Two villages were surveyed in the Bihar Round in May-July 2012 :

• Katkuian, West Champaran district
• Nayanagar, Samastipur district

Some households from the two villages were surveyed in June 2018 as part of the second round. A book based on the results from the two rounds of surveys is under preparation.

A special “In Focus” section on Bihar was published in the Review of Agrarian Studies Vol 12 No 1, based on these surveys.

Katkuian is located in West Champaran district, in the north-west alluvial Gangetic region. The nearest town is Bagaha, situated at a distance of 12 km from the village. The survey was a census of households, and covered 358 households. The major landowning castes in the village were Yadav (Ahir), Kushwaha, and Kurmi. The Dalits in this village were mostly landless, and worked as agricultural and non-agricultural workers. A significant proportion of the population (18 percent) of the village was Muslim.

According to 2001 census data, the total net sown area of the village was 334 hectares, of which 98 percent was irrigated. The major sources of surface irrigation were the Tribeni canal and its tributary Samarkand canal (these are part of the Gandak irrigation project) and the Harha, a seasonal stream and tributary of the Gandak river. The main sources of groundwater irrigation were borewells.

The main crops cultivated in Katkuian were sugarcane, paddy, wheat and pulses. A large proportion of the sugarcane produced in the village was sold as raw material to the Bagaha sugar factory, which is situated close to the town. Migration played a significant role in the household economies of Katkuian. Workers migrated to various places in India to labour at agricultural and non-agricultural tasks. Historically, an important destination for the migrant workers from Katkuian has been Tehang, a village in Jalandhar district in Punjab that was surveyed in 2011 as part of PARI. These two surveys thus covered migrant workers from Katkuian both at their native village (Katkuian) and destination village (Tehang), and together constitute a unique data set on the dynamics of internal migration.

Nayanagar is located in Samastipur district, in the north-west alluvial Gangetic region. The nearest town is Rosera, situated at a distance of 6 km from the village. After a houselisting survey that covered 1205 households, we conducted an intensive socio-economic survey of 352 sample households in the village.

The major landowning caste in the village was Bhumihar. The Bhumihars from the village were more upwardly mobile than any other caste group. Many Bhumihar households in the village had at least one member of their family employed in either the government sector or in private companies at middle and higher positions. The Dalits from this village were landless and performed the bulk of the labour in agricultural and non-agricultural operations.

The primary source of irrigation in this village was groundwater, lifted through diesel-driven borewells. This region is prone to flooding, due to which a significant proportion of land in this village could not be cultivated during the kharif season. Paddy was cultivated on the remaining land. Maize was the primary rabi crop.

Nayanagar falls within the litchi-growing region of Bihar. Horticulture, particularly the production of litchi and mango, was the most significant contributor to the village economy of Nayanagar. Litchis of outstanding quality were produced in the village on a large scale, and were sent by refrigerated vehicles for sale to the Muzzafarpur litchi market, and, beginning from 2012, directly to Mumbai.