Chapter-I: Introduction and Review of Literature
1.6: Agriculture in Assam
Assam is an agrarian economy in the sense that agriculture and allied sector continues to support about three fourth population of the state and providing employment to about 50 percent of the total workforce (out of total 8687123 main workers, 36.13% are cultivators and 10.4% were agricultural labourers in 2011) (Economic Survey, Assam, 2014-15). More than 85 percent of the farmer family is small and marginal farmers (Agricultural Census, 2010-11(P)) with average land holding of only 0.63 hectare in a scattered manner. The contribution of agriculture and allied sector to the Gross State Domestic Product at constant (2004-05) prices was more than 20 percent during 2014-15 which recorded a gradual fall since 2005-06 (Economic Survey, Assam, 2014-15). The trend of growth of the agricultural and allied sector (GSDP at constant (2004-05) prices) was erratic during the period 2005-06 to 2011-12 and finally pegged at 3.53 percent in 2014-15 compared to 7.37 percent growth in industry and 7.08 percent growth in service sectors respectively (Economic Survey, Assam, 2014-15). The average growth rate of GSDP in agriculture and allied sector in Assam during 2005-06 to 2013-14 at constant (2004-05) price was 3.65 percent compared to 3.97 percent in India; and only in agriculture sector, this average growth rate was 3.47 percent and 4.1 percent respectively. Saikia, (2014) mentioned that while growth of industry and service sector recorded an encouraging picture with annual average growth of 8.58 percent and 7.33 percent respectively, agriculture and allied sector has achieved annual average growth of 1.24 percent only during the 10th five year plan. However, total foodgrains output share of Assam in all India increased from 1.9 percent in 1999-2000 to 2.05 percent in 2009- 10. Almost all other neighboring hilly NER states depend on Assam for foodgrains and other agricultural products. But in spite of its overwhelming importance, the progress of agriculture in the state is far from satisfactory. The small farmer oriented agriculture is stuck with low productivity and stunted growth. Agricultural productivity in the state is
one of the lowest in the country. In 2011-12, foodgrain yield in Assam was 1704kg per hectare against its national average of 2078kg per hectare. To Swaminathan (2001a), Assam is one of the „sleeping agricultural giants‟ in eastern India. Following tables will give an empirical evidence of some dimensions of Assam agriculture.
Table-1.15: Sectoral Contribution to Gross State Domestic Product (at constant 1980-81 prices, 1993-94 prices
& 2004-05 prices*) (in %)
Year/Sector Agriculture and allied Industry Service
1980-81 47.5 12.6 39.9
1981-82 46.8 13.1 40.1
1982-83 47.6 12.3 40.0
1983-84 47.4 12.4 39.9
1984-85 44.6 14.2 41.2
1985-86 45.0 12.9 42.1
1986-87 44.6 12.2 43.2
1987-88 44.5 13.2 42.3
1988-89 43.9 13.5 42.6
1989-90 44.0 13.2 42.8
1990-91 42.6 13.2 44.7
1993-94 40.3 12.6 47.1
1996-97 37.5 13.3 49.2
1997-98 38.4 13.4 48.3
1998-99 36.9 13.0 50.1
1999-00 36.4 14.7 48.8
2000-01 (QE) 35.7 14.3 50.0
2001-02 (Adv.) 34.7 14.7 50.6
2003-04 31.2 - -
2004-05* 25.5 27.54 46.9
2005-06 25 26 49
2006-07 25 24 51
2007-08 24 24 52
2008-09 23 24 53
2009-10 23 24 53
2010-11 22 22 56
2011-12(Q) 22 22 56
2012-13(P) 17.5 23.2 59.3
2013-14 21.3 21.27 57.5
2014-15 20.2 23.0 56.8
Note: QE quick estimate, Adv. Advanced Estimate, P provisional estimate, *Figure for 1994-95 onwards till 2003-04 are based on 1993-94 prices and thereafter based on 2004-05 prices.
Source: Economic Survey, Assam (various issues), Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Govt. of Assam.
