Inequalities in Distribution of Operational Holdings in Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh being a Himalayan state with hilly terrains and tough geographic conditions suffers from multiplicity of problems. Unlike rest part of the country the agriculture sector in Himachal Pradesh plays more important role in the lives of its people. The objectives of this research are to investigate the trends of land holdings distribution in Himachal Pradesh and to examine the inter-district differentials in land holdings in Himachal Pradesh. The data was collected from various secondary sources like: NSSO and agricultural census reports. Compound Annual Growth Rate was used to explain the growth rate and Gini coefficient used to explain the inequalities in operational holdings. The number of marginal and small farmers increased faster than the area under these farmers, shows the large amount of tiny operational holdings in Himachal Pradesh. In some districts noticed a reduction in inequalities in distribution of operational holdings, whereas other reaming districts have been of change in the reduction in the inequalities. Whereas, in Kinnaur district inequalities in distribution of operational holdings have been increased. the major institution changes are the breaking-up of the joint family system while major legislation are the two phases of land ceiling to support small farms. The other complementary factors are heavily dependence on agricultural for livelihood, and legislation development in cropping system and productivity. To make agricultural sector more sufficient and to decline these tiny operational holdings it is necessary to reduce this over dependence on agricultural by developing the both secondary and tertiary sectors to provide the greater amount of employment opportunities in the both sectors. Keywords: Operational Holdings, Inequalities, Farmers