Farm Labour


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Farm Labour

Farm Labour: Many of the small farmers do additional work as farm labourers as they have to feed themselves and their families. Medium farmers and large farmers hire farm labourers to work on their fields.

Farm labourers come either from landless families or families cultivating small plots of land. Unlike farmers, farm labourers do not have a right over the crops grown on the land. These labourers can be paid in cash or in objects like crops; sometimes they get meals also. But this varies widely from place to place, from crop to crop and from one farm to another farm.

There is also a wide variation in the duration of employment. The labourers may not be hired for the full year. They may be hired on a daily basis or for particular activities like sowing and harvesting. Labour is the most important factor for agricultural production.

There is heavy competition for work among the farm labourers in Palampur, and so they agree to work for lower wages. The Indian government has set 115 per day as the minimum wage (April 2011), but farmers in Palampur pay only 75-80 per day. Consequently, farm labourers are the poorest among the villagers. The labour, looking for opportunities, thus migrates to neighbouring villages, towns and cities for better employment. Some labour has also entered in the non-farm sector in the village, and some live on the mercy of moneylenders.

Yield: The amount of crop produced in a given piece of land during a single season is known as yield.

 
 


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