Small holder farmers are quite a common presence in India. To a general reader in urban areas, any mention of small farmers summons imageries of a tiny piece of land where a family struggles to eke out a living. Popular perception is that they are not financially viable and hence these families should either scale up or liquidate their farmland and/ or join other sectors[1]. But literature also urges us to not be so hasty; it establishes that there are many social purposes that these small farm families in India fulfil that are important to recognise[2]. 

Data on land holding patterns attribute a specific extent of land area to the small farm holdings. This land size bracketing of ‘Small & Marginal Holdings (SMH)’ often camouflages the diversity that exists within this group. An obvious divergence within this class of farmers arises out of their varying size attributable to agro-ecological variations. Small holdings in very different agroecologies like hilly terrains and plain lands obviously differ in their average size. But they also differ in the kind of farming undertaken. Field crops of staple food grains are common in the flood plains and the vast dry hinterlands, while diverse crops ranging from short duration herbaceous plants to large perennials dot the hilly terrains.  Both these landscapes also host distinct animal & bird components too.  Small farmsteads in the hilly regions are known to host high agro biodiversity.