It is evident from the above table that over the years the share of agriculture and allied sector in the GSDP has declined from 47.5 percent in 1980-81 to 20.2 percent in 2014- 15. The industry sector has also shown a gloomy picture of fluctuation from 12.6 percent in 1980-81 to 23 percent in 2014-15. However, the share of service sector has progressed from 40 percent in 1980-81 to 57 percent in 2014-15.
Fig-1.6: Sectoral Contribution to Gross State Domestic Product.
Table-1.16: Estimated CAGRs of production of foodgrains, non-foodgrains and all crops in Assam and India during 2001-02 to 2010-11 (in %)
Crops CAGR in Assam CAGR in India
Foodgrains 1.90 1.95
Non-foodgrains 1.30 2.90
All Crops 1.60 2.43
Source: (i) Goswami (2014); (ii) Author‟s calculation
Table 1.16 implies that the contribution of the foodgrains to the growth of the overall agricultural production in the state has been more relevant to that of the non-foodgrains during the last decade. Bezbaruah (1994) observed a contrasting feature of agricultural growth in Assam from that of the whole of India is the relatively better performance of
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
1980-81 1983-84 1986-87 1989-90 1996-97 1999-00 2003-04 2006-07 2009-10 2012-13(P)
Agriculture and allied Industry
Service
non-foodgrains than foodgrains in Assam during the 1970s and early 1980s. Table 1.17 referred the acreage share of Assam in all India of major crops.
Table-1.17: Assam‟s share of major crops in all-India in terms of acreage (in %)
Year Rice Wheat Total Cereals
Total Pulses
Total Foodgr ains
Rapeseed
&
Mustard
Total Oilseeds
Jute &
Mesta
Tea Sugarc ane 1980-81 to
1984-85*
5.7 0.5 2.3 0.5 2.0 6.5 1.5 10.9 53.4 1.64
1985-86 to 1989-90*
5.8 0.4 2.4 0.6 2.1 7.2 1.7 10.7 54.9 1.38
1990-91 5.8 0.3 2.5 0.5 2.1 5.1 1.3 10.1 56.0 0.97
1991-92 5.9 0.3 2.7 0.5 2.3 4.6 1.3 9.8 55.6 0.98
1992-93 6.0 0.3 2.6 0.5 2.2 4.7 1.2 10.6 55.8 1.12
1993-94 5.9 0.3 2.6 0.5 2.2 4.4 1.1 9.3 56.3 1.05
1994-95 5.7 0.3 2.5 0.5 2.2 4.6 1.2 10.4 53.3 0.92
1990-91 to 1994-95*
5.9 0.3 2.6 0.5 2.2 4.7 1.2 10.0 55.4 1.01
1995-96 5.8 0.3 2.7 0.5 2.3 4.3 1.2 10.2 52.7 0.9
1996-97 5.7 0.3 2.6 0.5 2.2 4.2 1.2 9.0 52.6 0.9
2000-01 5.68 0.28 2.73 0.58 2.28 - 1.31 9.85 52.8 0.63
2005-06 5.54 0.19 2.50 0.45 2.14 2.90 0.84 6.89 55.0 0.55
2006-07 5.00 0.21 2.26 0.46 1.93 3.5 0.98 7 55.5 0.52
2007-08 5.29 0.2 2.4 0.48 2.03 4.05 0.96 6.5 53.7 0.51
2008-09 5.46 0.18 2.54 0.52 2.18 3.59 0.89 7.22 55.6 0.66
2009-10 6.04 0.21 2.67 0.51 2.25 4.45 1.03 7.22 46.5 0.64
2010-11 6.04 0.15 2.69 0.48 2.20 - 0.99 7.75 46.8 0.61
2011-12 5.79 0.13 2.61 0.53 2.19 - 1.09 8.25 53 0.55
Note: * Average value of the years
Source: (a) Data are from Area and Production of Principal Crops, Govt. of India, Fertilizer Statistics and Tea Board of India. (b) Goyari, 2007; (c) Calculation by the author
Area share of Assam in all India acreage in different crops shows that share of rice remained almost same, share of wheat declined from 0.5 percent to 0.13 percent, and the share of total pulses about 0.5 percent during last three decades from 1980-81 to 2011- 12. Area share under oilseeds in Assam gradually declined from 1.7 percent in 1985-86 to 1 percent in 2011-12. Assam is occupying a leading area share in all India acreage in two important cash crops, viz. tea and jute. More than half of the area of tea of the country is shared by Assam while area share of jute has slightly declined in recent years.
