Poverty amongst agricultural labour, marginal and small farmers in central Punjab

The present study was undertaken to examine the extent of poverty its determinants amongst agricultural labour, marginal and small farmers in central Punjab. The data were collected from 120 households selected from Amritsar and Ludhiana districts. The study revealed that incidence of poverty was more in agricultural labour category i.e. 56 per cent of the total sampled agricultural labourers followed by marginal farm category i.e. 9.30 per cent of sampled marginal farmers. None of the small farmer was-found to be living below the poverty line. The proportion of households that were deficit was more in-agricultural labour category i.e. 60 per cent of sampled agricultural labour due to their low incomes. In-small farm category the proportion of deficit households was more as compared to marginal farm category-on account of higher expenditure on non-food items and social ceremonies. The study suggested that there is a need to create more employment opportunities as well as awareness programs to control the family size and to rationalize household expenditure especially on non-food items and social ceremonies which can enhance the surpluses of farming families.