Rural Livelihood Pattern of Agricultural Households: Preliminary Evidence from Orissa

Based on the secondary source of information, the paper has analysed income and employment generation, the extent of indebtedness and earnings prevalent among landless labourers and agricultural households in rural Orissa to understand their livelihood patterns. The evidence relating to rural labour households and agricultural labour households shows an explicit overall decline in employment both for male and female labourers. There is also a decline in the average number of earning members per household. Further, preliminary analysis has shown that livelihood options are limited and skewed towards large farmers in the study villages. Differential landholdings, occupational diversification, migratory pattern and agricultural productivity have been found to be the key factors of poverty to deal with livelihood options across category and holding-size of farmers.