Shrinking Landholdings and Corporate Acquisition: Can Small Farmers Survive?

At the time of Independence, the average per capita agricultural landholding in India was approximately 2.23 hectares.

Today, in 2026, this has shrunk to less than a mere 1.08 hectares!

According to the Agriculture Census, more than 86 per cent of India’s farmers now fall into the category of ‘Small and Marginal Farmers’. That is, they possess 1 to 2 acres of land or even less.

Go to the villages and see for yourself. Four medhs [earthen boundary bunds] have sliced through what used to be a single field. Brothers are brandishing lathis against each other over a mere hand-span of land, and lawsuits are dragging on in the courts.

The question is: when a parcel of land becomes so small that even a modern combine harvester or tractor cannot turn in it properly, how can such farming sustain a family’s livelihood for the entire year?

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Fragmented Holdings and the Cost Explosion

In the ninth chapter of his book ‘Ujadti Kheti, Ujadte Gaon’ (Ravaged Farms, Ruined Villages), author N. Singh presents a scientific and economic analysis of this ‘land fragmentation’ (Fragmentation of Land Holdings).

He explains that the biggest drawback of smallholdings is that the farmer cannot take advantage of ‘economies of scale’ (Economies of Scale).

• If there is a single chak [consolidated plot of land] of 20 bighas, the irrigation and ploughing of the entire field can be handled with one tubewell, one solar pump, and one tractor.
• But when that same land is broken into 20 fragmented plots and scattered in different directions, every farmer has to pay separately for water rent, separately for ploughing charges, and separately for labour.

The result is that the cost of cultivation ends up exceeding the total value of the harvest! The farmer toils day and night, yet when the accounts are settled at the end of the year, he discovers he has fallen even deeper into debt.

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A Bitter Truth from the Book

“This endless fragmentation of land has completely destroyed the farmer’s bargaining power (Bargaining Power). The small farmer can neither purchase affordable fertilisers and seeds at wholesale prices, nor afford the freight to transport his modest harvest to a large city mandi [wholesale agricultural market]. He is forced to sell to local petty middlemen at throwaway prices. Until we turn chakbandi [land consolidation] into an honest national mission and move towards cooperative and collective farming, small landholdings will continue to prove to be the farmer’s graveyard.”
— ‘Ujadti Kheti, Ujadte Gaon’ (Chapter 9)

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What is the Real Solution?

1. Honest and Transparent Land Consolidation (Chakbandi): Conduct a fair, digital chakbandi every 10 years, where a farmer’s scattered plots are consolidated into one place, so that the 5–10% of land wasted on boundary bunds can be saved.
2. Cooperative and Group Farming (Cooperative Farming): Small farmers, without giving up their milkiyat [land ownership], should unite for shared ploughing, shared irrigation, and collective marketing.
3. Shift Towards High-Value Crops (High-Value Crops): Instead of merely growing wheat and paddy on small plots, an integrated model (Integrated Farming System) combining polyhouses, horticulture, mushrooms, medicinal plants, and dairy should be adopted.

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A Thought-Provoking Question (The Book’s Message)

Is self-respect merely about holding onto a piece of paper proving land ownership, even if one’s stomach goes hungry? Or does true wisdom lie in uniting our strength through fresh thinking and cooperation to make farming profitable? To understand this sobering reality, one must read the ninth chapter of the book ‘Ujadti Kheti, Ujadte Gaon’.