Most villagers fall into three groups: large farmers, small-scale farmers, and landless peasants. Large farmers own large plots and employ landless peasants while focusing on modern farming. Small-scale farmers cultivate a few acres themselves but with traditional methods and crops, producing just enough for their needs. Landless peasants work seasonally on other people's land for wages, often struggling without work for parts of the year.

1. CHAPTER 30
RURAL LIVELIHOODS

2. Most of the people in
the villages are either
• The large farmers
• Farmers with small land
holdings
• The landless peasants

3. THE
LARGE
FARMERS

4. Click to add text
• In a village, there is a small group of people who own large areas
of land.
• They are rich farmers and have a lot of money. They do not work
on land themselves but employ landless peasants to work on
their lands.
• The landless peasants are paid wages.
• The rich farmers use their money to buy modern machines and
tools to increase agricultural production.

5. FARMERS WITH SMALL LAND HOLDINGS

6. • These group of people own only a few acres of land. They
cultivate the land themselves.
• They cultivate only a few types of crops on their land and are able
to produce very little on their land.
• They produce enough to fulfill their needs and sell the little that is
leftover in the market.
• Their landholdings are small and do not use modern methods of
agriculture.
• They still use cattle to perform their agricultural functions.

7. • As the work on the land is seasonal, these farmers go to
the cities to sell vegetables till the crops on their lands
are ready.
• Weeding, hoeing, milling on the fields are done by
women.
• These farmers are always indebted to moneylenders in
village because they borrow money from them to buy
seeds, fertilizers and pesticides and also when their
crops fail due to scanty rainfall.

8. THE
LANDLESS
PEASANTS

9. • These group of people work on the land that belongs to
other people.
• They work for long hours in fields in tough conditions.
• As the work is seasonal, they are without work for a large
part of the year.
• They are mostly not educated. Some of them try to take
up other jobs.