Dear Dr. Victor, let me share common facts. In India area operated by small and marginal farmers has increased from about 19% to 44% and the average size of small holdings is 1.29 ha. Some of the interesting facts about small and marginal farmers are that multiple cropping index is higher for marginal and small farmers than that for medium and large farmers. The small and marginal farmers allocate larger proportion of their cultivated land to high value crops like fruits, and vegetables ; small and marginal farmers seem to have comparative advantage in growing vegetables than fruits because of quick returns in the former;  small and marginal farmers allocate larger proportion of rice and wheat than other farmers; small and marginal farmers allocate lower proportion of land to pulses and oil seeds. In terms of production, small and marginal farmers also make larger contribution to the production of high value crops. Small farmers contribute to both diversification and food security.  Some of common issues faced by small-marginal farmers are,  imperfect markets for inputs/product leading to smaller value realizations; absence of access to credit markets or imperfect credit markets leading to sub optimal investment decisions or input applications; poor human resource base; smaller access to suitable extension services restricting suitable decisions regarding cultivation practices and technological know-how; poorer access to ‘public goods’ such as public irrigation, command area development, electricity grids; greater negative externalities from poor quality land and water management. 

Rural population to a large extent was a self sustainable system. as a part of their culture and lifestyle they had to their credit added a skill set which we today call craft. my experience in living in a village was making their own beautiful baskets, ropes for their cattle were done in house with the available fibers around them.... these skills today can be marketed as craft and also become a secondary income to them during lean seasons.

Thank you Barbara and Revathi for breaking the ice. It has been observed that in terms of production, small and marginal farmers have lion share and make larger contribution to the production of high value horticultural crops. Contribution of small farmers is conspicuous it is around 70% to the total production of vegetables, 55% to fruits against their share of 44% in land area (Birthal, 2011). Their share in cereal production is 52% and 69% in milk production. Thus, small farmers contribute to both diversification and food security. Only in the cases of pulses and oilseeds, their share is lower than other farmers.

Very interesting and important discussion topic you raised, because lot of Indian farmer are committing sosite due to low income and huge debt, the major problem of farmers are: most farmers are completely dependent on mono-cropping, like paddy-wheat, cotton, potato, sugarcane, paddy-paddy. and when they see additional benefit in certain crop like onion, potato, all farmers start growing the same crop to getting maximum benefit but due to huge production price fall down and farmers feel cheated. There is no such kind of govt organization or association who have the control over the area of crop production. Corporate farming is another option to be promoted with minimum environment and soil health consideration, i think due to this the area where farmers got nothing, they got at least something to survive their livelihood.

If you see the old village model where all kind of employment was there, like carpenter, barber, Iron worker, Animal keepers, Bee keepers, Grain sellers, Grain processor and lot more employment related to support the agriculture. But now all people are interested to cultivate on the farm, which is not worth. Apart from routine agriculture we have to promote diversified agriculture, in which all have their role to play, and more number of people can get employment by that. Any one should not focus only on crop growing but also focus on other business like dairy.  This also provide the organic matter to retain soil health.

a proper solution is the switch to certified organic farming, world markest for organic products are soaring and /or production of quality certified raw materials for pharmaceutica, medical and aromatic compounds

Dr Malhotra  very good question from your rich treasury of questions . This is perhaps the most bothering issue of  Agriculture of many of the developing countries.  Unfortunately , despite many fruitful discussion , results on field are invisible , may be because of the staggering number of small and marginal farmers.  However , my responses to your quarries are as follows:

* Yes , low farm productivity  is predominantly due size of farm , poor resource availability and accessability . Such farmers need more attention towards potential of their farms , multi-species cropping sequence , conservation agriculture , least relying on single crop. Unfortunately , most of such farmers belong to  farming category  practicing rainfed agriculture  , need different re-orientation than irrigated agriculture  .

* We need to link them through different district -based KVKs for updated version of technical know-how. We also need to safeguard such farmers for total procurement of their  such small farm produce .

*We need a different policy intervention  for small scale farmers . One of the biggest policy intervention could be develop them for some agro-based small scale industry , like developing biofertilisers , coated fertilizers at farm level , composting technology , utilisation of farm residues and developing them into value added products for farm use....

Hope , they will find some utility ...

I believe that small and medium farmers need to band together in cooperative systems to allow the capitilization of their enterprizes and concentrate on value added products. Leadership and values will be critical to these model systems.

Dr. Gaurav, thank you for very good suggestions. Small and marginal farmers need to adopt cultivation of high value crops so that income is enhanced from small holdings. Corporate farming is also a solution to this problem.

Dear Ewald Schnug, organic farming is one of the intervention, which can be adopted and there is tremendous scope in North Eastern Region. Small and marginal farmers can take up cultivation of high value crops.

Dr. Anoop, thanks for detailed reply and agreeing to the importance of existing problems of small and marginal farms. I agree such farmers need more attention towards potential of their farms , multi-species cropping sequence , conservation agriculture , least relying on single crop. Do we need to think to consolidate lands. Cooperative farming and contract farming are other options to make small farms viable and this has been suggested by mr. paul

Yes Dr Malhotra I agree with you. We need an effective strategy with regard to cooperative farming and contract farming exclusively for small and marginal farmers, since their livelihood is totally dependent on farm income. 

