Approach 

Introduction: Highlight the declining land holdings through facts

Body:

Heading 1: Problems with land fragmentation: Give some specific points.

Heading 2: Reasons for land fragmentation: Give some specific points

Heading 3: Measures: Provide some suggestions as highlighted by NITI Aayog and other experts.

Conclusion: Highlight the need to consolidate land holdings in doubling farmers income

Answer:

The average size of operational landholding reduced from 2.3 hectares in 1970-71 to 1.08 hectares in 2015-16. Small and marginal farmers, constituting 86% of the farming community, possess only 48% of agricultural land.

Problems with land fragmentation:

• Rise in Input Cost: Application of inputs like seeds and fertilizer is inefficient on smaller plots of land.
• Poor Productivity: Smaller landholdings have limited scope for mechanization. Farmers with small landholdings mainly practice subsistence agriculture, limiting the scope of investment in land.
• Lower price realization: Farmers have lower bargaining power when they have low allocable surplus. Moreover, they face higher risks in cases of monocropping due to the vagaries of weather.

Reasons for Land Fragmentation:

• Land Reforms: Redistribution of land among small and marginal farmers has led to fragmentation of land. Moreover, many people gave land to their relatives to evade these redistribution policies.
• Inheritance laws: Equal distribution of land among heirs, as mandated by inheritance laws in some regions, can result in the division of land into smaller plots across successive generations.
• Breakdown of Joint Families: Joint families possessed larger operational landholdings, and all the members of the family worked on the same field. However, the rise of nuclear families has led to the fragmentation of land holdings and the division of property.
• Rising Population: There is increased pressure on agricultural land on two fronts – diversion of land for non-agricultural purposes and providing food to the rising population.

Measures to address the Issue of Land Fragmentation:

• Legalize Land tenancy: Land leasing in agriculture is prohibitive in most states. This gives rise to fallow land. Legalizing land leasing can consolidate landholding (NITI Aayog).
• Formation of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs): Small and marginal farmers having contiguous landholding can be encouraged to form FPOs and undertake collaborative farming.
• Land Banks: Specialized banks can be set up in rural areas to lease fallow land to needy individuals.
• Contract Farming: Whole villages may be given the responsibility to produce a particular crop under a contract. It will lead to practical consolidation of land without a change in ownership.

For any land-related scheme of the government to succeed, the core issue of inadequate land availability must be tackled. Unless concrete steps are taken to address the ever-prevalent issue of landholding, the government's agenda of doubling farmers' income will not materialize into reality.