In 1 to 2 ha of farm size, surplus crops for marketing are not generated. Even for the farmers having 10 ha of farmland, the rate of marketable crops is only 67%. In view of the fact that the average farming area in this province is only 0.86 ha, only less than a quarter of that in Punjab, and its productivity is only a third that in Punjab, it is clear that even an average farmer has difficulties in self-sufficiency. The trend of the market price of crops must be a major concern for the farmers with surplus crops, but the market nexus in the form of sale of surplus crops is greatly affected by the farmland areas managed by farmers as well as the region they belong to.
Accordingly, the farmers' reactions against the market prices of crops vary depending on the degree of the market nexus.
Let us now review agricultural inputs. Table 1-9 compares the production-cost structures for rice in the developed northwest states and Bihar. The proportions, against the total production costs, of modern input resources, that require cash expenditure for farm equipment, seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and irrigation, is 59.47% in Punjab and 43.87% in Haryana, while that in Bihar is only 19.53%. The degree of the market nexus with regard to inputs modern is also higher in the north western area of India, and lower in poor states including Bihar. Consequently, the farmers promoting the Green Revolution feel greater concern over the trend of prices of the modern inputs, which are affected by, agricultural policies.
Attention should be paid to not only increased food production as an effect of the Revolution, but also the strengthened market nexus of farmers in terms of both marketable surplus and modern inputs such as chemical fertilizer. The market nexus, in conjunction with regional differences in diffusion of the Revolution and the size of landholding, diversified stakes of farmers involved in the agricultural policies. A policy of raising market prices of crops, for example, could please the farmers in the northwestern India, but would not induce any increase in production by the Bihar farmers with no marketable surplus crops.