By partition of the state into Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, total area under different crops in absolute terms has declined significantly. Historically, the performance of agriculture in Assam has been indifferent till the early 1980s. Dhar (2001) said the cultivation of jute is gradually becoming unpopular in Assam. But later the production growth improved and variability has also declined (Pandey and Pal, 2000). It has been observed that in spite of the dismal performance, the recent years experienced some
positive changes in some crops like in paddy, pulses, natural rubber, etc. Table 1.18 shows the trends of production of major crops in Assam since 1980-81.
Table-1.18: The trend of production of Food and Non-food crops in Assam: (in‟000 tons) Crops/
Years
1980 -81
1990 -91
1999 -00
2000 -01
2001 -02
2002 -03
2005 -06
2006 -07
2007 -08
2008 -09
2009 -10
2010 -11
2011 -12
CAGR
@ Autumn
Rice
502 522 514 558 488 445 398 336 348 374 335 356 338 -2.05
Winter Rice
197 8
256 5
269 3
276 0
271 3
267 1
259 4
195 0
223 9
286 6
321 4
364 9
329 8
1.20
Summer Rice
43 183 654 681 653 622 561 630 732 768 860 102 8
108 0
8.82
Total Rice 2523 3270 3861 3999 3854 3738 3553 2916 3319 4009 4409 5033 4716 1.76
Maize 13.7 14 14 15 14 14 14 14 13 13 14 14 17 0.93
Wheat 118 105 98 86 85 78 54 67 71 55 65 56 49 -3.56
Total Cereals
2658 3393 3978 4105 3957 3834 3621 3001 3407 4079 4492 5106 4784 1.65
Total Pulses
47 49 64 62 66 60 56 59 61 62 66 72 73 1.92
Total Food grains
2706 3442 4042 4167 4023 3894 3680 3060 3468 4142 4557 5178 4857 1.65
Total Oilseeds*
112 169 143 155 151 144 110 129 135 137 143 155 152 -0.50
Sugarcane - 1522 1155 988 1011 916 871 856 1055 980 1062 1076 1053 -1.74
Cotton# - - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.00
Jute 912 866 657 668 675 691 680 579 559 657 647 626 608 -1.67
Teaa 3051
30 3923 92
4512 36
4535 87
4333 27
4347 59
4356 49
4874 87
5020 41
5118 85
4874 97
4998 87
4802 86
0.97
Rubberb - 110 - 2580 2700 2750 3050 4750 6395 5097 9832 1021 3
1095 0
24.49
Total non- foodgrain
- - 3781 3646 3626 3474 2988 3396 3430 3587 3779 3858 3967 0.23
Note: *excluding Coconut, a: in „000 Kg, b: in MT, # „000bales of each 170 kg. @ CAGR in 2011-12/1990-91 in %.
Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Assam and Directorate of Agriculture, Assam
Rice production in the state increased from 2523 thousand MT in 1980-81 to 5033 thousand MT in 2010-11 with some fluctuations. Trend of autumn rice production gradually declined contrary to increase in summer rice production which was due to both increase in area and yield. While production of wheat decreased from 118 thousand MT in 1980-81 to 49 thousand MT in 2011-12, production of total pulses gradually increased
from 2006-07 and it reached to 73 thousand MT in 2011-12. Production of total foodgrains gradually declined from 4,167 thousand MT in 2000-01 to 3,060 thousand MT in 2006-07 and then started rising. Production of oilseeds in the state also decreased from 169 thousand MT in 1990-91 to 155 thousand MT in 2010-2011, while the production of jute decreased from 912 thousand bales in 1980-81 to 640 thousand bales in 2011-12. A significant improvement took place in the production of rubber in the state as in national average where production reached in 10950 MT in 2011-12. Rubber is a crop which we shall study in detail. The CAGR of production of autumn rice, wheat, oilseeds, sugarcane and jute in Assam becomes negative during the period from 1990-91 to 2011-12 while summer rice and rubber production growth rate was significant during the period. One of the basic causes for slow growth of agricultural production in the state is the low rate of yield compare to all India. Table 1.19 reveals comparison of yield rates of different crops in Assam and all India.
