Small Farming In Central India

Farming is the first known-and-practiced profession of human species on earth. Tilling of soil and raising of crops became the first revolution of mankind in recorded history. In the modern age agriculture supplies raw. Material such as cotton, jute, sugarcane, etc. and ensures food grains and horticultural crops to a number of agro based industries.

Major partners of agricultural production in Indian economy are none else than the small farmers. They constitute the biggest ever class of people engaged in a particular operation throughout India in rural areas. Madhya Pradesh is one of the less-developed states in the Union of India. A study of its economy with particular reference to its less privileged farming community will help understand better the conditions of its counterpart in the neighbouring states also.

For a general study of small and marginal farmers in the State as it has been attempted in the present work, the owners of a particulars size of land holdings and other parameters like extent of irrigation, level of annual income, etc. have been considered secondarily.

Sri P.K. Raghava Raja is a high official in the administrative service of Madhya Pradesh. Besides his abilities as an administrator, Sri Raghavan has interest in a vast range of academic subjects. He has contributed a num ber of articles on socio-economic topics in research journals and news papers. His article "Self-employment in Rural Areas and Cenamatography" has earned him great ac claim among scholars. Jwara, a collection of research articles has been mostly edited by him. His published work is Sagar Virasat aur Vikas (1993).

'Gratitude' is too small a word to express sincere thanks to Dr. P.D. Hajela, Prof. Emeritus under whose guidance a thesis entitled "Economics of Small and Marginal Farmers in Madhya Pradesh" was prepared and submitted by me for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Social Science of Rani Durgawati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur. The present book is entirely based on the said thesis under the title "Small Farming in Central India."

I wish to thank Shri Jagatpathi, I.A.S. (Retd.), the then Chief Secretary to the Government of Madhya Pradesh who suggested specifically the topic of small and marginal farmers for a detailed investigation and study. I am grateful to Rani Durgawati Vishwavidyalaya for having permitted me to publish the thesis in the form of a book.

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