The Role of Prevailing Agrarian Relations in Lower Crop Productivity and Profitability: Evidence from Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

This study analyzes the agricultural performance of two regions of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Eastern UP and Bundelkhand, representing two distinct agrarian systems: the former falling mostly within the Gangetic plains and the latter being dry land. Despite the regional differences, it appears that differences in the levels of productivity and net incomes earned in the case of major crops cultivated are more specific to class than region. The study raises the broader question: What explains the lower crop productivity and output and the higher costs of production and meager returns from cultivation of the lower-class cultivators? The mainstream economic explanations for this question are mostly confined to factors related to technology and state policy. While acknowledging that these factors are important, it is argued that the existing agrarian relations also play an important role in lowering crop productivity and profitability in the study areas and, therefore, these must also be considered in an ideal analytical framework for understanding agrarian change in the countryside.