Survival off Stamp Size Plots

According to Agriculture Census 2000-01, two-thirds (64.34%) of the 11.6 million land holdings in Bihar are smaller than 2000 sq. meters (i.e. 0.5 acres). These sub-half acre holdings account for nearly 20% of the total cultivable area in the state and their average size is just 760 sq. meters (0.19 acres).  I wonder how the rice-wheat cropping system, predominant in Bihar, can be sustained on such stamp sized plots.

Elsewhere smallholders are diversifying to high value crops and crop based activities (like dairying) to eke out a living off their tiny plots. But that does not seem to be happening in Bihar. Here rice-wheat system continues to dominate agriculture. Rice-Wheat cropping on such small plots, with yields as low as they are in Bihar (rice+wheat<4 tons/ha), cannot provide enough food or employment. These 7.5 million smallholder families must be supplementing their incomes from other activities–like working in others’ fields and migrating to villages and cities of other states of India–just to survive. If so, then the claim that 3/4th of the working population in rural Bihar is employed mainly in agriculture becomes suspect. It may still be true, but it definitely requires closer scrutiny.