Agricultural Economics Research Review

This study has looked into the agrarian distress in India through farmers’ income across farm-sizes and major states over one decade from 2002–03 to 2012–13 using NSSO's Situational Assessment Survey data. The study aimed at funding whether the net returns from farming have declined during the period 2002–03 to 2012–13 and identifying the factors, empirically, that explain the variations in farmers’ income. The study has revealed that between 2002–03 and 2012–13, the net returns from crop cultivation have increased but growth rate is as low as 3.5 per cent per year. Disparities in income growth across farm-sizes and states are also quite evident. Some of the factors attributing to these variations are regional differences, social groups, principal source of income, class-size of landholding, access to technical advice, literacy status of household-head, household size, farm assets, loan outstanding and irrigated land. The study has argued that states with less geographical advantages should get more attention to reduce disparities in terms of income and expenditure. The government can help the farmers in increasing their income by enhancing access to irrigation, technology, and policies and by encouraging them to diversify towards high-value crops. This will help in reducing various risks being faced in crop cultivation.