Analysis of income distribution among marginal and small farmers in Kaithal district of Haryana

The objective of the present paper is to analyze the income pattern of the marginal and small farmers in Kaithal district of Haryana. For the purpose of the present study, one village has been selected from each development block and by taking 20 per cent proportion; total 173 households have been surveyed. Out of 173 selected households, 86 belong to marginal farm-size category and 87 belong to small farm-size category. The study has concluded that average household income and per capita income is directly related with the agricultural productivity and farm-size. The bottom 10 per cent farm households share only 3.24 per cent of the total income earned by all the sampled farm households. On the other hand, the top 10 per cent farm households appropriate 21.46 per cent of the total income of the all sampled farm households. This is about 7 times the income shared by the bottom 10 per cent farm households. The marginal and small farmers try to maintain a minimum level of consumption whether they can afford it or not. To overcome this problem, income of the marginal and small farmers needs to be increased through different measures.