Below is a purely conceptual, UPSC-ready, Notion-compatible explanation, keeping the distinction analytical (not descriptive) and without condensing any conceptual element.

1. Why This Distinction Is Conceptually Necessary

In agrarian studies, “economic” and “social” are analytically separable but empirically intertwined.

The distinction helps us understand:

• What is produced and exchanged (economic structure)
• Who controls, legitimises, and reproduces production relations (social structure)

2. Agrarian Economic Structure (Conceptual Meaning)

Core Focus

👉 Production, distribution, and exchange of agricultural surplus

Constituent Elements

• Pattern of land ownership (size, fragmentation)
• Tenurial arrangements (owner-cultivation, tenancy, sharecropping)
• Labour relations (family labour, wage labour, bonded labour)
• Level of technology and capital
• Market orientation (subsistence vs commercial)

Analytical Question It Answers

How does agriculture function as an economic system?

Nature of Explanation