Large holding
Topic: Land Reforms, the Green Revolution and Farm Subsidies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A large holding is an operational land holding of 10 hectares or more. This is the top size class in India's Agriculture Census, which is held every five years. An operational holding means all the land one person farms as a single unit, whether owned or leased in. Large holdings are few in number but cover a big share of farmland, so they show how unequal land distribution is.
Example
In the Agriculture Census 2015-16, large holdings were under 1% of all holdings but operated about 9% of the farmed area. A farmer who owns 7 ha and leases in 4 ha runs an operational holding of 11 ha, which counts as a large holding.
Don't confuse with
- Ownership holding: this is only the land a person owns. Size classes are based on the operational holding, which includes land leased in and excludes land leased out.
- Land ceiling: this is a legal cap on how much land one may own. The large-holding class is only a statistical category, not a legal limit.
Related concepts
- Land ceiling
- Operational land holding
- Marginal holding
- Small holding
- Semi-medium holding
- Medium holding
- Fragmentation of land holdings
- Consolidation of land holdings
- Cooperative farming