Project Directorate for Cropping Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut - 250 110, Uttar Pradesh.
The adoption of agricultural diversification by marginal farmholders in western Uttar Pradesh has been studied by selecting districts of Bagpat as a high productivity and Ghaziabad as a low productivity district. The study pertains to 57 marginal farmers (30 livestock-based and 27 sugarcane-based) of the area out of 197 farmers interviewed randomly during the agricultural year 2004–2005. The analysis has revealed that livestock farm households get employment for 243 human-days per year compared to 205 humandays per year by sugarcane households. Education index has shown that members of sugarcane households were more educated than those of livestock households. The income from livestock has been found as a major (52%) source of income. Both the categories of farmers earn less than Rs 45000/- per year from the farm business as a whole, which is not sufficient for household security. The vegetable crops have been found higher paying than other farm enterprises. However, the net returns have been found far below the potential returns. There is a large scope in enhancing income through diversification towards vegetables. Since cost on insecticides and pesticides has been found to constitute only about 1 per cent of the total cost, the farm produce of marginal farmers is almost a ‘organic product’. By and large, crop diversification, farm size, education and employment have been reported strong variables affecting farm diversification. Fragmentations and subdivisions of landholdings, scarcities of labour, low yield of local seeds, less reliable market, scarcity of owned-fund and exogenous factors like, dependence on natural resources, global warming, non-availability of good quality seeds (variety and breeds) and shades for animals, poultry, etc. have been found the major constraints in following the integrated farming system.
