Contents: Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction. 2. Knowledge, awareness, preferences and behaviour. 3. Crop insurance. 4. Services of cooperatives. 5. Sources of seeds and seed replacement. 6. Usual practice of seed replacement. 7. Use of inputs. 8. Fertilisers and pesticides. 9. Veterinary services. 10. Adequacy and quality. 11. Distance. 12. Testing facility. 13. Land used for different kinds of farming. 14. Inter-state variations in the use of land. 15. Differences among social groups in use of land for farming. 16. Differences in use of land for farming among farmer households across size of holding. 17. Area irrigated from different sources: all crops. 18. State-wise area irrigated from different sources: all crops. 19. Energy used for farming and other activities: ploughing. 20. Energy use: irrigation. 21. Energy use: harvesting. 22. Energy use: threshing. 23. Access to modern technology: sources of information. 24. Quality of information received. 25. Adoption of recommended practice. 26. Suggestion for improvement in extension services. 27. Consumption and poverty among farmer households. 28. State wise differences in consumption of cereals. 29. Poverty among farmers' households. 30. Indebtedness. 31. Indebtedness of farmer households in different social groups. 32. Land status and indebtedness. 33. Sources and purpose of loan. 34. Distribution of loans by purpose of loan. 35. Income, expenditure and productive assets of farmer households. 36. Variations across social groups. 37. Productive assets across size class of land possessed. 38. Productive assets across MPCE classes. 39. Variations in assets across states. 40. Income generated by farmer households from different sources during the agricultural year July 2002 to June 2003 by size class of holdings. 41. Inter-state variations in income. 42. Expenditure incurred by farmer households. 43. Inter-state variations in expenditure incurred on assets. 44. Average expenses and income from farming of animals. 45. Average expenses and income from cultivation during 2002-03. 46. State wise differences in cost of cultivation. 47. Inter-state variations in consumption expenditure. 48. Income from various sources by size class of land holding. 49. Income from all sources and consumption expenditure of farmer households across size class categories 2002-03. 50. Surplus of income over consumption. 51. Summing up. 52. Policy suggestions. Appendix. Further reading.

"This book contains a summary of the main findings of the Situation Assessment Survey of the farmers undertaken by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Plan Implementation, Government of India, during 2003. The survey graphically brings out some disturbing facts about the state of affairs in the farming sector. It highlights the dissatisfaction of the farmers with their profession, their ignorance about matters most important for their future, and the dismal failure of the credit institutions and numerous government agencies in fulfilling their assigned tasks for the farming sector. The survey results also show that most of the farmer households have low living standards and low earnings and nearly two-fifths among them are under debt."