Small Landowners Research Articles

Analysis of Soil and Crop Parameters for the Development of Power Tiller-Operated Groundnut Digger

Groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) is a major oilseed crop and holds an important place in the Indian agricultural economy. Odisha occupies 6th place in the major groundnut-producing states of the country with a total production of 0.388 MT and is grown in both Kharif and Rabi seasons. Harvesting is one of the major unit operations in groundnut cultivation and is mechanically harvested by tractor-operated diggers but their use is limited because of small land holdings and high capital costs and is not economical for small and marginal farmers of the state. However, the groundnut diggers to match with power tillers are not commercially available, therefore, efforts were made to develop a single-row groundnut digger operated by a power tiller. The study was conducted to relate the soil and crop parameters for the digger design, which influences the harvesting of groundnut. The design of a power tiller-operated groundnut digger to harvest a single row of groundnut requires the data of soil parameters (soil type, bulk density, cone index and soil moisture content) and crop parameters (plant population, plant height, pod zone, pod spreading radius, taproot length, taproot diameter, pod-vine ratio), suitable for different groundnut varieties. It was found that the majority of groundnut varieties were grown in sandy soils and harvested at 12-15 % soil moisture for more yield with a minimum power requirement. It was observed that for all types of groundnut varieties the plant population, plant height, pod zone depth, pod spreading radius, taproot length, taproot diameter and the number of pods per plant varies from 24-29/m2, 31-49.18 cm, 5.79-6.86 cm, 5.87-9.15 cm, 11.70-13.78 cm, 4.64-5.84 cm and 11-27/plant, respectively.

EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL OF 8 BAND PLANETSCOPE DATASET FOR CROP CLASSIFICATION USING RANDOM FOREST AND GRADIENT TREE BOOSTING BY GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE

Abstract. One of the challenging task in agriculture is mapping of crops using satellite images as spectral properties of the crops looks similar to each other, and there are many complexities which are there in the field such as small land holdings, heterogeneous and often distinct field patterns. In past, mapping with high resolution satellite images was not possible due to the non-availability of data and even they were costlier. However, with the free availability of PlanetScope dataset having 8 spectral bands, with daily revisit cycle and resolution of 3m, it is now possible to carry out mapping and monitoring of agriculture crops. The objective of the study is to classify major crops of rabi (December-April) season using single date PlanetScope imagery in the Haridwar district, Uttarakhand, India. Classification of crops has been carried out using an ensemble based machine learning algorithms within Google earth engine. Off late, Google Earth Engine (GEE), a cloud based platform has attracted the attention of remote sensing analyst since it expediates the classification yielding good results of high quality. In this study, Random Forest (RF) and Gradient Tree Boosting algorithm (GTB) have been used after performing hyper-parameter tuning and results shows that overall accuracy obtained by RF and GTB are 88% and 86.5% respectively. According to the results, both classifier performed well but RF achieved 1.5% high accuracy over GTB. Analysis of the results show that highest accuracy was attained by agriculture class (wheat) while other crops class exhibited lower accuracy. In this study, RF was found to be more competent as compared to GTB in classifying the crops and PlanetScope 8 band dataset has also proved its potential in classifying crops in heterogeneous fields.

Ethiopian Voluntary Resettlement Programme-Lesson to Learn

The basic right of people in any society is earning a livelihood, and providing or fulfilling this requirement is a prime duty of the concerned government. Acting towards this end the democratic government of Ethiopia (African continent) has recently launched a resettlement program. The main objective of this study is to provide an overall view of the resettlement program in Bamluk and Sawatamp settlement sites, Jawi district, Amhara Regional State of Ethiopia. A qualitative method of analysis was employed for conducting this study. The informants at the household level were randomly selected to give the possible representative information. Key informants interviews and focus group discussions with resettlers and government representatives at district and zonal levels were held. The study revealed that there is a gap between the program document and its implementation on the ground. There was no consistency with the pillars, key principles, and approaches in the program document. The resettlement’s adverse consequences were the lack of proper preparation. The study indicates that the establishment of infrastructure and social services before the resettlement program are below the minimum standard and the services have not yet been improved in the area. Moreover, small land holdings and the risk of exposure to malaria contributed to the failure of the program. This reveals that the implementation of the resettlement program in the area is very weak.