Less dependence on high tech farming to maintain the soil is also a very important issue.

I very strongly feel , a greater investment in out technology to domesticate them as per need of small and marginal farmers, with a lesser dependence  of high tech farming , as rightly expressed by my learned colleague , Job.

 Dear Dr. Shirgure, the future growth in agriculture must come from new technologies which are not only "cost effective" but also "in conformity" with natural climatic regime of the country; technologies relevant to rain-fed areas specifically; continued genetic improvements for better seeds and yields; data improvements for better research, better results, and sustainable planning; bridging the gap between knowledge and practice; and judicious land use resource surveys, efficient management practices, and sustainable use of natural resources for small & marginal farmers.

Thank you Dr. Job Nada, there are several examples that farmers with small holdings with hitech system of protected cultivation and microirrigation system by growing vegetables and flowers earning a good profit.

Dr. Anoop in nutshell you have better explained the point, compliments to you. There are several set of technologies which are suitable for small and marginal farmers such as protected cultivation, beekeeping, mushroom cultivation, growing high value crops, nursery for planting material production, agri-horti tourism etc.

Dear Mr. Suresh Malhotra

Responding to their questions reported:

Answer to question 1. No matter the amount of food produced individually. It is necessary that these farmers get together in associations or cooperatives. By grouping increases the amount of food produced, and also the competitiveness of farmers.

Answer to question 2 Grouped together in associations or cooperatives.

Answer to question 3. Public policies must be undertaken to attend to small farmers and strengthen such important range of agricultural production.

I would recommend you guys, look into aquaponics systems, it is a sustainable system that convines aquiculture like pisciculture and hidroponics, using the waste of the fish to grow vegetable, small families can use to farm their own food, and even to sell if that's the case.

Mr. Oswaldo, thank you for good suggestions. yes farmers need to get together in co-opertaives. Government of India has started National Food Security Mission program and in this program, clusters of 10-15 ha (8-15 farmers) may join for producing food crops. Recently new initiative through Small Farmers Agriculture Consortium (SFAC) a subsidiary of Government, Ministry of Agriculture takes care of interests of farmers are promoting farmers to make farmers interest group (10-20 farmers) and then 1000 farmers together will join to become farmers producer organization. In this case farmers are provided with support and facilities for input purchase, farm machinery bank facilitiy, farm produce aggregation from small farmers and further marketing facility along with credit support. 

Mr. Andres, ideas given are very good. There is scope of aquaponics in certain water abundant areas and wet areas. Hydroponics has also proved good for production of leafy vegetables lettuce and strawberry, but not profitable for other crops based on feedback. Hydroponics is being successfully used for strawberry planting material production. Another related technique aeroponics is also used for microtuber production of healthy planting material production of potato .Thank you for good suggestions.

Dr Malhotra, we need some farmer friendly well proven technologies for small and marginal farmers with backing on protected cultivation. 

You are correct, farmers friendly technologies are available, which ICAR has developed and also by 22 PFDC,s. Low cost to high tech polyhouse structures of different sizes from 500m2 to 10000m2 are supported under National Hort mission.

Dr. Shirgure, Please see following two publications of ICAR. I am also one of the authors.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304675619_Agriculture_Technologies-_Horticulture_Volume_1

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304675379_Agricultural_Technologies_Ready_for_Commercialization_-_Horticulture_Volume_II

Book Agriculture Technologies Commercialized- Horticulture Volume 1

Book Agricultural Technologies, Ready for Commercialization - Hor...

Dear Suresh, it is very interesting question. First of all,new technologies are very important for small and marginal farms. Also, all type of farms should cooperate to contribute high yields, income and livelihood.

Dear Suresh K. Malhotra. Please read Informations about Bonn Climate Project for the Development of Rural Areas in all Kontinents and find some Solutions for your work. Iam shure you can use them and implement them in India.

Yours faithfully

Heinz J. Sturm

Dr Malhotra and other colleagues. We also need to include social dynamics of small and marginal farmers to optimize their resources. 

Dear Dr. Malhotra,

One of the problems we face in Latin America with small farmers is that they cannot make a "living income" from their farms and therefore have to find other sources of income neglecting work at the farm.

There are plenty of technologies and techniques to improve productivity: quality seed, technical assistance, disease control, fertilizers, etc.  The problem lies in access to these at reasonable prices. 

Another problem is the high costs associated with the logistics of collection and selection into different qualities (where marketing through producer associations can play an important role).

As a result of the low incomes, the young are leaving the farm and we are being left with the older, less educated and more resistant to change producers in these small farms.  The only way to revert this is through ensuring that farming these small plots is a business or can contribute significantly to household income if the farm productive.

What we at TechnoServe - where I work - have done is: group producers into what we call producer groups, ensure financing (for seeds and inputs) through linking producer groups to buyers  (there are good examples of input companies having done this in India as well), providing technical assistance through community trainers (lead farmers or young technicians) that can then become entrepreneurs themselves (selling seeds, fertilizers, technical assistance) and via mobile phones, ensure availability of inputs, and train producers to see their farms as businesses so that their decisions are based on better economic decisions.

Finally, we have st up demonstration plots (small) and shared best practices between farmers by constantly approaching those small farmers that do better than their piers and motivating them to share their techniques and learnings.

