HDR, ASSAM 2014 -  96.6 PER CENT FARMERS ARE MARGINAL AND SMALL, 90 PER CENT DO NOT HAVE IRRIGATED LAND

The Human Development Report, Assam 2014 has revealed that 96.6 per cent farmers belong to the category of marginal and small.  according to HDR Assam 2014, 84.3 per cent farmers in Assam have only 7.5 bighas of land per family, and  90 per cent of them do not have irrigation facilities in their agriculture land.

Agriculture supports more than 75 per cent of the population either directly or indirectly providing employment to more than 50 per cent of its total workforce, according to Economic Survey Assam 2015-16.

 DISTRICTS HOUSEHOLD PERCENTAGE OF MARGINAL, SMALL, MEDIUM AND LARGE FARMERS (LAND ACQUIRED IN BIGHAS)

The HDR, Assam 2014 has revealed that 84.3 per cent farmers are marginal with less than 7.5 bighas  of land per family, 12.3 per cent are small farmers having agriculture land between 7.5 bighas and 15 bighas. Only 2.2 per cent are medium farmers having agriculture land between 15 and 21 bighas and only 1.1 per cent farmers have more than 22 bighas of land.

Cachar district has highest number of marginal farmers with 95.1 per cent having less than 7.5 bighas of land, followed by Hailakandi, another district of Barak valley with 94.3 per cent and Kamrup with 91.3.

With 29.8 per cent small farmers, K0krajhar district has the highest number of small farmers followed by Dhemaji with 28.5 per cent.  In all other districts of the state the statistics of small farmers is below 20 per cent.

Kokrajhar district has the highest 15.9 per cent of medium farmers while Dhemaji district has the highest concentration of lar ge farmers with 4.1 per cent.

DISTRICT WISE  PERCENTAGE OF HOUSEHOLDS  WITH NO HOMESTEAD LAND, NO CULTIVABLE LAND AND NOT- IRRIGATED LAND

The HDR, Assam 2014 has also revealed that 89.5 per cent farmers do not have irrigated land.  The number of farmers having no irrigated land is 100  per cent in Dibrugarh district, 99.5 in Tinsukia  districts and 99.1 per cent in Dhemaji district.

According to the report, 48.5 per cent households have no cultivable land.  The number is highest in Nalbari district with 68,8 per cent households not having agriculture land, followed by Dhubri with 65.9 per cent and 63.2 in Karimganj district.

The report has also revealed that 0.8 per cent of total households do not have homestead land.

SPATIAL DIVERSITYWISE   PERCENTAGE OF HOUSEHOLDS  WITH NO HOMESTEAD LAND, NO CULTIVABLE LAND AND NI IRRIGATED LAND

In spatial diversity category the HDR, Assam 2014 has revealed that tea- garden blocks have highest concentration of landless households (1.5 per cent) and households without irrigation ( 98.9 per cent). General blocks recorded the highest percentage of households without agriculture land with 52.4 per cent.

RELIGION-WISE  PERCENTAGE OF HOUSEHOLDS  WITH NO HOMESTEAD LAND, NO CULTIVABLE LAND AND NI IRRIGATED LAND

In the category of religion, the report has revealed that Hindus have the highest 4.1 per cent families without homestead land, Muslims have  the highest percentage of families without cultivable land with 59.3 per cent, and Christians have the highest percentage of households without having irrigated cultivable land with 95.5 per cent.

“Small and Uneconomic holdings of agriculture land naturally impede productivity, growth and income from the sector. In addition, as is evidence from the data, it is found that in all districts, a lack of irrigation is a major constraint in agriculture development in rural areas.  It is found that only one-seventh of the per capita holdings  has access to irrigation facilities.  In addition to the size of the land holdings, the quality of land has also become a prime issue in the state. In many flood affected areas of the state, there are cases of land degradation, caused by sand deposition,”- it says.

The Assam HDR Survey, 2013 covered 39,998 households covering 187,511 individuals in 27 districts, 97 Blocks, 95 urban centres, 1972 villages of the state.

- nezine.com Editorial Bureau