Agri-Inputs Consumption Patterns, Access, and Delivery Mechanism in India

The Government of India has initiated several programs to provide timely inputs to farmers with special subsidies on regular inputs such as seed material, fertilizers, irrigation, animal purchase, etc. These inputs are supplied through various mechanisms such as government departments, agricultural universities, KVKs, NGOs, local shop owners, producer's associations etc. Studying the agri-inputs available and their supplying mechanisms in India provides clarity on the status of farmers and the number of farmers who benefi ted from diff erent services provided by GOI. A survey questionnaire was developed to collect data from the 14 states with a sample size of 409 farmer respondents and was administered to the Foundation course for Agricultural Research Service (FOCARS)-82 batch, who were undergoing fi eld experience training (FET) at ICAR-NAARM, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana State. The survey revealed that most farmers felt satisfi ed with the quality of seed, followed by agrochemicals and chemical fertilizers. Among all the assets, farmers spent the most money on purchasing animal feed (INR 46047.05) followed by planting material- saplings (INR 34445.07) and adult draught animals (INR 31805.07). The maximum number of respondents specifi ed that storage facility for grains, electricity, and byproducts were suffi ciently available. More money is spent on purchasing the recurrent associated input, i.e., irrigation sprinkler/drip, followed by irrigation wells. The Maximum number of farmers has access to Common Property Resources (CPRs) such as pasture land, irrigation sources, threshing fl oors, water harvesting structures, producer's associations, selfhelp groups, and primary cooperative society. About 269 farmers availed credit facilities; among them, 103 farmers took a credit of >10,000-50,000, which was majorly used for input purchase (240 farmers responded). About 132 farmers said they receive subsidies on seed/propagating material, fertilizer/agrochemicals, and irrigation. Most farmers received quality seed/propagating material from the local shop owners, followed by neighboring farmers, govt. departments and private companies. Very few are using/visiting Agricultural Universities, KVKs, cooperatives, NGOs, Agri-clinics, producers' associations, and village panchayats for seed purposes. In terms of credit suppliers, farmers listed public sector banks fi rst, followed by cooperative society credit cards and moneylender. Farmers with medium-sized land holdings have a better chance of availing subsidies compared to small-category farmers. Most small landholders need more opportunities to access agricultural credit. An adequate supply of timely inputs and support of low-cost credit from institutional sources is of great importance to small and marginal, farmers who contribute almost 60 per cent of total food grain production in India. The output of this study would become a benchmark for future assessments and decision-making in the fi eld of agri-inputs.

Mapping Antecedents and Outcomes of Marginality and Social Exclusion among Small Landholders: A Systematic Review

This study aims to review determinants of the social exclusion (SE) of small farmers in the agriculture sector, which is one of the key approaches to creating sustainable rural development and an integral part of the country’s economic development. The selected group's social and economic underpinnings play a vital role in their productive decision-making regarding rural development. As per the literature review, databases of peer-reviewed scientific publications, and official publications of the relevant fields from 2005 to 2020, it has been deduced that the literature lacks elucidated support on the small landholder (SLH) in defining their marginality and social exclusion. This study particularly attempts to fill this gap by reviewing the comprehensive research of said domains. A precise and effective list of main players in this field to the smallholders throughout the developing and developed countries has been produced. Findings indicate that government interventions in terms of the welfare system, credit facilities, agriculture resources, market access, and farmers’ migration significantly influence decreasing social exclusion, food security, and attainment of the SDGs. Moreover, educational systems through farmer social networks, farmer-based organizations, and farmer field schools help adapt to climate change and the latest agricultural technologies, increase livelihood choices, reduce poverty and inequalities, empower women, and improve the social status of farmers. This is ultimately and positively associated with the social inclusion of small farmers and sustainable economic development.

Anthropogenic driven range expansion of Asian elephant Elephas maximus in an agricultural landscape and its consequences in South West Bengal, India

Alterations of the geographical ranges of animals have become a reason for interactions with humans, leading to various consequences. We describe the pattern of range expansion of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and implications for human-elephant interactions in the agricultural landscape of South West Bengal, India. We enquired about past and current sightings of Asian elephants from local people to gather information on range expansion from the 1950 s to 2018. We also collected the records of human deaths and injuries by elephants from 2010 to 2018 from the records of the Forest Department. We employed an occupancy framework to understand the probability of the occurrence of elephants in the landscape from 2010 to 2018. The range of elephants in the landscape increased from ∼ 1200 km2 in the 1950–60 s to ∼ 13200 km2 by 2010–18. The calculated probability of use of grid cells was 36 % and the forest edge had a high influence on the space usage by the elephants. Elephants occurred in an average of 26 grid cells per month, and the number of grid cells with elephants did not differ between the months. A total of 640 attacks on humans occurred, which significantly varied between the years. The probability of elephant occurrence in a grid cell was the major determinant factor for the elephant attacks on humans. Although people respect elephants, there is a sense of intolerance towards them if they enter the crop fields, owing to the small land holdings and the incapacity to endure the monetary losses of the farmers.

