ABSTRACT
Like many other states in India, Bihar’s agrarian structure is characterised by the dominance of marginal farmers cultivating less than one hectare of land (more than 90 percent of operational holdings). This chapter focuses on Bihar’s agriculture from the perspective of these marginal farmers and argues that facilitating agriculture as a vocation for them effectively plays the role of social security in the face of the increasing vulnerability of available employment from non-agricultural sources. We start with a discussion of recent policy literature on agriculture in Bihar, including arguments for and against land reforms as the basis of inclusive agricultural development. Next, we provide a brief overview of agricultural production in Bihar using the latest available data sources. Special attention is drawn to the distribution of land and conditions of economic reproduction for marginal farmers, like their dependence on agricultural income and participation in land tenancy markets. The final section builds on the earlier sections to advocate a policy framework geared towards protecting and facilitating the operations of marginal farmers in the state. The critical importance of small-holder agriculture is highlighted in anchoring a multi-pronged livelihood strategy for a large section of the poor. The insurance provided by agriculture against absolute destitution is illustrated using the case of reverse migration during the recent COVID pandemic. Among the specific policy instruments to ensure the viability of marginal agriculture, we underscore the importance of ‘feasible tenancy reforms’, which offer more possibilities in comparison to radical land redistribution at the current political-economic juncture.
