Populating Aging in Rural India: Implication for Agriculture and Smallholder Farmers

Abstract

The research attempts to document the effects of rural aging in India by examining theassociation between aging andagriculture using rural households as a target group. Key agricultural activitiesperformed by farmers, self-reported andobserved physical intensity of those activities, and their distribution across age, amongother aspects, are explored indetail. Semi-structured questionnaire and fitness trackers, along with the standarddescriptive statistics and regressionanalyses were used to collect and analyze data within Lakhisarai district. The resultsshow at what age are farmersmost and least active before retiring (18-24 and 35-39 age groups, respectively), atwhat age does their involvement inagriculture begin to notably decline (60-64 age group), what are the most oftenperformed agricultural activities(planting, irrigating, and harvesting), and which ones are considered difficult(transporting, weeding, and harvesting).The results also highlight the position of elderly household members as net negativecontributors, along with theirpresently modest share in the population. Inequality in income, land, and machineryownership, however, ishighlighted as a more immediate concern to any programme aimed at mitigating thenegative effects of rural aging.Lastly, the use of fitness trackers is justified as correlated measured and reportedintensity of select agriculturalactivities indicates the potential for practical use.