Size, Composition, and Other Aspects of Rural Income in the Semi-Arid Tropics of India

摘要

Pitifully low farm incomes in semiarid, tropical India adversely affect human welfare and limit farmers' access to credit. This paper presents preliminary findings from the Village Level Studies (VLS) of rural income in six villages in three broad agroclimatic regions of semiarid tropical India. The average median net annual income in the villages for cropping years 1975-76 through 1977-78 was less than $50, with only 8% of 240 sampled household having per capita income above $150 - the average income in India for 1976.