Revisiting the relationship between farm mechanization and labour requirement in India

Abstract

In many developing and emerging economies, better employment opportunities in the non-farm sector have increased rural wages due to labour shortages during the peak agricultural season. Increasing wages often cause a substitution of labour for mechanical power, but extensive use of labour-saving technologies may cause labour displacement and have serious equity concerns. Using the household and individual fixed effect estimation approach, this paper analyses the relationship between different types of farm machines and labour requirements in India. The results suggest that a unit increase in the level of farm mechanization increases the demand for hired labour by 12%. Moreover, we find that the level of farm mechanization has a positive effect on women’s participation in farm work, while it decreases the probability of children participating in agriculture-related work. Disaggregated analysis based on types of farm machinery suggests that water-lifting equipment, draft power and tractors increase the probability of male household members working on their farms, while all types of farm machines, except tractors, have a positive effect on female farm labour participation. We also find that the effect of farm mechanization on the demand for hired labour decreases as the size of the farm increases.

Mechanization and sustainable agri-food system transformation in the Global South. A review

“…Labor demand may then increase for not yet mechanized activities such as weeding and harvesting as farmers expand the area under cultivation or intensify and raise yields (Binswanger 1986;Pingali 2007). In India, Rajkhowa and Kubik (2021) found that the use of tractors and draft animals increased hired labor use by 12% due to area expansion and higher input use. Similar second-round effects have been observed in Botswana (Panin 1995) • Declining labor input, and rising unemployment: However, there are also cases where mechanization can lead to unemployment.…”

Historical Evolution of Cattle Management and Herd Health of Dairy Farms in OECD Countries

“…In 1900, 41% of the US workforce was employed in agriculture, but in 2000, only 2% were employed in this primary sector [ 13 ]. This was due to the increasing mechanization of the sector, reaching mass production records [ 14 ]. In the EU, the dairy sector represents approximately 12% of the output coming from agriculture [ 15 ].…”

Agricultural mechanization and sustainable agrifood system transformation in the Global South

“…Labour input may then increase for not yet mechanized activities such as weeding and harvesting as farmers expand the area under cultivation or intensify and raise yields (Binswanger, 1986;Pingali, 2007). In India, Rajkhowa and Kubik (2021) found that the use of tractors and draft animals increased hired labour use by 12 percent due to area expansion and higher input use. Similar second-round effects have been observed in Botswana (Panin, 1995), Ghana (Benin, 2015;Kirui, 2019;Cossar, 2019), Niger and Zimbabwe (Kirui, 2019), and Zambia (Adu-Baffour, Daum and Birner, 2019).…”