Year: 2018 | Month: June | Volume 5 | Issue 1
Dynamics of Urbanization in Fringe-Villages and Related Consequences - Analysis of Sub-national Primary Survey
Naveen Kumar
DOI:10.30954/2394-8159.01.2018.6
Abstract:
As India is primarily an agrarian economy; the impact of urbanization on fringe villages has a novel connotation. In fact, over the year’s urbanization in India has impacted both rural economy and agricultural cropping pattern significantly, creating a peripheral melting pot of transfusion of urban characteristics across fringe villages, setting the process of de-villagisation. Against this backdrop, the study has tried to explore the impact of urbanization on agriculture and rural economy through field surveys and personal interviews in the select fringe villages. The study finds that in the surveyed fringe villages, urbanization spill-over is bringing transformation in the agricultural production pattern away from traditional foodgrains (Rice, Wheat, etc.) towards high-value agricultural commodities (HVCs) and allied activities. Significantly, on an average, almost 32 per cent of crops in the fringe villages near cities were found to be devoted to vegetable production as compared to a meagre 2.8 per cent at the National Level. Further, 13 per cent of cropping in fringe villages was found to be devoted towards fruits (against the national average of 1.3 per cent). It was found that escalated prices of land holdings near the fringe villages are affecting the pace of adoption of high value agricultural activities creating a predicament of whether to sell the land to private parties; wait for worthy acquisition by Government or its agencies or invest in high value farming which have their own risk (like perishability, lack of infrastructure support for storage, marketing, etc.). The momentum of urbanization and its inter-linkage with villages (especially fringe villages) will decide pace of de-villagisation in rural economy. If the emerging trend is not counterbalanced by faster adoption of agricultural infrastructure to remote villages and requisite restriction is not placed on unauthorized construction near fringe villages, an unabated de-villagisation will continue to harm overall balance of rural economy.
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