Table-1.19: Yield Rate of certain crops in Assam and India: (in kg/ha) Year
s
State/
Crops Total
rice
Wheat Maize Total Cereals
Total pulses
Total Foodgr ains
Oil seeds
Jutea Tea Rubber
1970 -71
A 1033 583 547 - - 988 413 1305 1202 -
I 1123 1307 1279 949 524 872 579 1186 1201 653
1980 -81
A 1109 1158 593 1128 416 1073 480 1463 1501 -
I 1336 1630 1159 1142 473 1023 532 1245 1478 788
1990 -91
A 1310 1284 626 1067 428 1266 530 1632 1693 -
I 1740 2281 1518 1571 578 1380 771 1833 1794 1076
2000 -01
A 1568 1279 722 1394 540 1073 515 1730 1685 1580
I 1901 2708 1822 1844 544 1626 810 2026 1673 1576
2004 -05
A 1408 1066 724 1271 571 - 529 1830 1603 -
I 1984 2602 1907 1903 577 1652 885 2186 1713 1750
2005 -06
A 1446 1074 721 1282 537 1430 465 1836 1603 1854
I 2102 2619 1938 1968 598 1715 1004 2362 1713 2000
2006 -07
A 1412 1132 778 1251 557 1285 495 1744 1622 1848
I 2131 2708 1912 2020 612 1756 916 2342 1667 1800
2007 -08
A 1549 1268 722 1354 558 1501 523 1976 1610 1431
I 2202 2802 2335 2151 625 1860 1115 2260 1705 1299
2008 -09
A 1635 1090 724 1616 567 1570 542 1939 1593 1449
I 2178 2907 2414 2183 659 1909 1007 2207 1695 1306
2009 -10
A 1765 1087 726 1738 560 1686 530 1967 1513 1511
I 2125 2839 2024 2075 630 1798 958 2492 1695 1211
2010 -11
A 1983 1179 722 1957 555 1894 582 1808 1782 1329
I 2239 2989 2540 2256 691 1930 1193 2344 1695 1211
2011 -12b
A 1874 1135 684 1933 560 1792 564 1669 1709 1272
I 2372 3140 2476 2396 694 2059 1135 2422 1695 1211
Note: A: Assam; I: All India Average; Yield rate of rubber is calculated as production in kg divided by tapping area
a lakh bales
b
4th Advance Estimates
Source: Economic Survey, 1980-81, 2000-01, 2010-11, 2011-12 & 2012-13; Agricultural Statistics At A Glance 2012, Statistical Hand Book of Assam 1992, 2002, 2010; Economic Survey, Assam, 2012-13,
It is evident from the table 1.19 that yield rates of all major crops in Assam are considerably lower compared to national average. More distressing is the fact that the gap in yield levels between Assam and the national average has widened for all the crops reported till 2008-09. Barring one or two crops, rubber being one, the yield per hectare of crops in Assam has been much lower than the all India (Saikia, 2014). Table 1.20 shows the CAGR of agricultural area, production and yield under major crops in Assam and all India during 1990-91 to 2011-12.
