Structure of Employment in Agricultural Sector in Andhra Pradesh

This paper has analysed the employment scenario in the agricultural sector in Andhra Pradesh based on the secondary data. The study has observed a slight decrease in the number of cultivators (from about 74.86 lakhs in 1960-61 to about 73.97 lakhs in 2001) and a significant increase in the number of agricultural workers (from 53.36 lakhs to 98.23 lakhs). The trend of subdivisions of landholdings is reflected more evidently in the land operated per cultivator, which has declined gradually from 0.84 ha of net area sown in 1961 to 0.65 ha in 2001. The share of employment in the farm sector which was as high as around 70 per cent in 1971, declined to around 62 per cent in 2001. On the other hand, the share of non-farm employment has registered an increase from around 12 per cent to 17 per cent between 1971 and 2001. At the same time, the percentage of non-workers has consistently increased from 48.13 per cent in 1961 to 54.21 per cent in 2001. Male workforce has been found to dominate the non-farm sector employment. Its share has gone up from around 37 per cent to 50 per cent between 1971 and 1991. In the case of females, on the other hand, the corresponding increase has been from just below 4 per cent in 1971 to around 7 per cent in 1991. However, over the years, the concentration of women workforce has been increasing at a much faster rate than of their male counterparts in the non-farm employment.