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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Shortage of migrant labour but Punjab’s own farm hands are 48% underutilised, says study by Amrita Chaudhry

Shortage of migrant labour but Punjab’s own farm hands are 48% underutilised, says study by Amrita Chaudhry

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published Published on Oct 25, 2010   modified Modified on Oct 25, 2010

Economists’ report says tractors are used for just 178 hrs a year and electric motors are overused

That Punjab faces an acute labour shortage each paddy season is a known and established fact. But not many know that 48.66 per cent of the total ‘family labour’ — members of a farmer’s family — available for agriculture remains underutilised in the state.

A study of the resources employed in Punjab agriculture throws up interesting facts. The highest magnitude of underutilisation of migrant labour is on large farms (50.70%) and lowest on small farms (45.43%). As is the case of labour, farmers in Punjab face a shortage of tractors, too, though these are used for only 178 hours a year — only to 17.27 per cent of their capacity. And tractors are used more on big farms and usually during the sowing and harvesting of crops.

These figures are part of the study titled, A study into the Economics of Farming and Pattern of Income and Expenditure Distribution in Punjab Agriculture, conducted by economists Dr Sukhpal Singh, Dr V K Sharma and H S Khingra of the Department of Economics, Punjab Agricultural University.

The study says ‘combines’, a machine that is used only during harvesting and has taken away employment from a large number of farm labourers, work for only 11.59 hours a year, and more than three fourth (11.85%) of the diesel engines available in the state are lying idle. The only resource used more than required is electric motors and this has much to do with the fact that power comes free to farmers in Punjab. The use of electric motors is close to 100.35 hours per hectare, and it is the large farmers who use them the most (110.55%), while the usage is mere 27.70% by marginal farmers.

Dr Sukhpal Singh says: “This study has thrown open a lot of interesting features. The belief that the farm family labour is surplus on the Punjab farms and despite this a large magnitude of hired labour is at work called for a look at the utilisation of labour. Green Revolution has given Punjab agriculture a huge share of mechanisation. Tractors, diesel engines, electric motors and threshers are a commonplace. It is generally said agriculture of Punjab is over capitalised and so it had become very important to examine the extent to which we were utilising or underutilising our resources.”


The Indian Express, 26 October, 2010, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Shortage-of-migrant-labour-but-Punjab-s-own-farm-hands-are-48--underutilised--says-study/702459/


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