Dr. R. L. ShiyaniJitendra C. Satasiya2017-05-262017-05-262009-04http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810012580The skewed distribution of land leads to low per capita income, stagnant growth and related socio-economic evils. The size of land holding gives an indication of the broad magnitude of pressure of population on land and the average unit of cultivation. The small and marginal farmers, landless agricultural labourers and other weaker sections of the society continue to form the vast majority of the poor who cannot afford to meet even their minimum nutritional requirement. This study is therefore an attempt to examine the change in structure of land holding and its impact on agricultural development in Gujarat. District-wise secondary data on various parameters were collected and compiled from the Agricultural Census reports for the periods from 1970-71 to 2000-01. The Markov chain model was used to study the shift in land holding pattern and thereby gain an understanding about the dynamics of the changes. It was found that, the trend of holdings was going from large to medium and semi-medium farmers in Gujarat. It is interesting to note that during 1970-71 to 1975-76 large farmers had lost 7.18 lakh hectares areas which have reduced to 40 thousand farmers from large farmers’ category in Gujarat. The increase in number was comparatively higher than the area indicating a decrease in average size of marginal holding during the study period. It was found that in Kutchh, the medium and large farmers together formed 70 per cent area in the year 2000-01. This is not good sign for Kutchh district because low fertility of land and lack of irrigation facility have resulted in low development of agriculture. The small farmers hold around 25 per cent area (2000-01) in two districts namely Junagadh and Rajkot. In Kheda district, marginal farmers hold 55 per cent number of total farmers in 2000-01. The four districts of North Gujarat hold more than 30 per cent area under small holding category in 2000-01. The marginal farmer covered more than 15 per cent area in Gandhinagar, Mehasana and Sabarkantha districts in 2000-01. In Dang district, the medium and large farmers dominated in land area whereas the number of farmers was found the highest in medium and semi-medium categories. Semi-medium and medium farmers covered more than fifty per cent area in Bharuch, Surat and Valsad districts. In case of operational holders, it was found that more than 65 per cent was hold by marginal and small farmers. The exponential function was used to measure annual compound growth rates in area, production and productivity of the major foodgrain crops. It was observed that wheat registered the highest rate of growth in production viz. 3.19 per cent per annum in Gujarat. The growth rate in productivity was mainly contributed towards wheat production. It was found the highest in Vadodara district (2.83%). The growth of area under wheat crop was found the highest in Gandhinagar (4.48%). The growth rate in paddy production was found highest (12.44%) in Gandhinagar district. It was mainly due to increase in area under rice at 8.14 per cent rate and productivity at 4.02 per cent per annum. The decomposition model formulated by Sharma (1977) was used to measure the relative contribution of different components towards the increase in production of the foodgrain crops. The production of bajra increased at 0.84 per cent per annum in Gujarat which was mainly attributed by the increase in productivity. In fact, the rate of growth of area under bajra was negative in almost all the districts of the state. The price played vital role in enhancing wheat, paddy and bajra production in all the region and Gujarat as a whole. The yield effect was the second highest contributor in wheat production. With the change in base period the contribution of different components towards foodgrain production also changes. Performance index were computed to examine the temporal change in performance of agriculture. For the entire duration of the study period, the highest performance of agriculture was recorded in 1983-84 (1.96%) in Gujarat as a whole. During 1962-63 to 1964-65, the performance of agriculture was found to be the highest in Kutchh and Saurashtra regions. The performance index of Saurashtra region ranged from 1.01 per cent in 1987-88 to 2.07 per cent in 1963-64. Creation of economically viable small farmer holdings, imposition of land ceiling on further fragmentation, promoting co-operatives among the farmers, vigorous efforts to create non-farm employment opportunities in rural areas, diversification of farm activities, setting up of a land management board are the major suggestions of study.eneconomicsThesis