Examining the impact of education on Indian farm labour

Abstract

Research on understanding the benefits of education in the rural context show positive pecuniary benefits on the farm, and a shift towards non-farm activities. Using the IHDS 2005 data, the years of education was regressed on the hours worked on the farm by restricting the sample to the progeny of farm workers. Here I find – (i) women are less involved in farm work than men indicating unobserved household work, (ii) years of education has a higher negative impact on farm work with higher farm income that imply higher farm mechanisation, and (iii) significant progress is achieved in rural schooling with 95.6 percent villages having a mid-level school within a 5 km radius but participation needs to be improved.