Unlike other farming operations, for harvesting labourers are given wages in kind as a fixed proportion of the harvested crop called patham. Even though the daily cash wages of farm labourers are revised every year, the rate of patham remains the same since the early seventies. During the period 1980-81 to 1999-2000, the average daily wage rate of male paddy farm labourers increased from 11.13 to 118.90 rupees at the annual compound growth rate of 13.27 percent. Meanwhile the average daily wage of female workers increased from 7.91 to 78.80 rupees showing
