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ABSTRACTThe state aided commercialization of the small farm is the focus of this paper. In theory, subsidies and price support policies are intended to give small farms access to capital inputs to encourage cash crop production. However, only larger holdings can afford to take advantage of state interventionist policies and profit thereby. State subsidies have now become an integral part of the production process. The unit of analysis is the household, viewed in the context of the village and the wider economy. The focus is on family labour relations and the process by which agricultural commercialization transforms the internal relations of the household. Commercialization accompanied by mechanization tends to intensify the work undertaken by women. Since the process of commoditization ties once subsistence farms to market forces, production relations cannot avoid being influenced by the wider economy. Only with a combination of macro and micro data, with focus on both internal and external household relations, can the position of women in rural areas realistically be conceptualized.

Sustainable development is the key for the survival in 21st century. The natural resources are finite and cannot be used with impunity because we are the custodian of these resources and have responsibility to pass these to the next generation. This monumental task requires several major commitments and most important of them is to arrest population explosion which has already reached seven billion. Natural resources like air to breath, food to eat, and water to drink, and fossil fuel to maintain this life style are being overexploited. Unrestrained consuming culture will accelerate undesired