Mobile app for targeted selective treatment of haemonchosis in sheep

Livestock is an important part of many countries gross domestic product, and sanitary control impacts herd management costs. To contribute to incorporating new technologies into this economic chain, this work presents a mobile application for decision assistance to treatment against parasitic infection by Haemonchus contortus in small ruminants. Based on the Android system, the proposed software is a semi-automated computer-aided procedure to assist Famacha© pre-trained farmers in applying anthelmintic treatment. It mimics the two-class decision procedure performed by the veterinarian with the help of the Famacha© card. The embedded cell phone camera was employed to acquire an image from the ocular conjunctival mucosa, classifying the animal as healthy or anemic. Two machine-learning strategies were assessed, resulting in an accuracy of 83 % for a neural network and 87 % for a support vector machine (SVM). The SVM classifier was embedded into the app and made available for evaluation. This work is particularly interesting to small property owners from regions with difficult access or restrictions on obtaining continuous post-training technical guidance to use the Famacha© method effectively.

Identification of Appropriate Drone Technology and its application areas for Agriculture Automation in Bhutan

Various applications of drones in agriculture sector around the world have been analysed in this paper. One of the conclusions after the study conducted indicates that almost all of the tasks are not fully automated but relies on the drone operator. The role played by the operator is varied depending on the type of tasks performed. Nevertheless, irrespective of the level of involvement of the operator, all the agricultural tasks noted in this study benefited immensely by the involvement of drones. The agricultural characteristics and limitations in Bhutanese context were studied along with the drone obligatory restrictions from the Bhutan Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA). The application areas to agricultural sectors in Bhutan which are legally and economically feasible have been mapped. The study also proposes the drones to be owned and operated by local government officials or community centre heads since farmers are not eligible to own the drones as well as due to small land holdings it is also not feasible.

Micro Water-Energy-Food (MicroWEF) Nexus: A system design optimization framework for Integrated Natural Resource Conservation and Development (INRCD) projects at community scale

Integrated Natural Resource Conservation and Development (INRCD) design tasks require clear frameworks and decision-support tools which translate the traditionally national-level Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus concept to a micro-scale. This article presents a simulation–optimization design tool, INCRD-Opt, which performs explicit simultaneous modeling and optimization of WEF interactions in the design of a small-scale farm. INCRD-Opt makes WEF analysis and resulting improvements in decision-making accessible to farmers and community leaders. The tool can help stakeholders visualize trade-offs between competing objectives, understand the implications of interactions across sectoral boundaries, and select the optimal system for their context. The article explores system optimization of an integrated irrigation, microgrid, and cultivation project for small landholder farming communities in Uganda. Results indicate that (i) simultaneous optimization of all sectors of the WEF Nexus improves decision-making; (ii) optimizing for profit versus sustainability may lead to different design results; (iii) for the case study sites in Uganda, using smaller microgrids and tailoring irrigation to the site improves yield and sustainability as measured by the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Index (WEFNI); and (iv) the system optimization approach results in different technology investment decisions for case study locations, suggesting the use of an irrigation system in one case and rejecting it in another.

Features of the study of the genealogy of odnodvortsy families 
 of the XVIII century (on the example of the Astafievs family)

In this article, the authors present the results of historical and genealogical study of the Astafievs family of service people from Chernavsky district, whose descendants in the second half of the XVIII century became odnodvortsy. One of the results of the reforms of Peter I was a change in the class organization of the countrys population, which was reflected primarily in service people, some of whom later became nobles, while others turned into single-palaces small landowners. The study is relevant because the emergence and formation of the estate of odnodvortsy, their culture, behavioral patterns, migration mobility are often the objects of study of modern researchers, and the genealogy and microhistory of odnodvortsy are not fully represented in scientific publications. The authors note that the study of microhistory of a particular kind allows us to see and analyze the impact of events, processes and reforms that took place in a certain historical period on the life of representatives of the odnodvortsy estate. The source base of the work is based primarily on the use of a set of unpublished archival sources from the collections of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts and regional archives. The authors, on the one hand, concretized the material based on information concerning the Astafievs family, on the other hand, identified and analyzed key features in the study of the genealogy of odnodvortsy families. As a result, a number of archival documents were introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. Thus, the historical and genealogical research conducted on the example of the service family, which in the XVIII century turned into a odnodvortsy Astafievs family, allowed the authors to show the influence of historical processes and reforms on the evolution of individual estates, to characterize the main sources necessary for this type of research, as well as to show the specifics of studying the genealogy of odnodvortsy

