Agrarian Change, Farm Size, Tenancy and Land Fragmentation in India's Semi-Arid Tropics

Much of the prevailing wisdom about agrarian change in South Asia stems from perceptions about and experiences in irrigated agriculture, particularly in the indo-Gangetic plain. Views about the 'frozen', uncompetitive nature of land markets, economic polarization, distress sales as a means to accumulate land, increasing landlessness, landlords' exploitation of tenants, and extreme fragmentation of holdings are common (Myrdal. 1968; Ladejinsky, 1965)