Breaking a long-held economic rule, big farms in India have actually become more productive than small ones.
SSRN · March 17, 2026 · 6305798
The Takeaway
For decades, development economists believed small farms were more efficient because families worked their own land more intensely. This study reveals that demographic pressure and land fragmentation have finally broken that system, making larger, consolidated plots the new leaders in yield and profitability.
From the abstract
This paper revisits the relatively less talked about but yet vehemently argued debate in Indian agriculture compared to earlier, concerning the relationship between farm size and productivity. It then extends the analysis to related dimensions such as profitability and labour use across different farm-size categories so as to through light of the quality of life of the farmers. Using plot-level data from the Cost of Cultivation Surveys for 2021-22, conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fa