Food shortage in Belur Taluk Hassan District-A post pandemic study

Food is the exilir of life. But there are many who during the pandemic time and after struggled for a single meal per day. To get a clear picture of the food crisis which occurred during the corona season of 2021 and in its aftermath a study was conducted in five villages of Belurtaluk. Belur and its twin place Halebeedu are heritage sites boasting of Karnataka ‘s cultural history. The sampled villages are Narayanapura, Hulikere, Lingapura,Tholalu and Vaginakere. The total sample size was 200.Though there was government run PDS fair price shops no rations were given even to ration holders. Anganwadi workers were the ones who cooked meals in grounds and village schools and fed the hungry masses. This was so because of lack of work and income in their own small land holdings. Community members who took care of their fellowmen were the ones who prepared the meals. The main communities were Gowdas, 50% Kurubas 25% and SC/ST 25%.Each community made their own meals arrangements. The target groups taken for study were small farmers with one acre or lesser than one acre. The main crops grown by them were groundnuts cowpeas and vegetables like brinjals, beans, carrots, cauliflower, cabbages, green chillies and broad beans. The study proceeded with the following objectives. A)To find out what were the main causes for food scarcity in the above sampled villages.B)To suggest a few remedial measures for removal of food scarcity. The research gap suggested difficulty in carrying out agricultural activities, small land holdings were the main drawbacks coupled with poverty which led to loss of two square meals per day.Part time working as guides in these tourist places brought some income but it was insufficient.Research Methodology used both primary and secondary data. Primary data formed the basis of the study. Secondary data was collected from articles published by previous authors and government reports.Simple random sampling was used to collect data and questionnaire method was designed to conduct face to face interviews.Descriptive analysis was followed.Measures suggested to rectify the situation to a certain extent was to bring back the agriculturelabourers to their villages and to fix minimum wages for them.Giving them BPL cards and minimum rations without missing for a single month is very beneficial to them. With food inflation on the rise though the production of important food grains such as paddy and wheat has increased manifold still hunger persisted in many villages of Belur.Abolishing pilferage of foodgrains and regulating the foodgrains marketdoing away with middlemen,are the other remedies for curbing food scarcity in Belur’s villages.

Посадское население Старой Руссы по материалам Писцовой книги 1497/98 г.: предварительные наблюдения

The article deals the aspects of social history of Staraya Russa inhabitants according to the pistsovaya kniga (cadastres) of 1497/98. Based on the analysis of this source, the number landowners in the times of Novgorod independence is calculated, and the origin of svoezemtsy (small landowners) is determined. Regarding the posad people (inhabitants of a trading quarter), the issues of their naming, mobility and occupation are considered. Besides, the structure of households is discussed. Further work will clarify the findings, as well it will give an opportunity to compare this data with the later descriptions of Staraya Russa in the 17th century.

Конфликты и тяжбы между однодворцами и помещиками Орловской губернии в конце XVIII - первой половине XIX вв.

Introduction. In the presented work, the author made an attempt to analyze the materials of court proceedings between odnodvortsy and landowners of the Livensky district of the Oryol province during the period under study as an example of the struggle of the corporate organization of a odnodvortsy community against large landowners. An important feature of this phenomenon was not only the related position of the odnodvortsy community, but the interrelation of individual clans within rural society and their defense of common interests before patrimonial owners and landowners from the general class of former service people. Materials and methods. This work is the result of a study of legal and judicial materials dating back to the last quarter of the 18th – first half of the 19th centuries. The main sources for this study were court proceedings in the Livensky district and Yeletsk district courts. The main methodology is based on the use of general historical approaches in the study of the social model of behavior of the odnodvortsy social group in defending private and general corporate interests. Results. The materials of the trials between the odnodvortsy and landowners of the region under study provided very important and valuable information about the mentality of the odnodvortsy and their attitude towards large landowners who came from the general stratum of the service population of the Central Black Earth Region in the 17th century. Odnodvortsy initiated litigation with their neighboring landowners in cases where the latter came from the service population and once had common or adjacent properties with the ancestors of odnodvortsy. Land conflicts began to arise en masse only in the first half of the XIX century, which indicated the future depletion of the fund of free agricultural land. Conclusion. The study of land conflicts between odnodvortsy and landowners of the Livensky district of the Oryol province helped to reveal the mental attitudes of these class groups and determine the general social aspirations of the local population in resolving pressing issues. The majority of odnodvortsy felt common roots with local small landowners, who historically went back to the class of the service population of the 17th century. Thus, in most cases it was a showdown within the former one class group of the population, which over time significantly stratified, both in property terms and in the field of social status.

POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS VOLTADAS PARA AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR

In Brazil, family farming is a prominent segment of the national economy.  The great challenge is to make it economically and environmentally sustainable.  This article aims to discuss public policies focused on family farming, as well as their specificities.  Initially, theoretical aspects of these public policies will be addressed  and federal  laws and programs will be highlighted below, as well as municipal laws regulating this economic activity. It was concluded that there are several laws and programs fundamental to implementation in Brazil. It is concluded that in recent years, there is a lack of investments in existing programs, so that with the pandemic, the situation of small farmers has once again been a topic of concern, since such policies are fundamental for the permanence of small landowners in the countryside.

Barriers to optimize the upstream of the tea smallholding supply chain in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is the world’s fourth-largest tea producer and prime orthodox variety supplier. In Sri Lanka, tea export earnings peaked in 2014 at USD 1.56 billion, and the industry managed to record USD 1.3 billion in 2021, regardless of the increased cost of production and lower yields. The majority (75%) of total tea production is supplied by tea smallholders whose land extent is less than ten acres [1]. Tea is grown in 14 districts, and smallholder farmers play a significant role in Rathnapura, Galle, Matara, Kandy, Kalutara, and Kegalle districts. Smallholder farmers cultivate 61% of the total tea-grown land, which amounts to 200,000 hectares. According to the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA), approximately 75% of smallholder land plots are less than one acre, demonstrating the notable contribution of micro-level farming to the industry

Rop diversification pattern in Haryana: A comparative study of organic and inorganic farmers

The adoption of organic farming helps increase agriculture's profitability, enhancing food'snutritional value and sustaining the health of soils, ecosystems, and people. It became popularin Haryana during the recent period. The present study analyses the salient features of the adop-tion process of organic farming, and its impact on cropping patterns, crop combinations, anddiversification. It is a primary data-based comparative study of organic and inorganic farmers ofthe state. The data has been collected from 234 farm households with the help of a structured questionnaire. The study analyses the main factors in the adoption of organic farming in the state.The comparisons of cropping patterns, crop combination, and crop diversification have been doneby applying statistical techniques such as the Doi method, and Herfindahl Index. The study bringsout that farmers having small land holdings but higher education levels prefer organic farming.Though organic farming is carried out at a small scale in the state, it has been pursued earnestly asabout half of the organic farmers devote more than three-fourths of their land to this form offarming. Organic farmers are found to grow a larger number of crops and have quite a diversified cropping pattern compared to inorganic farmers. There is a perceptible difference in this regard inorganic farming across agro-ecological regions. The lesser irrigated mixed-crop region has muchmore diversified than the wheat-rice region of the eastern parts of the state.

Small-Scale Farmers' Perception of the Adoption of Agroforestry Practices in Tolon District, Ghana

This study was conducted in the Tolon district of Ghana to determine small-scale farmers' perceptions, motivation and problems faced by them in the adoption of agroforestry practices. Primary data were collected through a pre-structured questionnaire from a sample of 200 respondents who were selected using a multi-stage random sampling technique. Data analysis was done by using the percentage and total weighted score (TWS) method. Most of the farmers in the study area have a positive perception of the adoption of agroforestry practices. Crop diversification, high returns and risk minimisation were the major motivational factor, whereas small landholding size, lack of awareness and poor knowledge, poor market accessibility, lack of subsidy, credit facility, lack of good quality planting material and longer period for tree growth were the major problems faced by the farmers in the study area. Thus, the study suggested that farmers can be encouraged to practice agroforestry through improved agroforestry extension services, cooperative groups and distribution of quality planting material to farmers.

