The average landholding size of an household has shrunk marginally to 1.1 hectare (ha) in 2015-16 from 1.16 ha three years ago, according to a rural survey carried out by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

Nearly one-thirds of farmers have land parcels smaller than 1 ha, showed a Nabard survey released on Thursday. While 37 per cent of farm households owned land parcels of smaller than 0.4 ha, another 30 per cent had holdings which fall between 0.41 and 1.0 ha. Only 13 per cent agricultural households owned landholdings bigger than 2 ha.

The survey also showed only 5.2 per cent of agricultural households in the country owned a tractor and 1.8 per cent a power tiller. Access to drip irrigation and sprinkler was limited to 1.6 per cent and 0.8 per cent families respectively.

There were wide variations among States with respect to average land size possessed by agricultural households. While the States like Nagaland (2.1 ha), Rajasthan (1.9 ha) and Haryana (1.7 ha) reported higher land sizes per household, average land parcel was around 0.5 Ha in the States like Bihar, West Bengal, Tripura, Sikkim and Jammu & Kashmir. “The land sizes are to some extent reflective of the status of cultivator households and their farming potential,” the survey said.

Similarly, agricultural households reported higher ownership of livestock which forms an important source of livelihood for them. Milch animals were most common with about 51 per cent agricultural households reporting their ownership. Small ruminants were also present in considerable 14 per cent of agricultural households.

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