Hope this helps

Please keep me posted on the results of your study

Kindly do not confuse small and marginal farmers, what ever they are doing let them do. Go to a farmer in a village, ask his problems and suggest remedies on the spot,if you have answer for his questions, otherwise do not give unwanted suggestions which are beyond hid reach.

This is an interesting and valid discussion

Firstly it is important that we have acknowledged the challenges that are faced by small and marginal farmers, but we also need to be cautious that we do not generalize the challenges: each farmer is unique so it is best to investigate the challenges and abilities of each farmer. In trying to address the challenges, it would be important to consider the farmers' views and suggestion because often at times, changes are imposed on the farmers which sometimes brings resistance and disconnection to the purpose of change. Also, organizations ought to mentor farmers after introducing a new technology. It does not help much bringing new technology and then leave the farmers to adjust to the technology, some may just give up and hold on to what they know.

Sometimes you find that productivity increases, but small farmers face challenges in marketing the produce. They usually sell the produce at low prices just because they lack exposure to lucrative markets and do not know how to approach such markets. In that case, a value-chain approach can be followed where farmers are linked to other participants in the value chain.

Dr Sharma  and Taruvinga, very interesting feedbacks .  Why dont we  lay our priorities to small and marginal framers ,despite knowing all  the fact s so much in depth...

Do you feel , we need a strong  foundation  of  Value Chain Development , considering the exclusive requirements of small and marginal farmers.?

Dear Dr. Victor, let me share common facts. In India area operated by small and marginal farmers has increased from about 19% to 44% and the average size of small holdings is 1.29 ha. Some of the interesting facts about small and marginal farmers are that multiple cropping index is higher for marginal and small farmers than that for medium and large farmers. The small and marginal farmers allocate larger proportion of their cultivated land to high value crops like fruits, and vegetables ; small and marginal farmers seem to have comparative advantage in growing vegetables than fruits because of quick returns in the former;  small and marginal farmers allocate larger proportion of rice and wheat than other farmers; small and marginal farmers allocate lower proportion of land to pulses and oil seeds. In terms of production, small and marginal farmers also make larger contribution to the production of high value crops. Small farmers contribute to both diversification and food security.  Some of common issues faced by small-marginal farmers are,  imperfect markets for inputs/product leading to smaller value realizations; absence of access to credit markets or imperfect credit markets leading to sub optimal investment decisions or input applications; poor human resource base; smaller access to suitable extension services restricting suitable decisions regarding cultivation practices and technological know-how; poorer access to ‘public goods’ such as public irrigation, command area development, electricity grids; greater negative externalities from poor quality land and water management. 

Dear Dr. Bridget, thank you for touching the core issues linked to small & marginal farmers. It is felt that there is a greater need for efficient linkages between the producers and the consumers for expanding employment opportunities and increasing the rural income through better marketing of agricultural products especially for small farmers. In order to address the needs of small & marginal farmers, Govt of India has established Small Farmers Agri Consortium. The vision envisaged is promoting Agri-Business by encouraging institutional and private sector investments and linkages to ensure the empowerment of all farmers in the country. To link small farmers to technology as well as to the markets in association with private, corporate or cooperative sector and if necessary, by providing backward and forward linkages, SFAC has taken the mission. The basic objectives are:

• To undertake or assist in undertaking programs for employment generation, growth and diversification of agriculture & agro-based industries to increase food production and export of agriculture products, in both primary and processed forms.
• To identify and promote post-harvest processing/manufactures units in the public , private and cooperative sector.
• To promote organization of marketing chain both for domestic and export marketing.
• To influence Government policies for agriculture, there by increasing the flow of resources and augmenting the rate of capital formation in agriculture sector.
• To pave the way for establishment of integrated producers’ organizations with forward and backward linkages.
• To prepare, print and publish papers, periodicals, monographs in furtherance of the objectives of the society.

Thank you Heinz for sharing the report related to Africa. There are several important points relevant in present context.

Dr Malhotra , you will agree , there is a distinctive social dynamics associated with small and marginal farmers . They  are constrained by the resourcefulness, literacy linked poor accessability of the  technology ,  consistent abiotic stress induced agriculture , since mostly concentrated in arid/semi-arid parts , tropical /topical farmers have  soil erosion-induced land degradation issue more prominent ...and so on .  why are we not able to bring them into the mainstream of agriculture to dictate their contribution into the food security mission more emphatically than  in the past . What kind of strategy(ies) , you foresee....?

Dear Sir, Dear Mr. Malhotra, perhaps you can use this Information for your work. cooperation with Bonn Climate Project is possible.

Regards from Bonn/Germany

Heinz J. Sturm

Dear Dr. Heinz, I am delighted to see the link and know details about ICEPS and CTC. I liked the content, objective, mission and slogan clean and affordable energy for all. Congratulation for good initiatives.

