Mapping the Pluralities of Agrarian Change in India: The Role of Intermediaries and Caste–Tribe Relations in Jharkhand

Abstract

The agricultural economy of Jharkhand is primarily understood to be ‘subsistence’ agriculture. However, an ongoing agrarian change in rural Jharkhand has drawn less academic attention. This substantial change is from indigenous seeds to high-yielding varieties of paddy seeds enabling food sufficiency in the villages to a larger extent. In addition, the introduction of commercial crops like vegetables, watermelons and marigolds is another attendant change. This article is concerned with ethnographic fieldwork in two neighbouring villages of district—Khunti of Jharkhand, where farmers have been influenced by intermediaries (both old and new) restricted to State, NGOs and private companies (agricultural input suppliers). Also, the introduction of various governmental schemes, such as the ‘Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI)’ programme, a part of ‘National Food Security Mission’ and ‘Special-Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana’, has encouraged agrarian change in rural Jharkhand. Despite Jharkhand being a low agricultural productivity region, there is a proliferated presence of transnational connections such as agribusiness companies and research institutions linked to State institutions and NGOs to form a new set of agricultural intermediaries. These agricultural intermediaries at the regional level in the Khunti district influence the crop choice, cropping pattern and usage of inputs (seeds, fertilisers and pesticides). The study also tries to understand agrarian (labour) relations among caste–tribe communities of rural Jharkhand.