Improving Economic Viability of Small and Marginal Landholders through Vegetable Cultivationin Himachal Pradesh

摘要

Though Himachal Pradesh has come to be recognised as an epitome of planned development throughout the country, yet agriculture and allied activities continue to be the mainstay of a majority of the population as these provide direct sustenance to morethan sixty per cent of the population. These activities contribute around 16.0 per cent to the gross state domestic product. The agriculture in the state is dominated by the small and marginal landholders. At present there are 9.14 lakh total land holdings in the state with an average holding of 1.10 hectare. The small and marginal farmers with a landholding of up to 2.0 hectare account for 86.4 per cent of total peasantry in the state. Their share in the total operated area is 50.8 per cent. These holdings are highly scattered and fragmented and as such defy economies of scale and any serious efforts of farm mechanisation. In addition, the dependence of agriculture on nature in the state is very high as about 81 per cent of the cultivated area is rainfed and about 80 per cent of the total rainfall or s during the monsoon period of June to September. This scenario of dwindling holding size, over dependence on nature and restricted scope of mechanisation make traditional agriculture unviable in thishilly state. Notwithstanding above scenario, agriculture in the state has witnessed umpteen changes during the past two decades. Most important of these changes is the transformation of agriculture towards the vegetable based diversification in the state.