The NSSO 70th round survey of agricultural households indicated that marginal farmers’ main source of income is wages (48 per cent) and not income from crop. For small farmers, 57 per cent of the income is coming from agriculture. Diversification of income sources is an important strategy which would ensure their livelihood security.  Agriculture alone cannot generate enough income for their growing needs. Small and marginal farmers now are obtaining their income from multiple sources such as wages and salaries, non-farm production and animal husbandry. Small and marginal land holdings lead to a number of problems, such as relatively lower access to credit compared to other farmers and that as a result depend on high cost of borrowing from private money lenders. Farmers with higher land holdings could get as high as 79 per cent of their loans from institutional sources, mainly commercial banks. In comparison, 47 to 65 per cent of loan amount of small and marginal holding is from institutional sources. Agricultural money lenders constitute a major source of credit for smaller farmer. 

Your explanation social dynamics of small and marginal land farmers is very good, worth appreciating. What about the other countries, specially in Southeast Asia ? 

 Small and marginal farms, however, are still crucial for India's food security and sustainable agricultural growth. They account for about 85% of the operational land holdings, or 44% of the total cultivated area in the country. The future of agriculture in India depends on the performance of small farmers, In India and elsewhere in the world, there is a growing movement to usher in change in the agriculture system to save small and marginal farmers from the onslaught of the second green revolution.  

Focus on the Global South, with the support of the Rosa Luxemburg Siftung, has started a collaborative program me to bring out educational materials and other publications focusing on the small and marginal farmers. These will highlight their concerns, and attempt to grasp the various governance issues that have made their survival precarious. The publications will also feature the different aspects of the present neoliberal model of agrarian reform in India, exploring how it impacts the viability of small-scale agriculture. 

This booklet, "Where Have All the Small Farmers Gone?" is the first in the series, and it traces the broad history of the rich agriculture system in India which was ruined by the British colonial policies. We hope that these educational materials will help initiate conscious dialogue and interaction with and amount small farmers, helping them realize their strengths, retrieve their sense of dignity, and overcome the obstacles through their own initiatives, by enabling them to take decisions regarding agriculture. Please see here interesting article: http://focusweb.org/content/where-have-all-small-farmers-gone-story-agriculture-and-indian-farmers

 Around 60.3 percent of India's land area is agricultural land which is arable, under permanent crops, and under permanent pastures. In fact India has the second largest agricultural land in the world.   At 157.35 million hectares, India holds the second largest agricultural land globally.” Only, the United States has more agricultural land than India.  What this means is that India has enough land dedicated to agriculture and even if some of it is taken away for other purposes there will still be enough land left for agriculture. But the problems aree different. Take the case of China. India has more arable land than China. This, despite the fact its total area is only a little over 34 percent that of China. However, China produces more rice and wheat than India does. India is the second largest producer of rice and wheat after China, with China producing about 40 percent more rice and wheat than India. India is also the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after China, but China’s fruit production is three times India’s production. What this tells us is that India's agricultural productivity is low compared to that of China and many other countries in the world.

India produces 106 million tonnes of rice a year from 44 million hectares of land. That’s a yield rate of 2.4 tonnes per hectare, placing India at 27th place out of 47 countries. China and Brazil have yield rates of 4.7 tonnes per hectare and 3.6 tonnes per hectare, respectively. In case of wheat the productivity is better than that of rice. With 93 million tonnes of wheat from 29.65 million hectares, India’s yield rate of 3.15 tonnes per hectare places it 19th out of 41 countries. Here, we do better than Brazil’s yield rate of 2.73 tonnes per hectare, but lag behind South Africa (3.4 t/ha) and China (4.9 t/ha),” the report points out.

There are multiple reasons for this low productivity. The average holding size of land has come down over the decades. As per Agriculture Census 2010-11, small and marginal holdings of less than 2 hectare account for 85 percent of the total operational holdings and 44 percent of the total operated area. The average size of holdings for all operational classes (small & marginal, medium and large) have declined over the years and for all classes put together it has come down to 1.16 hectare in 2010-11 from 2.82 hectare in 1970-71. The shrinking size of the average land holding of an Indian farmer has held back agricultural productivity.

But there are other areas which can be worked upon. To enhance productivity, easy and reliable access to inputs such as quality seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, access to suitable technology tailored for specific needs, the presence of support infrastructure and innovative marketing systems to aggregate and market the output from large number of small holdings efficiently. 

Dr Malhotra , do we have any model approach for addressing various issues of small and  marginal farmers , since they are the real drivers of technology to field ?

Yes. Cluster approach is identified as best approach. Government also provides support for promotion of crops in clusters with the ease for monitoring and marketing of produce. A minimum size of viable cluster is 10-15 ha. In real sense such type of clusters are successful in case of banana production in theni, tamil nadu. Grapes in maharashtra, Tea gardens and coffee plantations are other success stories.

Thanks Dr Malhotra veery useful input . these clusters are identified cropwise or regardless of crops?

Such clusters are identified crop wise, so that good volume could come from a cluster. Moreover, many operations and inputs are made available to farmers at reasonable costs based on approach of economy of scale.

Dr Malhotra, what kind of criteria do you use while deciding the region crop wise  for cluster approach policies ? 

Nice feedback Dr Shirgure . Criteria of selection of cluster is surely very important , with respect to every crop. these clusters will be like mini-production-cum collection  centres. We have seen this practice , heavily used in tribal areas in  Tura district of Meghalaya for khasi mandarin . Like this , there are many such clusters.

