E-Paper
Good Earth, Poor Yield
In spite of having one of India's most fertile tracts of land, Bihar's productivity is much less than most other states.
Bihar has one of India's most fertile tracts of land. Nearly three-fourths of its population also depends on agriculture for survival. Yet the productivity of the state is below the national average, and much lower than green revolution states like Punjab and Haryana.
Centuries-old mores
The agricultural set-up remains mired in centuries-old mores. Land reforms have not been implemented effectively. Even the survey of agricultural land has not been completed. Most farmers own sets of separate plots, sometimes numbering as many as 20 - making it impossible for them to employ uniform farming techniques on their entire holding.
Chakbandi, or giving compact blocks of land to farmers in exchange for their dispersed holdings, was started but not finished. "It was be stopped after rich and influential farmers started using it to replace their barren plots with chaks of fertile land owned by poorer farmers," says Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. Nonetheless, the failure of this process has contributed significantly to Bihar's poverty.
Land ceiling laws have not been implemented. While a handful of landlords own hundreds of acres, the average size of landholding across the state stands at less than 1 hectare. "Even today, some 1.4 million acres of land is under illegal possession of landlords and mahants. Between 85 per cent and 90 per cent of rural households own less than five acres each (if at all)," says social researcher Shishir Kumar Jha.
As a result, Bihar has a large number of rural poor. Some 96 per cent of farmers working on 68 per cent of land operate at subsistence or below subsistence level.
No modernisation
A Planning Commission survey two years ago found that nearly half the farmers still use bullock carts to plough lands. Most of those (over 80 per cent) who use tractors rent it from wealthy landlords at exorbitant charges (Rs 75 per hour or thereabouts). Use of other mechanised means, like harvesters and thrashers, is still lower.
Irrigation facilities are scarce. While one-third of villages in south Bihar have canals, only one in every eight has a canal in the north. Other sources of irrigation, like wells, borings and tube wells, are also few.
All these factors contribute to lowering the aggregate yield. The average land yield in Bihar even today is just 1,679 kg per hectare, lower than the national average of 1,739 kg and much lower than Punjab's 4,040 kg and Haryana's 3,127 kg per hectare.
Only about 10 per cent of the yield is non-foodgrain, implying that Bihar's agricultural economy is still subsistence, or even below subsistence (given the low yield).
There are hardly any village "hats" and bazaars for the sale of agricultural produce. Poor transportation means that farmers cannot take their crops to towns and cities themselves. They are forced to sell it to traders at much lower than market price.
Exploitation
Exploitation of agricultural labourers is high. Cultivators are supposed to be paid at least one "bojha" (bundle) for every 10 bojhas of harvested grain (which in itself is exploitative). Mostly, they are paid one bundle for every 12. Women labourers are sometimes paid even less.
Natural factors also take a heavy toll on agriculture. While seven districts out of 37 suffer from drought every year, 27 others get flooded by rains and overflow of rivers. Roughly 56.5 per cent of flood affected people in India live in Bihar, estimates the Planning Commission.
Not only do floods destroy crops, they also deteriorate the quality of land through deposition of sand and silt. According to Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad, "Floods cause a damage of Rs 1,200-1,500 crore every year in the state."
