Working Paper: 347

Emerging Trends and Patterns of India’s Agricultural
Workforce: Evidence from the Census

S Subramanian

 

Abstract

The current study presents the various trends and patterns that are emerging from the Indian rural economy. The purpose is to study the change in workforce pattern of the agrarian sector. A study of change in the agrarian workforce can indicate the direction of change and trace the process of structural change in Indian agriculture. The paper has only depended on Census data to draw various conclusions using very simple statistical and graphical techniques. The study locates four important phenomena namely marginalisation of rural workers, feminisation of the agriculture, increasing importance of various subsidiary activities and finally the ongoing structural changes in the rural economy. The emergence of these phenomena has various linkages regarding the future trends of Indian agriculture.

 

Working Papers