Only over 5K farmers own more than 25 acres: Report

HYDERABAD: Only 5,861 farmers out of the 65 lakh farmers in the state own more than 25 acres of agricultural land each, with a miniscule 0.09 per cent holding the lion’s share, according to the TS Statistical Abstract (atlas) 2022 released on Wednesday.

Over 73 per cent of the farmers own lands less than 2.5 acres each, the data showed.

Of the 5,861, 56 are from SC communities, 123 are from the ST groups, 1,015 are from BC families and 4,667 are from other categories.

According to the data, farmers of backward classes (BCs) communities owned 48 per cent of the agricultural land, while those from the Scheduled Castes (STs) groups accounted for just nine per cent of the total. Farmers from other categories hold 30 per cent of farmland while STs own around 13 per cent.

The state has total agricultural land of 1.46 crore acres. Of this, the abstract said, 34,80,994 BC community farmers own 71.47 lakh acres, 8,23,799 ST community farmers 19.29 lakh acres and 8,54,151 SC community farmers account for 13.53 lakh acres.

The abstract said that 13,41,342 landowners from other categories accounted for the remaining 44.41 lakh acres.

According to the data, SC communities, mostly comprising Dalits, were lagging behind other sections in land ownership, which gave credence to the state government’s decision to extend Rs 10 lakh aid to SC families under the Dalit Bandhu scheme.

In 2022, the state government distributed Rs 7,434 crore under the Rythu Bandhu to each of the 65,00,286 farmers for the Kharif season, at the rate of Rs 5,000 per acre.

Of this, BC community farmers received Rs 3,573 crore, STs Rs 964 crore and SC community farmers received Rs 676 crore, while other categories accounted for the remaining Rs 2,220 crore.

The data further identified 47,86,161 as marginal farmers, holding less than 2.47 acres each, while small farmers (holding 2.48-4.94 acres) were 11,50,339, semi-medium farmers (holding 4.95-9.88 acres) were 4,73,387 and medium farmers (owning 9.89-24.75 acres) were 84,558 in number. Large farmers, holding over 24.78 acres, were 5,681 in total.

Who owns how much:

TS Statistical Abstract gives a break-up of land holdings.

48%: BC farmers

34,80,994 BC farmers own 71.47 lakh acres

13%: ST farmers

8,23,799 ST farmers own 19.29 lakh acres

9%: SC farmers

8,54,151 SC farmers own 13.53 lakh acres

30%: Other communities

13,41,342 Others own 44.41 lakh acres