ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: India’s small-holder irrigation is in the grip of an energy-squeeze on top of the general cost-price squeeze that is a source of so much stress in Indian agriculture. Particularly hard hit are marginal farmers and share croppers in eastern India who depend upon pump owners for renting pumps. As pump prices have remained static, the rental rates for pumps have risen in parallel with every rise in the diesel price because of the monopoly power of pump owners at village-level. Pump rentals rise when the diesel price rises but stay static when the diesel prices fall. This paper synthesizes the results of 15 village surveys from West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kerala aimed at investigating the impact of the energy-squeeze and the coping strategies adopted by the small holders.
