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Do farmers really like farming? Indian farmers in transition

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  • Bina Agarwal
  • Ankush Agrawal

Abstract

Few studies of agrarian transition examine what farmers themselves feel about farming. Are they cultivating out of choice or a lack of options? What distinguishes farmers who like farming from those who do not: their personal/household characteristics and endowments? The local ecology and regional economy? Or a mix of these and other factors? Understanding farmer satisfaction is important not only for assessing citizen wellbeing but also for agricultural productivity, since occupational satisfaction can affect a farmer’s incentive to invest and reveal production constraints. Using a unique all-India data-set which asked farmers, ‘Do you like farming?’ this paper provides answers and policy pointers, contributing a little-studied dimension to debates on the smallholder’s future and subjective wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Bina Agarwal & Ankush Agrawal, 2017. "Do farmers really like farming? Indian farmers in transition," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 460-478, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:oxdevs:v:45:y:2017:i:4:p:460-478
    DOI: 10.1080/13600818.2017.1283010
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    5. A. Narayanamoorthy & K. S. Sujitha, 2022. "Are the Farmer Households Becoming Agricultural Labour Households in India? An Analysis of State-Wise SAS Data," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(3), pages 643-665, September.
    6. Islam, Md. Mofakkarul & Sarker, Md. Asaduzzaman & Al Mamun, Md. Abdullah & Mamun-ur-Rashid, Md. & Roy, Debashis, 2021. "Stepping Up versus Stepping Out: On the outcomes and drivers of two alternative climate change adaptation strategies of smallholders," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    7. Bino Paul & Unmesh Patnaik & Subash Sasidharan & Kamal Kumar Murari & Chandra Sekhar Bahinipati, 2022. "Fertilizer Use, Value, and Knowledge Capital: A Case of Indian Farming," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    8. Sharada Srinivasan & Sudha Narayanan, 2020. "With a little help: Young women farmer experiences in India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2020-042, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    9. Kumar Bahadur Darjee & Prem Raj Neupane & Michael Köhl, 2023. "Proactive Adaptation Responses by Vulnerable Communities to Climate Change Impacts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-30, July.
    10. Varun Kumar Das, 2018. "Looking Beyond the Farm and Household: Determinants of On-farm Diversification in India," Working Papers id:12945, eSocialSciences.
    11. Cock, James & Prager, Steven & Meinke, Holger & Echeverria, Ruben, 2022. "Labour productivity: The forgotten yield gap," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    12. A. R. Vasavi, 2019. "The Displaced Threshing Yard: Involutions of the Rural," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 24(1), pages 31-54, June.
    13. Jindřich Špička & Petr Dereník, 2021. "How opportunity costs change the view on the viability of farms? Empirical evidence from the EU," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 67(2), pages 41-50.
    14. Etienne Breton, 2019. "Modernization and Household Composition in India, 1983–2009," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(4), pages 739-766, December.
    15. Varun Kumar Das, 2018. "Looking beyond the farm and household: Determinants of on-farm diversification in India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2018-023, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    16. Sudha Narayanan & Sharada Srinivasan, 2020. "No country for young women farmers: A situation analysis for India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2020-041, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    17. Matthys, Marie-Luise & Acharya, Sushant & Khatri, Sanjaya, 2021. "“Before cardamom, we used to face hardship”: Analyzing agricultural commercialization effects in Nepal through a local concept of the Good Life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    18. Chandra Sekhar Bahinipati & Vijay Kumar & P. K. Viswanathan, 2021. "An evidence-based systematic review on farmers’ adaptation strategies in India," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(2), pages 399-418, April.
    19. Dimitra G. Papadopoulou & Afroditi Papadaki-Klavdianou & Anastasios Michailidis & Maria Partalidou, 2019. "The level of job satisfaction of young farmers subsidized by European rural measures: evidence from Northern Greece," Asian Journal of Agriculture and rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(2), pages 147-163, December.
    20. Radha R. Ashrit, 2023. "Estimation of technical efficiency of Indian farms for major crops during 2013–2014 and 2017–2018: a stochastic Frontier production approach," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 1-32, February.
    21. Xiuling Ding & Qian Lu & Lipeng Li & Apurbo Sarkar & Hua Li, 2022. "Evaluating the Impact of Institutional Performance and Government Trust on Farmers’ Subjective Well-Being: A Case of Urban–Rural Welfare Gap Perception and Family Economic Status in Shaanxi, Sichuan a," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.

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