The 2018 Bihar Round village surveys are under way.

These surveys are being conducted in two villages in Bihar as part of the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI). The survey in the first village to be covered by the Bihar Round 2018 – Katkuian in West Champaran district – is now over.

Katkuian were first surveyed by FAS in May-July 2012. The number of households in 2012 was 350, it has now increased to approximately 450. 43 sample households from the village belonging to different socio-economic categories were surveyed in the current round of survey.

A substantial change in cropping pattern is to be observed of the village, across classes. Sugarcane, Paddy, and Wheat are now the three main crops in the village.

Migration continues to play 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. Migration for non-agricultural tasks seems to have further increased.