Small Farmer Production Systems

The small and marginal farmers account for more than 70% of farm holdings. Continuously declining farm size gives rise to concerns for the very sustainability of the small farm. With increased per capita income, there is a change in agrarian scenario... Read more

The small and marginal farmers account for more than 70% of farm holdings. Continuously declining farm size gives rise to concerns for the very sustainability of the small farm. With increased per capita income, there is a change in agrarian scenario with occupational migration and diversified economy. Many of the advantages of small holders reduce as countries develop and become more efficient to have progressively large and more mechanized farms. The success or failure of the small farms is determined strongly by the policy environment and access of farmers to inputs and information. Increasing fragmentation of land, natural resource degradation, resource -use ef?ciency including energy, access to quality inputs, post-harvest management, transformation from farmer to agripreneur, technology dissemination, linking farmers with markets and enabling policy framework, are the aspects to be considered for enhancing small farmers' income as well as Accordingly, the R&D approaches and policy support in agriculture need to be redesigned so that the small farmers are assured pro?tability with sustainability.This publication gives a deep insight into different challenges involved in small farmer production systems and the way forward to make the production system sustainable in long run. Less