Agricultural Labour Shortage in Rural Areas of Bundelkhand Region, Uttar Pradesh: Observations from the Field

Since labour is a crucial factor for agriculture, this study has been conducted in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh to find the causes, consequences and solutions of labour shortage in agriculture, using primary data. It has been observed that an important reason for labour shortage is rural out-migration. There are some other factors also like MGNREGA which are responsible for non-availability of labour in the rural area. The main consequences of the labour shortage in agriculture are the delay in field operations, change in cropping pattern, degradation of quality of products and low market price. Leasing-out of land, no compost application in the field, higher wage rate, and more involvement of family labour in agriculture are the other consequences observed in the study. It has been found that farmers suffer because of labour shortage during peak period of agricultural operations (field preparation to harvesting to post-harvest). To overcome labour shortage in the agriculture, farmers have adopted such strategies as obtaining labour from outside the village, giving contract for farm work (theka par kaam), and share-farming.