Agricultural Development and Rural Labour

This book studies the impact of agricultural growth on employment prospects, wage rates, income levels and consumption patters of noncultivating rural labour households in a green revolution region of India i.e. Punjab and Haryana. It empirically verifies the gains of agricultural growth that have percolated down to agricultural wage labour and other noncultivating households. The findings are based on a very comprehensive primary survey of 2328 wage labour and other noncultivating households spread over more than 650 villages representing all the districts of the two states. The study shows that the type of agricultural growth taking place in Punjab and Haryana (accompanied by large scale mechanisation of most farm operations) cannot solve the problem of unemployment prevailing among wage laboure No doubt, the wages of both attached and casual labourer are generally higher in more developed than in less developed districts. Consequently, the per capita income of wage labour as well as of other noncultivating households in Punjab is fifteen to sixteen per cent higher than their counterparts in Haryana. Yet even in this heartland of India’s green revolution, about half the wage labour households are living below the poverty line. The percentage of households below the poverty line is low in agriculturally more developed districts and viceversa The author argues that while accelerated agricultural growth even within the existing setup does help to some extent in alleviating the problem of absolute poverty prevailing among rural wage labourers, yet agricultural development alone cannot solve the problem of unemployment and rural poverty. The book also explodes several other myths including the much talked about nexus between poverty and unemployment. It is likely to prove useful both for researchers and policymakers interested in India’s rural scene.