Cluster approach in farming helps in development of vertical linkages (inputs & raw materials), horizontal linkages (co-operatives & consortia), support relationships (governments, universities & research institutes) and ultimately enhance access to market information for direct benefit to farmers. But the question is what should be the criteria for selection of clusters.  I look forward for input from the colleagues.

The approach for selection of farmers vary from place to place. In plains minimum cluster size should be 100 ha and in hills it can be 10 ha. The minimum resources required are also considered such as irrigation facility, soil fertility, quality of water, history of crops grown, performance, essential facilities for  workers. 

Dr Malhotra , can to highlight some success stories of cluster approach fro small and marginal farmer , regardless of crops and region..?

Cluster approach is a very good method for developing and small and marginal framers. The success stories will help others to understand the module much better. 

Clusters at large scale are yet to come. See following links:

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/cluster-development-approach-for-small-and-marginal-farmers/article1950417.ece#

http://www.fnbnews.com/Fruits-Vegetable/Cluster-approach-to-boost-banana-export

A variety of approaches have emerged in response to the problems faced by the small and marginal farmers. At the market end of agriculture value-chain, private participation is being promoted through contract farming, particularly after the amendment of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act in 2003. Contract farming involves agricultural production based on an agreement between a corporation and the farmer for production and supply of agreed quantities of a product meeting certain quality standards. However, contract farming arrangements tend to exclude small producers and in many instances have benefited the buyers at the expense of the producers. The other approach is the facilitation of collective action by small and marginal farmers. Agricultural cooperatives, formed under the Co-operative Credit Societies Act, 1904, has long been the dominant form of farmer collectives; however, the experience with  cooperatives point to many limitations that prevent effective collective action. Hence the Indian government has been promoting a new form of collectives called Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to address the challenges faced by the small and marginal farmers, particularly those to do with enhanced access to investments, technological advancements, and efficient inputs and markets.

http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/assets/snippets/workingpaperpdf/10539809132015-01-05.pdf

 Researve bank of india has provisioned loans to individual farmers [including Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Joint Liability Groups (JLGs), i.e. groups of individual farmers, provided banks maintain disaggregated data of such loans], directly engaged in Agriculture and Allied Activities, viz., dairy, fishery, animal husbandry, poultry, bee-keeping and sericulture (up to cocoon stage).

(i) Short-term loans to farmers for raising crops, i.e. crop loans.

This will include traditional/non-traditional plantations, horticulture and allied activities.

(ii) Medium & long-term loans to farmers for agriculture and allied activities (e.g. purchase of agricultural implements and machinery, loans for irrigation and other developmental activities undertaken in the farm, and development loans for allied activities).

(iii) Loans to farmers for pre and post-harvest activities, viz., spraying, weeding, harvesting, sorting, grading and transporting of their own farm produce.

(iv) Loans to farmers up to ` 50 lakh against pledge / hypothecation of agricultural produce (including warehouse receipts) for a period not exceeding 12 months, irrespective of whether the farmers were given crop loans or not.

(v) Loans to small and marginal farmers for purchase of land for agricultural purposes.

(vi) Loans to distressed farmers indebted to non-institutional lenders.

(vii) Bank loans to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Farmers’ Service Societies (FSS) and Large-sized Adivasi Multi Purpose Societies (LAMPS) ceded to or managed/ controlled by such banks for on lending to farmers for agricultural and allied activities.

(viii) Loans to farmers under Kisan Credit Card Scheme.

(ix) Export credit to farmers for exporting their own farm produce.

Very nice feedbacks on various issues related to small and marginal farmers. 

Some fascinating points Dr Malhotra. but i find despite these serious efforts , the problems of small and marginal farmers  remain almost static , its more like a perennial issue ...? Whethe rsuch modules are any crop specific , region specific , ant other criteria used to define the success of such modules..?

Thnak you Dr. Anoop and Dr. Shirgure, for good remarks.

 Govt. is encouraging consolidation of land. As part of this, term loan is available to the tune of Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 10 lakhs to individual Small Farmers / Marginal Farmers / Share cropper / Tenant farmers for purchase of land. Loans given to individual farmer to make the small and marginal holding economically viable and to bring fallow and waste land under cultivation and to step up agricultural production and productivity. Loan will be in the form long term in nature with maximum period of 9 years including 2 years moratorium.

For details see: http://www.idbi.com/purchase-of-land.asp

Nice discussion already picked up . Dr Malhotra and other colleagues, cluster approach , you suggested one very valid way to betterment of small and marginal farmers . What is your opinion about the community -based farming  involving small and marginal farmers ...?

Thank you Anoop. I shall reply in detail

Let me explain about the existing cropping patterns. Small and marginal farmers allocate larger proportion of their cultivated land to high value crops like fruits, and vegetables. Small and marginal farmers have comparative advantage in growing vegetables than fruits because of quick returns in the former. Such farmers allocate larger proportion of land to rice and wheat and allocate lower proportion of land to pulses and oilseeds. Let us analyse do small and marginal farmers grow high value crops? If yes what are those cropping patterns.

Nice  response Dr Malhotra. I do agree with you , growing high value crops through fruits and vegetable will fetch small and marginal farmers much better dividents than conventional cereals . 

What is your opinion about the possibility open field Floriculture , though Floriculture is mostly practiced under protected condition . Some of the flowers as well,  could earn high returns  to so resource poor small and marginal farmers. 

