Land tenure in tea farming and exploring factors influencing a rural household’s decision to exit or enter farming

Self-operated land and operated by tenure may affect the sustainability of farming in a region. This study planned to analyze how rural households switch away from tea farming even they have parental land, and how landless access the land for tea farming. For this a total of 138 tea growers were interviewed including 27 farmers who had just ownership of land and had left the tea farming. Logistic regression was applied to assess the determinants of rural household’s decision to exit and enter the land market. Farmers were compared over their farm management practices and personal characteristics. The owned farmers were good in management and adoption of good practice in tea farming than those who accessed land as a shareholder and not had their own land. Rural households head as getting older, having high education and also having an off-farm occupation, having more university graduated family members, and family members having off-farm occupations are more likely to exit from farming and supply their land to rental markets. On the other side, an older and highly educated head of landless family is less likely to become a shareholder. Here also off-farm occupation has a negative and insignificant effect on the probability of landless household working as a shareholder. If the head of the landless family has a wish to become a successful farmer, then he is more likely to work as an owner. It implies that a person is less likely to work as a shareholder and more likely to get land with ownership rights not only land-using rights. RESUMO: Propriedades auto-operados e operados pela posse podem afetar a sustentabilidade da agricultura em uma região. Este estudo planejou analisar como as famílias rurais se afastam da produção de chá, mesmo as que possuam terras parentais, e como os sem-terra acessam a terra para a produção de chá. Nesse total, 138 produtores de chá foram entrevistados, incluindo 27 agricultores que possuíam apenas a propriedade da terra e deixaram a lavoura. A regressão logística foi aplicada para avaliar os determinantes da decisão da família rural de sair e entrar no mercado de terras. Os agricultores foram comparados com suas práticas de gerenciamento agrícola e características pessoais. Os agricultores proprietários foram considerados bons em gestão e adoção de boas práticas na agricultura de chá do que aqueles que acessaram a terra como acionista e não possuíam terras próprias. Os agregados familiares rurais envelhecem, têm ensino superior