Amongst the problems of agrarian India; two major ones are land poverty or land hunger, and the disadvantaged position of women vis-à-vis men in agriculture and agrarian relations (namely, the inequality in access to land as well as the lack of financial independence given to women in cultivation). This study estimates crop productivity and incomes from crop production for women farmers undertaking collective farming with the Kudumbashree organization in Kerala. The unit of our study was the Joint Liability Group (JLG). The study aims to delineate the reasons for differential performance amongst the groups and to see whether these groups are successful as a viable alternative to individual farming and whether they can realize the theoretical advantages of group cultivation.

Based on a detailed primary survey of 15 selected JLGs, this study tries to answer the following questions:

1) What are the levels of gross income, costs, and net income of the Kudumbashree farmers by crop and season?

2) What is the level of yield for various crops grown by the JLGs and how productive are they in relation to the district average?

3) What is the breakup and nature of the costs incurred by the JLG farmers? How does the Kudumbashree institutional set-up affect/mitigate some of these costs?

4) What are the possible reasons for inter-group and inter-district disparities in net income and productivity?