Land Reforms and Rural Development

The book contains twenty-five papers on the broad theme of land reforms and rural development. The papers have been arranged in four sections dealing respectively with the themes of land reforms, rural development and poverty, rural workforce and structural change and rural employment. The first part of the book includes seven papers on land reforms, which are a major instrument of transforming agriculture and removing rural poverty. The papers make a critical assessment of land reforms and their impact on agricultural growth and rural poverty. Farmers view on various land reforms have been presented and an agenda of land reforms for equity and growth is presented in the present context. Part 2 of the volume contains seven papers on rural development and poverty. The papers trace various dimensions of rural transformation over time and examine trends in consumption and poverty levels. The correlates of poverty have been discussed. The working of Integrated Rural Development Programme has been examined through a field study. The nature, extent and characteristics of the rural informal credit markets have been discussed based on a review of literature. This is supported by a discussion of the problems faced by farmers in obtaining institutional credit through empirical studies. Part 3 of the volume contains seven papers highlighting changes in the rural workforce and structural change over time. The determinants of changes in the work force have been analysed using regression analysis. The relationship between land distribution, agricultural growth and rural poverty is examined. The dynamics of rural non-farm sector is highlighted based on a primary survey. The fourth and final part of the volume contains three papers on the rural employment situation. The papers describe trends in rural and agricultural employment and unemployment over time and suggests strategies of development that ensures adequate growth of employment as well as income.…