Dynamics of Agricultural Land Holdings and Production Performance: An Inter-State Analysis Kaur Amandeep*, Kataria Poonam Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004 *Corresponding author's email: randhawa.amandeepkaur@ymail.com
JELCodes: Q1, Q10, Q15, Q24, O13 Online published on 20 June, 2017. Abstract The present study has been conducted to bring forth the trends in agricultural production performance of India with reference of agricultural land holdings. The study based on secondary data culled from various published sources for the time frame, 1990–91 to the latest available, has been narrowed down to India's fifteen major agricultural states. Category wise analysis of land holdings highlighted the dominance of marginal holdings all through the study periods reflecting mounting population pressure on limited land resource which has led to fragmentation of land holdings, making them economically unviable for cultivation. The state of Punjab showed a peculiarity in terms of change of proportion of different land holding categories in total holdings. The share of semi-medium and medium holdings has increased from 49.3 per cent in 1990–91 to 59.3 per cent in 2010–11, as a result of fall in the share of marginal and small holdings, from 44.8 per cent to 34.0 per cent during the same period, attributing primarily to the increasing trend of leasing in by marginal and small farmers. The increase in the size of operational holdings helps them reap the advantages of economies of scale. NSDP from agriculture and allied figures, (NSDP) when seen in absolute terms, highlighted that the supremacy of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra during 2012–13. The true picture came to the forefront when seen in reference to NSDPA per operational holding. The agricultural productivity measured through NSDPA per operational holding revealed that Punjab maintained its top most rank throughout the study period and it accounted for  602601 per operational holding during 2010–11. Punjab was followed by Haryana (333932) and Himachal Pradesh (187362). Correlation analysis between agricultural area operated and production performance parameters viz., NSDP from agriculture and allied, carried out for five points of time: 1990–91, 1995–96, 2000–01, 2005–06 and 2010–11, revealed a high degree of correlation. Area operated and NSDP from agriculture and allied were found to highly correlated (0.72) for the period 1990–91 less correlated (0.61) during the period 2000–01. High degree of correlation between agricultural area operated and production performance parameters highlights that area operated could work as a key factor to reap more production in agriculture sector. Top Keywords Agriculture, India, operational holdings, performance, Punjab. Top |