Emergence of Aquaculture and Changing Agrarian Relations

The agrarian relations in India have been altering due to many reason like green revolution, irrigation, commercialization of agriculture, and land reforms etc., that are responsible for this. Due to these changes and various socio-economic communities had reaped a differential advantage. The agrarian relations, in the process of time, got adapted to the changing situations in the Rural Society. In the later part of 80s, pisciculture was introduced in the coastal parts of Andhra Pradesh. As this needed large investment it was observed mostly with the upper caste and class farmers. Aquaculture was introduced in the coastal areas in 1990s and the Government encouraged this for export to earn foreign exchange. Prawn/shrimp has a greater demand in the international markets. Aquaculture has little semblance with agriculture. The landowners lured by the huge profit margins converted their labourers and forced to work on these farms because of absence of employment opportunities elsewhere had to adjust to the changing situation. With the new forces of market economy entering into the agrarian scene, it provides an opportunity to study and understand the production pattern geared to meet the demands of international market. It is also important to understand the processes of both agriculture in order to analyse the change in the agrarian relations of inj a village economy. An attempt is made to enumerate changes in different socio-economic communities in this context in a rural setting in this study.