Drivers of Farmers' Income: The Role of Farm Size and Diversification

The study finds that a U-shaped relationship exists between farm size and farm / farmer's income. The results also show that both on-farm and off-farm diversification have an inverted U-shape relationship with farm / farmer's income. That is, diversification up to some level helps improve income but excessive diversification might lead to misallocation of resources and hence a fall in income. The results also show that engagement in public works programme such as MGNREGA has an adverse impact on farm / farmer's income, possibly due to the opportunity cost of time spent in such programmes. Finally, positive effect of education on income is seen only at somewhat high education levels.