Small holding
Topic: Land Reforms, the Green Revolution and Farm Subsidies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A small holding is an operational land holding of 1 hectare or more but less than 2 hectares. It is a 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, owned or leased in. Small and marginal farms together make up most Indian farms. That is why small-farm viability is central to policy on credit, leasing and custom hiring of machines.
Example
In the Agriculture Census 2015-16, small and marginal holdings (below 2 ha) were about 86% of all holdings but operated only about 47% of the area. A farmer operating 1.5 ha of paddy land would be counted as a small farmer.
Don't confuse with
- Marginal holding: this is the class below 1 ha, the largest class by number. The small class starts at 1 ha.
- Ownership holding: a landless tenant who leases in 1.5 ha still has a small operational holding.
Related concepts
- Land ceiling
- Operational land holding
- Marginal holding
- Semi-medium holding
- Medium holding
- Large holding
- Fragmentation of land holdings
- Consolidation of land holdings
- Cooperative farming