Table-1.20: CAGRs of Area, Production and Yield of major crops in Assam and all India during 1990-91 to 2011-12:
Crops Growth rate of area (in %) Growth rate of production (in %) Growth rate of yield (in %)
Assam India Assam India Assam India
Autumn Rice -3.69 - -2.05 - 1.69 -
Winter Rice 0.19 - 1.20 - 1.01 -
Summer Rice 5.95 - 8.82 - 2.16 -
Total Rice 0.04 0.14 1.76 1.63 1.72 1.49
Maize 0.04 1.87 0.98 4.26 0.42 1.53
Wheat -3.47 1.01 -3.56 2.57 -0.59 2.36
Total Cereals -0.06 -0.14 1.65 1.93 2.93 2.03
Total Pulses 0.74 0.20 1.92 0.85 1.29 0.87
Total Foodgrains
-0.02 -0.11 1.65 1.85 1.67 1.92
Total Oilseeds -0.52 0.44 -0.50 2.27 0.30 1.86
Sugarcane* -0.29 1.54 -1.74 1.90 -0.65 0.35
Cotton -5.61 2.41 0.00 6.28 - 3.79
Jute -1.77 0.00 -1.43 1.46 0.11 1.34
Tea 0.92 1.95 0.97 1.71 0.04 -0.23
Rubber* 4.78 1.62 14.04 4.78 -5.24 0.80
Note: * CAGR calculated during 2004-05 to 2011-12
Source: Calculated by the author from data on agricultural production, Statistical Handbook of Assam various issues and Economic Survey India, various issues.
Compound annual growth rate of area under most of the major crops except pulses and rubber in Assam during the period 1990-91 to 2011-12 are lower than national level. It is also lower in production compared to all India, while exception was seen in case of rice, pulse and rubber. Though the area growth rate of rice in Assam was lower than the national average, CAGRs of total rice production and yield in Assam were higher (1.76%
and 1.72% respectively) than the national level (1.63% and 1.49%) due to good performance of summer rice. However, CAGRs of area and production of wheat, oilseeds, sugarcane and jute in Assam were negative. In case of pulses, growth rate of area, production and yield in Assam were higher than the national average. In case of total foodgrains, like national average area growth in Assam was also negative but growth rate of production and productivity in Assam were lower than all India average.
Although the growth rate of productivity of jute is positive but it is very low in comparison to all India. Unlike this, the CAGR of rubber production during the period 2004-05 to 2011-12 in Assam was remarkably high, 14.04 percent compared to 4.78 percent at national level.
Fig.1.7: CAGRs of Area, Production and Yield of major crops in Assam and all India.
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25
30 Growth rate of yield (in %) India
Growth rate of yield (in %) Assam
Growth rate of production (in %) India
Growth rate of production (in %) Assam
Growth rate of area (in %) India
The state level time series of indices of area, production and productivity for all crops, food crops and non-food crops are the most appropriate data series for assessing the overall growth performance of crop sector (Dholakia and Dholakia, 1993). The two tables 1.21 and 1.22 show the index of production, area and yield of foodgrains and non- foodgrains of Assam and India. The index of all commodities scaled the level of 126 in Assam while it was 192 in India in 2011-2012, although in 1980 Assam was much ahead of India (125 compared to 102).
Table-1.21: Index of Agricultural Production in Assam and India from 1980-81 to 2011-12:
(Base: Triennium ending 1981-82=100 & Base: T.E. 2007-08=100.)
Year Assam India
Foodgrains Non- foodgrains
All Commodities
Foodgrains Non- foodgrains
All Commodities
1980-81 123 132 125 105 97 102
1990-91 144 131 138 144 156 148
1991-92 142 143 142 138 159 146
1992-93 144 142 143 144 164 152
1993-94 148 149 148 150 170 157
1994-95 146 154 150 156 181 165
1995-96 150 157 153 146 185 161
1996-97 148 157 153 161 201 176
1997-98 149 161 155 156 183 165
1998-99 143 158 151 165 198 177
2000-01 174 162 168 158 178 166
2001-02 169 160 164 172 190 179
2002-03 164 166 165 140 166 150
2003-04 170 162 166 172 201 183
2004-05 152 154 153 160 206 177
2005-06 155 148 153 169 230 192
2006-07 128 156 142 176 241 200
2007-08 145 161 153 187 247 207
2008-09 174 167 170 190 221 193
2009-10* 131 107 121 159 144 160
2010-11* 149 106 130 179 170 185
2011-12* 141 109 126 188 175 192 N. B. The Agricultural Indices for Assam are constructed only on the crops covered by the Crop Forecast. Figure rounded to nearest zero. *Base: T.E. 2007-08=100.
