In India, a marginal farmer is someone with up to one hectare of agricultural land where they conduct agricultural activities as a proprietor, sharecropper, or tenant. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) conducted a Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of Agricultural Households during the NSS 77th round (January 2019- December 2019) with reference to the agricultural year July 2018-June 2019 in the rural areas of the country. As per the Survey, the percentage distribution of agricultural households owning less than two hectares of land is 89.4%. According to the All India Report on Agriculture Census 2015-16, while the highest share of cultivators is those of marginal farmers, accounting for 65.4%, their total operational landholding constitutes only 24% of the total cultivable land. This makes the average landholding size of marginal farmers only 0.38 hectares at the national level. This size has remained almost the same for the last 40 years.
