Land reform refers to the changes in which the agricultural land is held, and it is cultivated so as to achieve the economic objectivesDue to the exploitative nature of British land revenue policies, post Independence India observed very high inequality in land ownership, with the small and marginal farmers being the worst affectedThe way land reforms helped improve the socio economic conditions of marginal and small farmers can be understood as following.
Abolition of Intermediaries: It included abolition of Zamindari, Ryotwari and Mahalwari systems checking the debt trap and dispossession of land of small farmers.
Also, politically small and marginal farmers got united
Tenancy Reform: It ensured Rent Regulation, Security of land tenure and conferment of ownership rights on tenants. This helped in investment in irrigation seeds and fertilisers.
Ceiling on Landholdings: Redistribution of lands from big landlords to landless labourers
Consolidation of landholdings
Cooperative farming – Here farmers pool their resources and distribute the income as per their share. This reduced input cost, allowed scaling of cultivation and access to large credit while minimising risk in case of crop failure (Kudumbashree model in Kerala)
Land Records: Digitization of Land Records helps in reducing litigation
Despite the overwhelming benefits of land reforms, there are some of the challenges associated with it –
Lack of pan India implementation of land reforms due to legal loopholes like Benami
Lengthy and cumbersome nature of land reforms
Lack of conclusive land titling system
Way Forward –
Implementation of model Agricultural land leasing act, Model land title act, etc