It is true Dr. Anoop that cultivation of flower crops is very remunerative for small and marginal farmers. There are few flowers which give high yield under open conditions (margold, chrysnthemum, rose) and have specific purpose to grow as loose flowers for garlands and essential oil extraction. Another group of flowers are gerbera, rose, etc are grown for cut flowers. If farmers grow filler plants they will get good income. Such filler plants are limonium, gypsophila and few others are in high demand, are successfully grown under open conditions.

Floriculture is growing at growth rate of 12% annually. 

 With respect to empowerment- e-choupal comes up as fine example for small and marginal farmers. This is example of efficient supply chain system empowering the farmers with timely and relevant information enabling them to get better returns for their produce. And due to its community centric approach, it gives other offerings also to the farmers’ like- insurance and farm management practise, etc.

Very good point Dr Malhotra, so appreciative of you . How shall we operationalise it at community level..?

Dr Malhotra and other colleagues: Various policies leading to betterment in  adoption of  different technologies by the small and marginal farmers , will only be a reality , unless transfer of technology ( supply of inputs on Government behalf), making them so much dependent on subsidy oriented )  is stopped , and extension is encouraged . Feed them with the best possible technical know-how ...but no free input...make more damaging than helping...them...

Yes Dr. Anoop, I agree with you. Instead of subsidy, focus needed now is on infrastructure development for long term use and such setups for benefit of farmers in enhancing income. Good points Dr. Anoop. Govt has also taken many such initiatives for the benefit of farmers through new programs such as PMKSY for irrigation, NAM for market infrastructure, PMFBY for risk management.  

Dr Malhotra, very good points you have added. Do we have any method to have a reality check of these policies at the field level so that merits and demerits of these policies could be effectively addressed ?

 Small and marginal farmers are more at risk. Therefore insurance cover is important for them for risk management. With 22 million farms covered by a yield based index, 3 million by a weather index insurance and 340,000 farms covered by an insurance combining the two indices, India is probably today the most innovative and experienced country in agricultural index insurance in the world. Given that the agricultural sector contributes 18 percent of GDP and employs 60 percent of the population, the Government of India closely monitors meteorological risks and plays a key role in the financing of agriculture in general and agricultural insurance in particular.

The greatest risk in India as well as globally in rainfed agriculture is drought.

In North America the vast majority of crop insurance claims are paid for drought loss.

The mitigation of drought is a function of returning the soils to their original soil organic matter levels.

This will not only greatly curtail the drought issues but also increase top line yield under favorable water conditions.

Finally and not least the return of soil to virgin levels of soil organic matter is the cornerstone of a policy which will allow the atmospheric enrichment of greenhouse gases to be effectively controlled when this is supplemented with emission control and renewable energy development. 

  Insurance cover is important for small and marginal farmers for risk management. With 22 million farms covered by a yield based index, 3 million by a weather index insurance and 340,000 farms covered by an insurance combining the two indices, India is probably today the most innovative and experienced country in agricultural index insurance in the world. Given that the agricultural sector contributes 18 percent of GDP and employs 60 percent of the population, the Government of India closely monitors meteorological risks and plays a key role in the financing of agriculture in general and agricultural insurance in particular.

What should be the strategy so that small and marginal farms sustainably contribute for high yields, incomes and livelihood? - ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_should_be_the_strategy_so_that_small_and_marginal_farms_sustainably_contribute_for_high_yields_incomes_and_livelihood/7 [accessed Aug 19, 2016].

Excellent feedback Dr Malhotra, worth reading. 

 In order to empower small-holders to access the crucial production resources, what could be the interventions. These resources are several: land, water, energy, and credit; appropriate technologies, and opportunities to develop the skills and to access the information wherewith to use them; functional and fair markets for products and inputs, risk management in the impact of climate change (drought, flood, hailstorm, heavy rain, ) and social services.

 The Indian experience with small and marginal farmers in making choice of crops is different. The small and marginal farmers allocate larger proportion of their cultivated land to high value crops like fruits, and vegetables ; small and marginal farmers seem to have comparative advantage in growing vegetables than fruits because of quick returns in the former;  small and marginal farmers allocate larger proportion of rice and wheat than other farmers; small and marginal farmers allocate lower proportion of land to pulses and oil seeds. In terms of production, small and marginal farmers also make larger contribution to the production of high value crops.

 What could be the interventions to empower small-holders to access the crucial production resources. These resources are several: land, water, energy, and credit; appropriate technologies, and opportunities to develop the skills and to access the information wherewith to use them; functional and fair markets for products and inputs, risk management in the impact of climate change (drought, flood, hailstorm, heavy rain, ) and social services.

Dr Malhotra , this is an issue , perhaps could garner discussion for years , i suppose...

We absolutely do not have the distinctive public distribution system for small and marginal farmers , besides the policy of  ensured procurement of  farm produce at competitive price  to facilitate ensured livelihood to eventually realise them into the mainstream of agriculture.Unfortunately , such attempts are distinctively missing from our core agenda , atleast on field..?

Sir,

U have raised a good question at a correct time. Farmers are ultimate stakeholders in our system. 

Low productivity occurs in marginal and small holders mainly due to unavailability of good quality seed. Government is taking good steps to overcome the shortage of seed availability but it never achieved it.

