Census-type surveys were conducted in three villages in Karnataka in May-June 2009:

• Alabujanahalli, Mandya district
• Siresandra, Kolar district
• Zhapur, Gulbarga district

In 2014, case studies were conducted of 16 households in Alabujanahalli, 10 households in Siresandra, and 11 households in Zhapur.

The results from the surveys of the three villages have been published as Socio-Economic Surveys of Three Villages in Karnataka: A Study of Agrarian Relations by Tulika Books, New Delhi in 2017.

Alabujanahalli is in Maddur taluk, Mandya district. The village is located at a distance of 15 km from Maddur and Mandya. Our survey covered 248 households resident in the village. A significant section of the households are Vokkaliga, a major land owning caste, while many of the remaining households are Dalit households. This is a village belonging to the Cauvery-irrigated region of South Karnataka. Channels leading from a system tank that is fed by canals from the Krishnarajasagar dam irrigate the village. At the time of the survey, the major crops grown were sugarcane, rice, and ragi. The village is located very close to a major sugar factory of the district. The sugarcane produced in the village was procured by the sugar factory as raw material, and the factory and its owners had a substantial hold on the village economy. A large number of households practiced sericulture and livestock-raising, which contributed significantly to household incomes.

Siresandra is in Kolar taluk, Kolar district. The nearest town, Kolar, is 20 km from the village. Our survey covered 81 households resident in the village. The major caste group in this village was Vokkaliga, which was the major land-owning caste in the village. This village belongs to the semi-dry rainfed region of southeastern Karnataka. Cultivation in the village was mainly rain-fed, supplemented by irrigation by means of borewells and drip irrigation. The cropping pattern included kharif finger millet (ragi), followed by vegetables (potato, tomato, carrot, cauliflower, beetroot, radish) fodder maize and fodder grass, and tree crops. Ragi is often intercropped with sorghum (jowar), red gram, and sesame. Sericulture and dairying are also important occupations, and contributed substantially to household incomes.

Zhapur is in Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) taluk, Kalaburagi district. The village is located at a distance of 13 km from Kalaburagi town. Our survey covered 113 households resident in the village. The majority of households were Dalit. The dominant land-owning caste was Lingayat. There were also Kuruba and Scheduled Tribe households resident in the village. This village falls in the dry rainfed region of north Karnataka. Cultivation in the village was mainly rainfed. The cropping pattern followed was that of a single mixed crop of rainfed cereals and oil seeds. Most cultivators grew red gram intercropped with maize, sesame, pearl millet (bajra) and green gram. They also cultivated sorghum and safflower either as pure crops or as mixed crops. Bengal gram was also grown as a mixed crop with safflower. Many workers were employed as daily labourers in a stone quarry located on the boundaries of the village. This was a major source of non-agricultural employment for manual workers from Zhapur.