Dynamics of human labour employment at farm households in Punjab

The present study was undertaken to examine the overtime changes in human labour employment at farm household in Punjab. To achieve the objective, farm level data at two points of time viz. 2004-05 and 2018-19 collected under ‘Comprehensive Scheme for Studying the Cost of Principle Crops in Punjab’ were analyzed. It was observed that in Punjab, the human labour use, on an average, farm household decreased by about 35 percent over the study period from 5798 man hours during 2004-05 to 3749 man hours for 2018-19. The respective decline in crop cultivation and livestock enterprise during this period was about 31 per cent 40 per cent respectively. The results of production function found that the size of operational holding, number of-livestock, tractor use and Simpson’s Index were having positive and significant effect on employment in Punjab households during both of the study years. The wage rate had negative and significant effect on human labour-employment during both the study years. The study indicated that potential of agriculture sector for labour absorption in the state has been almost fully exploited.