Maharashtra agricultural households have highest land holding, Meghalaya leads in leased land farming
Maharashtra agricultural households have the highest land holdings in the country with an average of 1.34 hectares. While families in Ladakh have the least, with 0.22 hectare. In Meghalaya, 31 percent of agricultural households do farming on leased land, while Haryana has the highest number of agricultural households leasing out their land
A recent report from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) reveals that agricultural households in Maharashtra owns the highest average landholding in India, with an average of 1.34 hectares. In contrast, agricultural households in Ladakh have the lowest average landholding at just 0.22 hectare. When it comes to farming on lease, Meghalaya tops the list, with 31 percent of agricultural households practicing this method. In comparison, Haryana has the highest percentage of agricultural households leasing land at 9.3 percent. The findings are part of the All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS) for 2021-22.
The NABARD report further highlights other states with significant land ownership among agricultural households including Rajasthan with an average of 1.32 hectares, while Nagaland holds 1.27 hectares. Other states include Madhya Pradesh with 1.21 hectare and Goa with 1.20 hectares. Additionally, agricultural households in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab each average 0.97 hectare, while Karnataka has 0.94 hectare. Odisha and Uttar Pradesh report average landholdings of 0.51 hectare and 0.37 hectare, respectively.
Ladakh has the least area of land for agricultural households. Further down the list, agricultural households in Bihar have 0.29 hectare of land, Uttarakhand has 0.33 hectare, West Bengal has 0.35 hectare, Himachal Pradesh has 0.39 hectare, Kerala has 0.43 hectare, and Haryana has 0.55 hectare of land.
According to the report, agricultural households in India possess 12 times more land than non-agricultural households. The average land ownership for agricultural households stands at 0.70 hectare, while non-agricultural households hold only 0.06 hectare.
When looking at land ownership among all households, Nagaland is at the top, with households owning 0.95 hectare of land. After that, households in Rajasthan own 0.88 hectare, Maharashtra 0.80 hectare, Madhya Pradesh 0.79 hectare, Gujarat 0.57 hectare, and Karnataka 0.56 hectare of land.
In terms of farming on lease, Meghalaya leads with 31 percent of agricultural households engaging in this practice. After that, 25 percent of agricultural households in Bihar, 18 percent in Manipur, 16 percent in Maharashtra, and 15 percent in Odisha do farming by taking land on lease. In terms of leasing out the land, after Haryana, 4 percent of agricultural households in Arunachal Pradesh, 4.2 percent in Tamil Nadu, 3.9 percent in Kerala, and 3 percent in Bihar lease out their land.
The report shows that 7.9 percent of agricultural households in the country have taken land on lease, while only 2 percent of families have leased out their land.
