Of course, small farmer orientation is extremely relevant to many respects and serius consideration for it is the need of the day for technology generation and policy planners. If however, the corporatisation and consilidation is the goal, then there is no debate. The pre-dominance of small farmers is an universal phenomenon at present and there is an unanimity that majority of the farming system is small-holder based in in many individual countreis as well as globally too (for instance, the proprotion of small farmers in India 82% plus. THis certainly has policy imperatives and calls for urgent need for small-farm friendly technological innovation for ensuring food security at household level and sustainability. Large-scale input intensive Green revolution story reminds us of its externality in the present context, which has shown gradual deceleration of productivity and degradation of natural resources. Big tractor, Combine harvester, laser leveller etc are not relevant for small farm of 1 or 2 acre holdings, which is the majority. In the absence of collectivisation and social institutions, custom services also often ineffective. THus it give strong signal for farmholder technology options, which is the R&D (A4RD) challenge for enbling upscaling.
Of course, small farmer orientation is extremely relevant to many respects and serius consideration for it is the need of the day for technology generation and policy planners. If however, the corporatisation and consilidation is the goal, then there is no debate. The pre-dominance of small farmers is an universal phenomenon at present and there is an unanimity that majority of the farming system is small-holder based in in many individual countreis as well as globally too (for instance, the proprotion of small farmers in India 82% plus. THis certainly has policy imperatives and calls for urgent need for small-farm friendly technological innovation for ensuring food security at household level and sustainability. Large-scale input intensive Green revolution story reminds us of its externality in the present context, which has shown gradual deceleration of productivity and degradation of natural resources. Big tractor, Combine harvester, laser leveller etc are not relevant for small farm of 1 or 2 acre holdings, which is the majority. In the absence of collectivisation and social institutions, custom services also often ineffective. THus it give strong signal for farmholder technology options, which is the R&D (A4RD) challenge for enbling upscaling.