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Landowners as Non-farm Workers: A Case of Small Farmer Migrants in Karnataka

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Land and Livelihoods in Neoliberal India

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Abstract

Based on a household survey among a sample of small farmers from different parts of Karnataka who had migrated to various urban areas of the state, this chapter maps characteristics of farmer migrants, to understand the direct and indirect drivers behind farmers’ decision to migrate and to examine how they fare with a switch in occupation and location. Multi-fold and long-term agrarian crisis on the one side and urban opportunities on the other, result in small farm holders switching to non-farm occupations. Relatively better infrastructure, muted caste hierarchy and employment options for the whole family provide a pull towards the city. More often, small farmers are pushed to migration by ecological changes, indebtedness, land acquisition or social conflicts, with varied and unpredictable changes in their quality of life.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Sharma R. (2004) A history of migration. Frontline, 21(24) – 3 December 2004. (Accessed on 2 August 2019 at https://frontline.thehindu.com/static/html/fl2124/stories/20041203001905400.htm).

  2. 2.

    ‘From highly drought prone Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, migration increased between 1980 and 2001 to Bengaluru, where wages were Rs. 100 to 150 per day, nearly three times the local wage’ (Rao 2001 in Deshingkar 2008).

  3. 3.

    Annual average gross domestic product growth for Karnataka during the years from 1999 to 2010 was 13.9 per cent compared to 7.52 per cent for the country during the same time.

  4. 4.

    About 48.9 per cent of land holdings is with OBCs.

  5. 5.

    Herds of private vehicles during these months transport migrant farmers from interior villages along with the minimum essentials required for 4–5 months. Special trips are made from drought-hit villages to ferry passengers to Bangalore, Goa and Belgaum. Usually, one member from each family moves out in search of job (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/specials/drought-the-distress-in-rural-karnataka/article8528948.ece).

  6. 6.

    Shaikh Z (2016) Every 3rd Indian migrant, most headed south. The Indian Express, 5 December 2016 (accessed on 2 August 2019 at https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/tamil-nadu-kerala-daily-wages-migrant-population-4410694/).

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, for supporting the study. Siddhartha Lodha, Sridhar Bellubbi and Ashwatha Gowda supported us with data collection. We sincerely thank farmers and farmer migrants in the study sites for actively partaking in the discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India

    Sheetal Patil & Seema Purushothaman

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  1. Sheetal Patil
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Correspondence to Sheetal Patil .

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  1. Centre for the Study of Regional Development School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Deepak K. Mishra

  2. Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

    Pradeep Nayak

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Patil, S., Purushothaman, S. (2020). Landowners as Non-farm Workers: A Case of Small Farmer Migrants in Karnataka. In: Mishra, D., Nayak, P. (eds) Land and Livelihoods in Neoliberal India. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3511-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3511-6_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

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