Farmers are ready to accept all the new technologies developed by ICAR and state government but availability of those technologies at needed time is questionable. So Government should ensure the availability of technologies at village level.

And it should consider to establish public distribution system like model for farm inputs (quality seed, fertilisers, equipments and etc) in each and every village. 

All the policies must follow bottom to top approach to betterment of farmers livelihood.

Thanks

While many competitive crop varieties may be available from commercial for profit interests, this is not the case for small farmers looking for crop varieties in minor crops and crops which are not transgenic. The ability to continue to support public crop improvement and breeding give an ability to support small farmers and allow higher education and research to continue in the public sector particularly for crops mostly grown on small acreages. Since productivity so many times depends on capital investment it probably means education on the value of forming farmer based coops as fundamental step. In relation to getting increased revenues the differentiation of product can come from certified organic production which again depends on much education and can be fostered by joining efforts.  Certified organic farming is more knowledge intense than conventional input package farming. 

Some very thoughtful points  by both of you  , Dr rajendran and Dr Hepperly .  There is a well defined modus operandi for disseminating a developed technology to farmers field , reagrdless of farmers , small or marginal. Why doesnt it work .? i am talking in global framework friends.. If some of you can throw some light on some successful Transfer of Technology or Extension modules , i think , many will of us will be hugely benefitted  . And , this discussion will also find some concrete direction..?

 Continuance of low agriculture productivity is a consequence of the smallness of the preponderant majority of the farms? Productivity of those small farms be so increased as to allow the small-holder families - and the nation with them - to escape from hunger and poverty? 

 Given the national and international policies that facilitate access to such resources, there would be confident expectation that small-scale agriculture could and would achieve higher production and income and that the livelihoods of small-holder families and communities would be enhanced.

Dear Dr Malhotra, an excellent question for farmers under intensive cultivation, we could increase the productivity ensuring sustainable production by adoption of the following procedures

1. Appropriate agri-knowledge contents

2. Proper dissemination methods for effective adoption 

3. Having demonstration trials in the farmers' fields through public-private partnership

4. Providing appropriate resource inputs (seeds, customized fertilizers- foliar and basal, pesticides etc) through sales counters on regional basis

5. Holding farmers-experts interaction (time to time)

6. Constraints analysis for adoption of the tech-knowledge (bio-physical and socio-economic constraints)

7. Providing guidance and raising confidence of the farmers in adoption of the alternate land use choices

8. Ensuring linkage mechanisms with the dynamic platform of weather alarms, market intelligent system, weather based agro-advisories, procurement centres, mandi rates

9. We can demonstrate few case studies in selected production environments through public-private partnership (may be hooking up with few corporate fertilizer/pesticides/seed companies with ministry of agriculture)

regards

Some very good points Dr  Kalra  elaborating the issues so l relevant to on-going discussion.  Unfortunately , most of the practices are being adopted , still find no visible improvements in productivity emerging through  small and marginal farmers..?

 Dr. Kalra and Dr. Anoop, good information. You will appreciate that the Indian experience with small and marginal farmers in making choice of crops is different. The small and marginal farmers allocate larger proportion of their cultivated land to high value crops like fruits, and vegetables ; small and marginal farmers seem to have comparative advantage in growing vegetables than fruits because of quick returns in the former;  small and marginal farmers allocate larger proportion of rice and wheat than other farmers; small and marginal farmers allocate lower proportion of land to pulses and oil seeds. In terms of production, small and marginal farmers also make larger contribution to the production of high value crops.

How does these concepts relating small and marginal farmers apply elsewhere. For example, farmers of African countries versus farmers of American countries ? 

Situation is different in different countries, in American countries land holdings are large. In Africa also we have mix, small and marginal farmers also exist. In terms of production, small and marginal farmers also make larger contribution to the production of high value crops. Small farmers contribute to both diversification and food security.  Some of common issues faced by small-marginal farmers are,  imperfect markets for inputs/product leading to smaller value realizations; absence of access to credit markets.

Dr Malhotra,..here is a comprehensive article on SMALL FARM RESEARCH AND DEVELOMENT IMPLICATIONS by Ghebremedhin and Johnson (1989) published in Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics,  pp 45-72)  . An excelelnt nalysis on various issues of small and marginal farmers...Here are certain issues need to be addressed i  the context of small farm and farmers as well...

There  is a need to analyse mall farmers socio-economical, psychological, economical, ecological , inventory of resource capacity, distributive impacts of public policy , data on ownership of farm assets, conventional and alternative marketing channels, development of rural enterprises to create alternative additional income, special category research grants from Govts to address the issues concerning small and marginal farmers , since most of the technologies are developed addressing only the large farms and farmers . I think , Dr Reddy was very right in addressing this  issue few days back , he was very candid on this issue. 

Please find below a PDF for further reading ...

Friends , please find enclose here below an excelelnt article by Dr S. Mahendra Dev entitled SMALL FARMERS IN INDIA: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES , worth reading it ..

There are many issues and challenges for small holding agriculture in India. NSS Farmers’ survey of 2003 brought out many issues relating to small and marginal farmers. Based on this Survey, NCEUS (2008) says that “some of the general issues that confront marginal-small farmers as agriculturalists are: imperfect markets for inputs/product leading to smaller value realizations; absence of access to credit markets or imperfect credit markets leading to suboptimal investment decisions or input applications; poor human resource base; smaller access to suitable extension services restricting suitable decisions regarding cultivation practices and technological know-how; poorer access to ‘public goods’ such as public irrigation, command area development, electricity grids; greater negative externalities from poor quality land and water management, etc” (p.7). This sub-section discusses some of the key issues and challenges relating to small holding agriculture.

PDF enclosed for further reading..

It is true marketing aspect is weak. But with launch of E NAM by Government, this aspect is picking up to address marketing problems. E platform of marketing shall bring transparency and will be farmers friendly.

Dr Malhotra and friends....

Marginal Farmers, a review of literature : World Concerns .......

Concern Worldwide commissioned a review of literature relating to policy constraints facing marginal farmers as part of its Unheard Voices campaign. Concern’s aim was to review literature relating to marginal farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and investigate policy options currently being discussed for moving these households out of poverty. Development aid to agriculture has declined over the past 30 years. The current awareness by governments of the importance of food policy creates an important opportunity to direct attention to this group of producers with potential positive outcomes forrural poverty reduction and urban food supply.

Defining marginal farmers:  We define marginal farmers as those who are ‘farming yet hungry’. These are people for whom farming is a major livelihood activity,yet who have insufficient assets to produce a surplus from their agricultural activities and whose non-farm activities are insufficiently reliable or remunerative for them to rely on market purchases for adequate food intake. This group, distant fromcentres of power and influence, has long suffered neglect by policy makers.

Excellent PDF enclosed for further reading ...

It is interesting to know that the economic size of farms is classified depending of the country. For example, a small farm in Romania is economically smaller than a small farm in Germany.

A common classification in France is :

small farm : < 25 000 € standard gross margin / year

medium farm : 25 000 - 100 000 € standard gross margin / year

large farm : > 100 000 € standard gross margin / year

Dr Malhotra and other colleagues, here is a document entitled  SNALL FARMERS IN INDIS ; CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES  by Dr S. Mahendra Dev ( PDF enclosed for further reading ): There are certain issues , yet deserve to be addressed , which include: green revolution and small farmers, food grain management , dairy cooperatives, water management issues, creation of self help group and group approach,  institutional innovations , right -based approach..etc..must read article.. 

Dear Anoop. Thanks for links. It is interesting small and marginal farmers definition changes from country to country and region to region. But set of approaches to be followed will be same. We can choose from the basket as per need and suitability.

 Good findings Anoop. It is an interesting paper you linked.   It also provides lessons from the experience of India on small holding agriculture for other countries.

Thanks Dr Malhotra...An example of economic analysis of small farmers versus marginal farmers... A case study of Punjab fro better understanding...

Abstrcat ;The economic analysis of crop production and dairy farming has been reported for marginal and small farmers in Punjab for the year 2003-04. It has been found that a majority of the farm householdsare not able to meet their requirements from their income from crops and dairy farming. Further dairyfarming has emerged as a major allied enterprise for supplementing the income of marginal and smal lfarmers in Punjab. Income from off-farm sources has been identified another important factor contributing significantly to the disposable income of these farm households. The study has suggestedto further exploit the potential of off-farm sources towards meeting the domestic expenditure. Also,the technical efficiency of crops and dairy farming should be improved to provide more income to farmers. ( Source :  Mandeep Singh and Joshi, Agricultural Economics Research Review Vol. 21 July-December 2008 pp 251-257) 

Good economic analysis. We really need to advocate for farming system approach for adoption by small and marginal farmers for more income.

Contract farming involves agricultural production based on an agreement between a corporation and the farmer for production and supply of agreed quantities of a product meeting certain quality standards. However, contract farming arrangements tend to exclude small producers and in many instances have benefited the buyers at the expense of the producers. The other approach is the facilitation of collective action by small and marginal farmers. Agricultural cooperatives, formed under the Co-operative Credit Societies Act, 1904, has long been the dominant form of farmer collectives; however, the experience with  cooperatives point to many limitations that prevent effective collective action. Hence the Indian government has been promoting a new form of collectives called Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to address the challenges faced by the small and marginal farmers, particularly those to do with enhanced access to investments, technological advancements, and efficient inputs and markets.

Nice feedback Dr Malhotra....

Should agricultural development efforts emphasise small or large farms? In terms of

efficiency, small farms typically make intensive use of land by using much labour — since the costs of supervision of household labour are low. Self-provisioning saves costs of marketing. Large farms, on the other hand, have lower costs when transacting with the outside world in procuring inputs, marketing produce, and accessing credit. As regards equity and poverty reduction, small farms are preferred to large. Smallholdings are typically operated by poor people who use much labour, both from their own households and of their (equally or more) poor neighbours. Moreover, when small farm households spend their incomes, they tend to spend this on locally-produced goods and services, thereby stimulating the rural non-farm economy and creating additional jobs. The changes reviewed above affect both small and large farms, and more or less equally. But other developments may pose more severe challenges for smallholdings. Where new technologies require more capital inputs, mechanisation, or high levels of education, thesemay disadvantage smaller farms..

Some PDFs are enclosed for further reading...