Merchants and other townsmen frequently owned small parcels of land, which peasants worked through sharecropping agreements.

Typically, a sharecropping agreement would specify which party was expected to cover certain expenses, like seed, fertilizer, weed control, irrigation district assessments, and fuel.

Sharecropping agreements can however be made fairly, as a form of tenant farming or sharefarming that has a variable rental payment, paid in arrears.

He reported that about 90% of all interviewed tenants had sharecropping agreement, with rent to the landowner ranging between one third and one half of the crop.