Effect of Sodic Soil and Water Logged Condition on Forage Crop and Their Application in Breeding

Soil salinity is a growing issue in many parts of U.P. The use of improved salt-tolerant forage grasses assists farmers in increasing production and reclaiming saline soil. Salinity stress reduces crop yield by affecting plant growth and limiting land use. Forage Crops are intrinsically bio diverse. The monitoring, evaluation and research on Forage cultivation must be tailored to this special Sodic Soil farming system. Forage are beneficial for water saving and sometimes it is drought tolerant crops. Therefore they must be viewed as climate change compliant crops. Forages have never been given importance in agriculture by farmers as the area devoted to fodder crops is either neglected or almost constant since many decades and it is about 3% of the total cropped area in the state. About 0.94 m ha area is under forage production and there is no scope of its further expansion because of small land holdings and existing pressure for food and cash crops on agricultural land. However, possibility exists for improvement of productivity through appropriate management practices suited to different ecosystems. Due to industrialisation and habitat use, agricultural land is becoming increasingly scarce as the global population is growing at an alarming rate. In order to meet the need for food, it is necessary to use land that has been impacted by salt. Although traditional breeding has had considerable success, its use is restricted because of obstacles to reproduction and a lack of genetic diversity among the main crops. However, more work is needed to ensure the successful release of salt-tolerant cultivars in the field.

Response of foliage- and ground-dwelling arthropods to insecticide application: Early step for cotton IPM in the Brazilian semiarid

Foliage- and ground-dwelling arthropods provide ecosystem services, including decomposition and biological control of agricultural pests. Despite this, there is little information on the ground-dwelling arthropod community associated with cotton crops and about their role under pest control practices. Identifying these communities and their preservation would assist smallholder cotton growers in considering an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to pest control. In this context, the strategy of using selective- or broad-spectrum insecticides (both applied only once the pests reached an economic threshold) was assessed using field plots set up within non-Bt cotton structured refuge of a grower field measuring the response of both foliage- and ground-dwelling arthropods and yield. The abundance, species richness, dominance indices, and foliage-dwelling predators and pest species and ground-dwelling predators and decomposers were compared between untreated and insecticide treatments, as was the crop yield. In response to pest monitoring, insecticides were applied 5 and 3 times during the 2018 and 2020 growing seasons, respectively. In 2018 and 2020, 16 and 12 foliage-dwelling predator arthropods and 43 and 47 ground-dwelling predator and decomposer arthropods were collected, respectively. During the 2018 season, broad-spectrum insecticide applications reduced the abundance of foliage-dwelling predators, but had no significant impact on the ground-dwelling community. Principal response curves (PRC) indicated a negative impact of broad-spectrum insecticides only on the foliage-dwelling community, particularly among the Formicidae and Araneae species. Insecticide applications in the 2020 season were only required at the end of the crop season and did not significantly influence the foliage- or ground-dwelling communities. The selective insecticide regime yielded as well as the broad-spectrum insecticide regimes higher yielded than untreated plots. These results demonstrated to the small landholders engaging conservation biological control for the first time, the advantages of an IPM approach to pest management.

Trend in Sustainable Mechanization of Indian Agriculture

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the Indian economy contributing 18.5% of national income, about 15% of total exports and supporting two-thirds of the work force. At the same time, biotic and abiotic stresses, degrading and depleting land and water resources and climate change are major challenges for sustainable agricultural production and productivity. The small and marginal land holdings (less than 2.0 ha) account for more than 86% of land holdings. The labour availability in agriculture is expected to go down to 26% of total workforce by 2047. Mechanizing small and non-contiguous group of small farms is against ‘economies of scale’ for individual ownership of farm machinery. With no possibility of increase in net cultivated area and diminishing farm labour availability, intensive agriculture with higher input use efficiency is essential for the growth of Indian agriculture in near future. Farm power and agricultural machinery are essential inputs for sustainable agricultural production and productivity to feed India’s burgeoning population. The intensification of crop production must be sustainable with low environmental footprint. A holistic, value-chain approach is necessary for agricultural mechanization, going beyond green production through precision agriculture and digital agriculture. Precision agriculture for region specific crop planning, controlled precision application of inputs (seeds, fertilisers, chemicals, water, etc), multi-functional farm equipment to conserve energy and to reduce turnaround time, application of drones in agriculture, application of sensors, micro-processor and computer in agriculture are some of the futuristic technologies that need more attention for sustainable agriculture in India. There is a need to simplify these technologies and make them cost-efficient for maximum adoption at the farmers’ level.