Source: (i) Economic Survey, Assam, 1996-97, 2000-01, 2007-08, 2010-11, 2011-12 & 2012-13, Govt. of Assam (ii) Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India
Table-1.22: Index number of Area and Productivity for foodgrains, non-foodgrains and all commodities in Assam and India from 1980-81 to 2011-12: (Base: Triennium ending 1981-82=100 & Base: T.E. 2007-08=100)
Year Index of Area Index of Productivity Assam India Assam India Food
grains Non- food grains
All comm oditie s
Food grains
Non- food grains
All comm oditie s
Food grains
Non- food grains
All comm oditie s
Food grain s
Non- food grain s
All comm odities
1980-81 120.8 124.9 121.8 99.8 99.4 99.7 124.9 113.4 114.9 105.1 99.2 102.9 1990-91 111.6 121.0 113.7 100.7 120.0 105.2 121.7 105.0 112.7 137.8 128.0 133.8 2000-01 114.7 119.7 115.8 95.4 127.0 102.7 151.4 135.5 145.0 152.8 133.2 144.4 2001-02 110.5 119.4 112.5 96.7 127.0 103.9 141.7 110.7 138.5 164.1 139.1 153.3 2002-03 110.3 116.8 111.8 89.7 116.1 95.8 136.5 113.8 134.2 143.2 124.7 135.0 2006-07 95.6 111.6 99.2 97.5 143.0 108.0 122.6 114.2 118.0 180.4 169.9 185.8 2007-08 101.0 116.4 110.1 97.7 144.7 108.6 130.7 106.2 115.9 191.1 170.9 190.6 2008-09 107.1 117.2 115.3 96.8 147.8 108.6 146.9 101.1 126.1 196.1 149.4 177.6 2009-10 109.7 122.1 118.6 95.6 144.3 106.9 158.3 112.0 136.6 184.7 142.9 168.3 2010-11* 110.9 121.4 119.4 104.4 113.8 109.0 176.4 114.2
3
139.8 197.4 170.7 194.1
2011-12* 108.7 111.9 107.6 104.3 115.5 109.8 128.9 97.8 117.6 114.0 112.2 113.0 Note: * Base Triennium Ending 2007-08=100
Source: (i) Statistical Hand Book Assam 2010; (ii) Economic Survey, 2012-13
Index of agricultural productivity in Assam in 2012 (base triennium ending 2007- 08=100) was 117.56 while in all India it was 113. The index number of area of rice in Assam (triennium ending 1981-82=100) was higher than national index. But the production and productivity indices of rice in Assam was lower than the all India. In case of jute, though Assam has a prominent place in jute production, indices of area, production and productivity of jute in the state was quite low compared to all India indices (see appendix Table I.6).
1.6.1: Agrarian Structure in Assam:
There are two types of agricultural farming prevailing in Assam viz., peasant agriculture and capitalist (tea and partly rubber plantation) agriculture. However, Assam has no extreme mode of production, i.e., neither pure capitalist (landlord capitalism) nor poor peasantry. The peasant agriculture is more important from the point of its contribution to workforce engaged. Lerche (2013) said “All types of peasant agriculture are becoming uneconomical under the corporate food regime and land reforms have made this aspect worse.” Compared to capitalist farming, the peasant agriculture in Assam is handicapped by all sorts of constraints - natural, technological and socio-economic. The mode of production in pre-colonial Assam is described as semi-tribal, semi-feudal (Guha, 1991).
In Assam due to prevalence of ryotwari system of tenancy in most part of the state except Goalpara and a small portion of Cachar district there was no competition for land in the last century, and hence the concentration of land ownership in a few hands did not develop as seen in other parts of the country. The problem of exploitation of cultivators by the landlords is therefore, not acute in Assam as in other parts of the country (Deka, 1984).
