Determinants and dynamics of lease land farming in pineapple

Abstract

Land is considered as the most valuable and dependable fixed asset in all economies particularly in developing economies like India. In such economies, due to mismatch in ownership and farming interests, the agricultural production was done under lease arrangements .At the same time the system of lease land farming is prohibited in many states of India including Kerala. But concealed tenancy is widely prevalent in all these states. Under this background, an in-depth study primarily focusing on lease land farming in pineapple was undertaken. The study identified the details on structure and dynamics of lease land farming market and determined the important factors that influence the decision to lease out. It also assessed the management differences between owner operated farms and leased-in farms. The problems faced by the lessors and lessees were identified as well. The study was conducted in the Muvattupuzha Block Panchayath of Ernakulam district, which is the major centre for pineapple farming. The samples were selected following a Multi stage Random Sampling method and data was collected from 120 respondents of three identified groups viz., own farm cultivators, lessors and lessees, with 40 members in each group. A pretested, structured interview schedule prepared separately for each group was used for data collection. The major tools for data analysis were Garrett Ranking Technique, Logit model and Discriminant Analysis. In the study area, pineapple was mainly being taken as an intercrop in rubber plantations. As such, there are two situations of lease land pineapple farming. Situation I- pineapple is grown in land where rubber is proposed to grow for the first time. Situation II- pineapple cultivated in slaughter tapped rubber plantations. Under situation II, three rent payment systems were noticed viz., cash alone, planting and management of rubber and management of rubber along with a cash payment. Half of the lessees were paying the rent as cash alone. The average rent for different situations ranged from Rs.67,031 to 88,888 per hectare. The average leasing period was 3.5 years, which included the time for clearing the field. Mostly, the payment was effected in advance, in the beginning of each year. The lessors (90 per cent) insist on signing a written agreement following the pattern of civil contracts, though it is not formally registered. In 10 per cent cases there was only verbal agreements. The decision of lessor to lease out was influenced by several factors, of which the size of holding was identified as the most important one, as revealed by the statistical analysis employing the logistic regression model. As the size of holding increases, the land owners tend to lease out their land. There was considerable difference in the management practices followed in the owner operated and leased-in farms. In the owner operated farms, more of organic inputs were used and as such they were more inclined towards sustainable line of farming whereas chemical fertilisers were intensively used in leased-in farms. By employing the Discriminant Analysis, out of the seven significant factors, total operational holdings, fertiliser cost and organic input cost were identified as the important factors that differentiate the owner operated and leased-in farms. The cost of cultivation (Cost C2) in leased-in farms was estimated at Rs.4,22,114 as compared to the owned farms (Rs.3,86,139). Similarly, the yield obtained from leased-in farms was 20 per cent higher than the owner operated farms and the net income realised was nearly 12 per cent higher. Though lease land farming is extensively being practiced in the area, both the land owners and the lessees face several problems. In case of the lessors, the anxiety on probable land degradation due to soil erosion, intensive chemical usage causing environmental hazards and abandoning the crop at low price situations were found to be the major ones. On the other hand, difficulty in availing quality land, social resistance on application of poultry waste, exorbitant rent rates and difficulty in availing agricultural credit and subsidies were the serious problems faced by the lessees. The social situation in the area demands promotion of lease land farming by providing legal support. At the same time, stringent conditions should be specified on the lease agreement to ensure sustainable management. To facilitate compliance of the same, a monitoring and supervisory mechanism also needs to be formulated. The need for a dispute resolution mechanism is also underlined. Thus, it can be summarised that, the lease land farming system can facilitate to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of land and supplement the agricultural production in the state.