Marginal farmers and agricultural labourers development agencies 1973 : a field study

A field study on the operations of selected Small Farmers Development Agencies (SFDAs) in India was published by the Reserve Bank of India in November 1975. This Report presents a similar study of the operations of selected Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers Development Agencies (MFALDAS). These two Agencies formed an integral part of the strategy for eco nomic betterment of the weaker sections in rural areas. According to the All India Report on Agricultural Census, 1971, 32.9 per cent of agricultural holdings. (covering 3.5 per cent of the net cultivated area) were below 0.5 hectare each, 17.7 per cent of the holdings (covering 5.9 per cent of the area) ranged from 0.5 to 1 hectare and 19.1 per cent of the holdings (covering 12.3 per cent of the area) ranged from 1 to 2 hectares. Thus, about 70 per cent of the holdings covering about 21 per cent of the net cultivated area constituted small and marginal holdings.

At the time of the field study, i.e., during the first half of 1974, there were 46 SFDAs and 41 MFALDAs spread throughout the country. While the SFDA has been designed to promote the viability of potentially viable small farmers, the latter is concerned with the non-viable marginal farmers and agricultural labourers with the objective of increasing their employment opportunities and
improving their income levels. The identity of the objectives of these Agencies
and the practical difficulties involved in a clear demarcation of the respective segments of the rural community (which these institutions sought to serve), perhaps explain, among other things, their merger and reconstitution recently into a unified Agency called Small Farmers Development Agency, which currently covers 160 districts.

The present Study (as was the case with the earlier one on SFDAs) was under taken, at the instance of the Government of India, in the Economic Department (Division of Field Surveys) of the Reserve Bank of India. It covers the opera tions of 13 selected MFALDAS spread over thirteen States with the calendar year 1973 as the period of reference, The effective operational period of most of the Agencies, at the time the field study was conducted, had not been more than two to three years and hence, the full impact of their operations on the beneficiary households was only beginning to be felt. All the same, it was observed that the Agencies held out promise of making a favourable impact on the economy of marginal farmers and agricultural labourers in improving their employment and income levels. Significant progress was witnessed in regard to induction of identi fied persons into the co-operative fold and in the implementation of minor irriga tion and dairy schemes, as well as rural works programmes. Quickening in the pace of progress calls for measures in several areas. Strengthening of the rural credit structure, sustained co-operation among all the agencies connected with rural development, and removal of crucial deficiencies in rural infra-structure will go a long way in facilitating increased flow of institutional finance for implementation of schemes sponsored by the Agencies and thus help in achieving their objectives.

We take this opportunity to express our thanks to the various State Govern ments, district officials of the concerned departments, co-operative credit institu tions and branches of commercial banks in the selected districts and all the res pondents in the villages for their help and co-operation in the conduct of the Survey.