Indian Agriculture:– Indian Agriculture refers to all those activities which are related to the cultivation of land for the production of crops such as:-
Food crops : Wheat and rice Non-food crops : Jute and cotton
Features of Indian Agriculture :-
- The production of country agriculture mainly depends on rain and other natural elements, such as floods, droughts, storms etc. good rain meant good production and bad rain meant bad production .
- There are different types of crops in the country, in which cereals, pulses, oil seeds, cash crops like sugarcane, cotton, jute, potato etc. are prominent.
Note :-
- Cash crops include those crops, which are taken out of the fields and sold directly in the market. Or say that those which cannot be stored for a long time.
- In India, all those crops which are grown in winter and spring are called Rabi crops. This is from the end of October to the middle of March or April. Rabi crops are also known as winter crops. Such as: Wheat, oats (oat), barley, corn, fennel, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander, cumin, carrots, gram, onions, tomatoes, potatoes etc.
- Kharif is that crop, which is sown with the arrival of the rainy season (July-August) or the arrival of monsoon, this crop is completely dependent on rain water and its harvesting is done in October-November. Eg;- Paddy, Tomato, Black Gram, Arhar etc.
3. Historical, social and cultural history of a state affects agricultural production
4. Agriculture has become a means of subsistence instead of commercial activity. Hence production is mainly for self-consumption. One reason for this is that small holding land .
5. In Indian agriculture, the use of machines (tractors, threshers) is less and apart from this, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is also reduced.
6. Seasonal and disguised unemployment is found in the agricultural sector. It is also called hidden unemployment.
7 . Large part of the land is cultivated by the tenants, they are not the owners of the land but take the land on lease, so the owner of the land gets more profit, the tenants live in struggle due to lack of employment.
Importance or role of Indian agriculture :-
- Share in National Income :- Agriculture is the main source of our national income. In 1950-51 the contribution to the national income was more than 50 per cent which has come down to 17.1 per cent at present. