Technology Infusion in Agriculture in India and the Eradication of Poverty: Between the devil and the deep sea?

Abstract

As per the latest Agricultural Census in India, the share of small and marginal holdings in the country has risen to 86.21 per cent of total operational holding in 2015-16 as against 84.97 per cent in 2010-11. On the other hand, the share of semi-medium and medium operational holdings in total land holdings dropped from 14.29 per cent to 13.22 per cent, while that of large holding fell from 0.71 per cent in 2010-11 to 0.57 per cent in 2015-16. This means the number of small holdings in the country has grown in five years, due to fragmentation of land, while that of medium and large holdings have gone down. With increasing fragmentation of land and small holding size, technology infusion in agriculture is a big challenge. Added to this is the problem of poverty among the poor farmers. This paper argues that perhaps the only way out from such a scenario is investment in education and skill formation among farmers as also research and development so that farmers can adapt to new technology to generate surplus. Else, neither can technology be infused nor can poverty be eradicated from the country and the Government must run between the devil and the deep sea.