Unveiling the Hidden Farmers of India: A Call for Change

to the NSS 77th Round Situation Assessment Survey (2018-2019), these households earn between Rs 6,650 and Rs 8,171 monthly, with over half carrying an average debt of Rs 74,121. Alarmingly, only 52% of these paddy farmers can sell their crops, often relying on local traders rather than formal procurement channels. The gender aspect complicates the scenario further. The PLFS 2023-2024 indicates that 76.95% of rural women workers are involved in agriculture, with an ICAR study revealing that women contribute 75% of crop production, 79% in horticulture, and 95% in animal husbandry and fisheries. Yet, the Agriculture Census 2015-2016 shows that only 13.96% of operational holdings are registered under women’s names, accounting for a mere 11.72% of total land area. Out of the 9.35 crore farmers receiving PM-KISAN income support, only 2.15 crore are women, highlighting the widening gap between actual farmers and those recognized as such. These individuals are not merely peripheral to the economy; they are central to it—if only the policy framework would acknowledge them. The FAO estimates that closing the gender gap in agriculture could increase output by 2.5-4% in developing countries and alleviate hunger for 100-150 million people. Expanding this analysis to encompass all marginal farmers reveals a broader exclusion from access to credit, agricultural extension services, quality seeds, irrigation, and market opportunities, translating into lost agricultural GDP worth hundreds of billions of rupees annually. How did such a significant portion of the agricultural workforce become invisible? This can be traced back to a series of policy decisions. The colonial land revenue system equated 'farmer' with 'title-holder.' The inaugural Agricultural Census (1970-1971) categorized holdings by size but relied on outdated land records, particularly in eastern India. The green revolution directed public investments—such as high-yield variety seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, credit, and Minimum Support Price (MSP) procurement—towards irrigated regions, systematically excluding marginal farmers in rainfed areas. Attempts to rectify this, such as the establishment of the Small Farmer Development Agency and Marginal Farmer and Agricultural Labourers Agency in 1971, were ultimately absorbed into broader poverty alleviation programs, sidelining the specific challenges faced by marginal farmers. Their unique agricultural issues—such as soil, water, inputs, and market access—have been neglected in policy discussions. The Swaminathan Commission sought to mitigate this exclusion by proposing a comprehensive, gender-neutral definition of 'farmer' that echoes the 2026 Bill, which includes landless laborers, sharecroppers, tenant farmers, fisherfolk, and livestock rearers. However, the shift towards 'farmer welfare' has complicated matters. Programs like PM-KISAN require land documentation, which leaves between 2.4 crore and 5.37 crore tenant and landless farming families without support. The Kisan Credit Card mandates ownership documentation, and crop insurance also necessitates recorded holdings. This welfare approach, built upon colonial-era evidentiary standards, perpetuates the same exclusions it aims to rectify. The repercussions are far-reaching; low incomes among marginal farmers lead to diminished rural consumption, with a rural-urban monthly per capita consumption expenditure gap of 70%. This lack of demand for local goods and services triggers distress migration, exacerbates labor shortages in agriculture, and contributes to declining productivity. The cycle continues, with millions leaving agricultural employment between 2004-2005 and 2009-2010, many transitioning into precarious gig and construction jobs—highlighting how India’s broader jobs crisis is fundamentally linked to the marginal farmer crisis. Investing in marginal farmers may prove less financially burdensome than the current agricultural support system. These farmers are heavily involved in high-value agriculture sectors such as horticulture, livestock, poultry, fisheries, and spices. Data reveals that smaller landholders often earn more from livestock than from crop cultivation. India stands as the world’s largest milk producer and the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables, predominantly driven by marginal farmers who receive scant targeted support. These sectors largely operate outside the MSP framework, negating the need for price supports from central reserves, procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), or the extensive food subsidy expenditures associated with the rice-wheat system. Instead, what marginal farmers require are access to markets, cold storage solutions, aggregation services, quality inputs, and credit—investments that yield returns through market interactions rather than dependency on subsidies. A modest monthly income boost of Rs 2,000 for 100 million households could inject Rs 2.4 lakh crores annually into the rural economy, with most of this income likely circulating locally due to high marginal propensities to consume. In conclusion, the 2026 women farmers Bill represents a positive step forward, especially with its provisions for gram panchayat certification, the separation of entitlements from land ownership, and the requirement for gender-disaggregated data. The recent announcement of a parallel state-level women farmers Bill in Maharashtra, which includes initiatives for drone training and AI in agriculture, indicates a shifting political landscape. However, the current formulation of the Bill only addresses the gender aspect of a more extensive structural exclusion. The proposed definitional shift—prioritizing farming activity over land ownership as the basis for defining a farmer—should encompass the entire marginal farmer demographic: male and female, landowners and tenants, documented and undocumented. While the necessary institutional framework exists, what is lacking is a coordinated effort to align credit, extension services, market linkages, and digital resources around the marginal farmer as the focal point of agricultural policy. For India to achieve developed nation status by 2047, it cannot afford to overlook the 100 million households that form the backbone of its agricultural workforce, underpin rural demand, and drive significant migration flows. Swaminathan recognized this necessity in 2011, and the new Bill acknowledges it for women. This logic must be applied universally. Marginal farmers are not merely welfare recipients in need of subsidies; they are a pivotal force that India has yet to leverage. The road to a prosperous Bharat must traverse their fields; otherwise, it will lead nowhere.