Watch | The Indian Farmer Earns Much More as a Labourer , Finds NSS Survey

The recent release of the decennial NSS 77th round Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households (SAS) is a welcome development for agriculture and allied sectors. The detailed socio-economic data set provides insight into a farmer’s investment behaviour, level of indebtedness and income earned from various activities.

An analysis of these and other aspects of agriculture may actually provide meaningful insights for policy, which are required amidst the ongoing protest by the farmers and trade unions on the three controversial farm laws and also their discontent regarding low returns from farming.

The survey was conducted during the Kharif and rabi seasons of 2018-19 to collect detailed information on various aspects of agricultural households. Mukul Singh Chauhan of The Wire discusses this in detail with Siraj Hussain, former Union agriculture secretary.

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