Why do small landholdings make it difficult for some Uttar Pradesh farmers to improve production?

In Uttar Pradesh, agriculture remains the primary economic driver, yet many farmers face significant challenges in enhancing their output. While the state has seen growth through high-yielding seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation, small landholdings act as a major constraint on productivity.1

These small plots often leave farmers with insufficient resources to invest in the modern technology necessary for improved production. Furthermore, the limited scale of these holdings makes it difficult to achieve the efficiencies required to adopt more advanced farm management practices, which are already hampered by broader systemic issues such as inadequate water, unreliable power, and difficulties in marketing produce. Consequently, many farmers rely on livestock and dairy farming as essential supplementary income sources to mitigate these economic pressures.12