Comparative Analysis of Prosperity and Indebtedness among Farmers in Punjab: A case study of Highly Developed and Least Developed Districts

Abstract

Indebtedness among farmers is a regional phenomenon. Poverty and prosperity both in one way or the other are responsible for the debt situation of farmers in Punjab. For this analysis, on the basis of taxonomic methodology, a highly developed district i.e district SBS Nagar and least developed district i.e. district Gurdaspur has been chosen for the survey. A proportionate random sampling has been done on the basis of agricultural census 2004-05. The prosperity level of a farmer is judged on the basis of land he owns. A strong positive relationship has been found between prosperity and debt situation of farmers. Data reveals that marginal and small farmers are heavily burdened in district Gurdaspur as compare to district SBS Nagar. While for other categories of farmers burden of debt is more on farmers of SBS Nagar. In case of incidence of debt, it is higher for semi-medium, medium and large farmers of district Gurdaspur and for marginal and small farmers higher incidence is observed in district SBS Nagar in comparison with district Gurdaspur.