Non-farm participation: a strategy to make small and marginal land holdings viable

The rural non-farm sector plays an important role in stabilizing agricultural production and relax liquidity constraints. Keeping in view this, the study was conducted in three districts of Karnataka to analyze the impact of non-farm activities on capital formation and agricultural revenue. Multistage random sampling method was employed to collect the primary data by using pre-structured schedule. Among the farmers who engaged in farming with non-farm activities (NFA) were mostly marginal farmers. The results revealed that if the farm household adopts farming along with NFA their capital formation increases by 65.33 units implying the positive impact of non-farm activities on capital formation in farming. The average annual farm income of marginal farmers was considerably more (0.41 lakhs) under farming with NFA category than farming alone (0.07 lakhs) due to participation in non-farm activities which creates additional income favouring the farmers to invest in farm activities. These findings evinced that non-farm participation is a complement for agricultural production than a substitute, especially for the marginal farmers. Hence, it is suggested to encourage non-farm activities in rural areas to uplift their livelihood and alleviate poverty.