rural poverty and vulnerability? Evidence from Vietnam and India," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 47-61.
    21. S. Mahendra Dev, 2012. "Small farmers in India: Challenges and opportunities," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2012-014, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    22. Peter Lanjouw & Rinku Murgai, 2009. "Poverty decline, agricultural wages, and nonfarm employment in rural India: 1983–2004," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 243-263, March.
    23. S. Mahendra Dev, 2012. "Small Farmers in India: Challenges and Opportunities," Working Papers id:5037, eSocialSciences.
    24. Clark, Andrew E., 2001. "What really matters in a job? Hedonic measurement using quit data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 223-242, May.
    25. 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.
    26. Mulinge, Munyae & Mueller, Charles W., 1998. "Employee job satisfaction in developing countries: The case of Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(12), pages 2181-2199, December.
    27. Sripad Motiram & Ashish Singh, 2012. "How close does the apple fall to the tree? Some evidence on intergenerational occupational mobility from India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2012-017, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    28. Maja Micevska Scharf & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2014. "Nonfarm Employment and Rural Welfare: Evidence from the Himalayas," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(4), pages 1183-1197.
    29. Stephan J. Goetz & David L. Debertin, 2001. "Why Farmers Quit: A County-Level Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(4), pages 1010-1023.
    30. Guillaume Gruere & Debdatta Sengupta, 2011. "Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: An Evidence-based Assessment," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 316-337.
    31. Collier, Paul & Dercon, Stefan, 2014. "African Agriculture in 50Years: Smallholders in a Rapidly Changing World?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 92-101.
    32. Kailas Sarap, 1990. "Factors Affecting Small Farmers' Access to Institutional Credit in Rural Orissa, India," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 281-307, April.
    33. Richard Palmer-Jones & Kunal Sen, 2003. "What has luck got to do with it? A regional analysis of poverty and agricultural growth in rural India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 1-31.
    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. Zeeshan & Geetilaxmi Mohapatra & Arun Kumar Giri, 2022. "How Farm Household Spends Their Non-farm Incomes in Rural India? Evidence from Longitudinal Data," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(4), pages 1967-1996, August.
    2. Rahman, Andaleeb, 2018. "Does off-farm income affect food security? Evidence from India," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 273882, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Andaleeb Rahman & Sumit Mishra, 2020. "Does Non-farm Income Affect Food Security? Evidence from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(6), pages 1190-1209, June.
    4. Fennell, Shailaja & Kaur, Prabhjot & Jhunjhunwala, Ashok & Narayanan, Deapika & Loyola, Charles & Bedi, Jaskiran & Singh, Yaadveer, 2018. "Examining linkages between Smart Villages and Smart Cities: Learning from rural youth accessing the internet in India," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(10), pages 810-823.
    5. Ravi Nandi & Swamikannu Nedumaran, 2021. "Understanding the Aspirations of Farming Communities in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review of the Literature," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(4), pages 809-832, August.
    6. Kumar, Awanish, 2018. "The Crisis of the Small Farm Economy in India," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 8(1), July.

    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. Muhammad Irshad Ahmad & Les Oxley & Hengyun Ma, 2020. "What Makes Farmers Exit Farming: A Case Study of Sindh Province, Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, April.
    2. M. Shahe Emran & Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Yajing Jiang & Yan Sun, 2023. "Occupational dualism and intergenerational educational mobility in the rural economy: evidence from China and India," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 21(3), pages 743-773, September.
    3. Agarwal, Bina, 2018. "Can group farms outperform individual family farms? Empirical insights from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 57-73.
    4. Bina Agarwal & Ankush Agrawal, 2017. "Do farmers really like farming? Indian farmers in transition," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 460-478, October.
    5. Jinan Zeidan, 2015. "Are Comparisons Luxuries? Subjective Poverty and Positional Concerns in Indonesia," AMSE Working Papers 1505, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    6. Emran, M. Shahe & Ferreira, Francisco & Jiang, Yajing & Sun, Yan, 2019. "Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Rural Economy: Evidence from China and India," MPRA Paper 94121, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Shiba Shankar Pattayat & Jajati Keshari Parida & I. C. Awasthi, 2022. "Reducing Rural Poverty Through Non-farm Job Creation in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(1), pages 137-160, March.
    8. Jinan Zeidan, 2015. "Are Comparisons Luxuries? Subjective Poverty and Positional Concerns in Indonesia," Working Papers halshs-01114396, HAL.
    9. Clark, Andrew E. & Senik, Claudia, 2010. "Will GDP Growth Increase Happiness in Developing Countries?," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 1024, CEPREMAP.
    10. Koen Decancq & Marc Fleurbaey & Erik Schokkaert, 2015. "Happiness, Equivalent Incomes and Respect for Individual Preferences," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82, pages 1082-1106, December.
    11. Aguilar, Alexandra Cortés & García Muñoz, Teresa M. & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2013. "Heterogeneous self-employment and satisfaction in Latin America," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 44-61.
    12. Stefano Bartolini & Ennio Bilancini & Francesco Sarracino, 2013. "Predicting the Trend of Well-Being in Germany: How Much Do Comparisons, Adaptation and Sociability Matter?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 169-191, November.
    13. Sarracino, Francesco, 2013. "Determinants of subjective well-being in high and low income countries: Do happiness equations differ across countries?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 51-66.
    14. Rohit Saini & Manjeet Kaur & Randeep Singh & Kashish Arora & Gurlal Singh & Gurleen Kaur & Sukhdeep Singh & Arshdeep Singh & Dalbeer Singh, 2022. "Understanding Sustenance of Small Farm Holders: A Study of Income Inequality among Farm Households in Indian Punjab," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-14, October.
    15. Nawazuddin Ahmed & D. K. Nauriyal, 2024. "The Impact of Parents’ Educational and Occupational Footprints on Children: Evidence From India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 19(1), pages 7-43, April.
    16. Janina Nemitz, 2022. "Increasing longevity and life satisfaction: is there a catch to living longer?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 557-589, April.
    17. Imai, Katsushi S. & Gaiha, Raghav & Garbero, Alessandra, 2017. "Poverty reduction during the rural–urban transformation: Rural development is still more important than urbanisation," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 963-982.
    18. Ligon, Ethan & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2018. "Estimating the Relative Benefits of Agricultural Growth on the Distribution of Expenditures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 417-428.
    19. Birthal, Pratap S., 2019. "Fuelled by technological change and backed by investment in irrigation, infrastructure (e.g., roads and electricity) markets and institutions (e.g., credit and extension) and enabling policies India e," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 74(01), March.
    20. 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.

    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:bwp:bwppap:012016. 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: Rowena Harding (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wpmanuk.html .

    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.