Depeasantization: A study of Nature, Magnitude and Possession of Land in Pulwama District of Kashmir Valley (India) Dr Hussain Manzoor*, Warr Mohd Anzar** *Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar **Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar Online published on 27 September, 2019. Abstract Depeasantization represents a specific form of deagrarinization in which peasants lose their economic capacity, social coherence and demographically shrink in size. Over the last several decades, the rural Kashmir has experienced the process of depeasantization where peasants have experienced an erosion, in the agrarian way of life. A significant number of peasants have sold a part of land or full land in order to fulfill the demands of everyday life like construction of new house/s, buying a new vehicle, expenditure on marriage, to get a new furniture. Due to fragmentation of land into small income landholdings and also low yield of crops and lack of market facilities the land has become unproductive at many rural areas the land has been taken by government for developmental projects initiated by the state and central government. This is evident from the various studies carried out in the area of depeasantization studies. Based on a sample of 250 respondents and using an intensive approach through the case study method and interview schedule, the study has been carried out in the rural areas of Pulwama district of the Kashmir valley and aimed to highlight the nature and magnitude of depeasantization in the study area. The study showed that the most of the land has been sold by the marginal and small peasants, who find it increasingly hard to sustain on farming and are getting pushed out from the agricultural sector. Top Keywords Depeasantization, nature, magnitude, possession of land, reasons, Pulwamadistrict, Kashmir. Top |