In the colonial rule, the agrarian property structures in Assam were multiform and varied. There were two broad groups of landholders - (i) those who were settled for special cultivation, i.e., the tea planters (mostly British-owned corporate bodies) and (ii) those who were settled for ordinary cultivation. Though capitals flowing into tea plantation have been immensely profitable for the planters, this had a limited impact on the larger peasant economy of Assam. However, land alienation, commercialization and indebtedness process have started with infusion of merchant capital and immigration of peasants from East Bengal. In the colonial state, in search of new means of revenue collection merchant capital had penetrated the peasant economy. The interests of the merchants have given birth to a novel complex of surplus exaction. Thus, agrarian economy of the state became more market-driven and it was characterized by high indebtedness, rising incidence of landlessness and tenancy. The vestiges of tribalism were wearing off and it was transformed into a semi-feudal mode of surplus production (Das and Saikia, 2011). The average size of owned holdings per household was small in the peasant sector estimated at about five to five-and-a-half acres. The incidence of land revenue fell heavy on the peasants, since its demand was hardly met by them out of a
real surplus. It was at the time of paying the land revenue and in lean months that the cultivators borrowed from the traders, landlords and rich peasants.
Sharecropping tenant cultivation has been historically as one of the most important semi-feudal forms of surplus extraction in rural Assam. A sizable portion of the state rural farm population is still engaged in share tenancy.
Moreover, agrarian structure in Assam is characterized by inequality in the distribution of landholding-owned and operated. The increasing trend in the number of ownership and operational holdings, marginalization in the size of operation holdings, sub-division and fragmentation of land holdings, decreasing trend in the proportion of holdings with partly or wholly leased-in land, etc. are reported to be the main features of the existing agrarian structure. These have serious impact on the agricultural production and productivity of the state (Saikia, 2014). Agricultural production is affected not only by the monsoon and other natural calamities like flood, drought, etc., but also by the technological and socio-economic factors. Low level uses of modern inputs in agricultural operations, low investment in agriculture, lack of credit facilities, lack of irrigation facilities, inadequacy of ground water harvesting infrastructure, poor rural road connectivity, lack of post-harvest processing, shortage of cold storages, inadequate marketing system, poor extension services, etc. are said to be the main factors plaguing the agricultural situation of the state. Goyari, (2005) states “So far as irrigation system is concerned, reportedly there are 2095 numbers of big and small irrigation plants in the state, but interestingly only 75 numbers are in running condition. As regard the use of fertilizers, though it has grown over time, our farmers applied only 74.40kg per hectare against Indian average of 137kg per hectares. On the other hand the cold storages in the state bring about setback in agricultural production, as there are only 22 cold storages which also cannot be run smoothly due to disruption of power." Irrigation Minister, Govt. of Assam stated in the state assembly on 11th Feb, 2014 that a total of 204 minor irrigation projects have been lying defunct and are beyond repair in the state. In addition, 182 minor irrigation projects and a medium irrigation project are non-functional, but can be repaired (The Assam Tribune, February, 2014). Consumption of electricity for agricultural purposes in Assam was only 32.00 million KWH or 0.98 percent of total electricity consumption in 2009-10. But it was 40.29 percent in Haryana, 39.42 percent in Rajasthan, 33.46 percent in Punjab, 34.21 percent in Karnataka and in all India level it was 20.98 percent during the period (Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, 2011-12 and
Central Electricity Authority, New Delhi). Only about half of the paddy cultivation in Assam is using HYV seeds, with very little change observed over the last two decades.
Contrary to peasant agriculture, capitalist agriculture is found in tea estates which were mostly owned by Kolkata based planters or corporate leaders of the country who were alleged to exercise exploitation for appropriation of surplus value. In rubber plantation of Assam some sort of capitalist mode of production and some society formed cultivation is developing which is yet to evaluate its performance. Thus, notwithstanding such factors, it may be worthwhile to examine whether the existing agrarian structure and relations in the state is conducive to agricultural development through the utilization of potentiality of agricultural land in terms of crop productivity (Saikia, 2014).
In the literature review section we discussed different research work and secondary data pertaining to Indian and Assam agriculture to compare the status of Assam agriculture with rest of India. This would help to frame the basis of present research work.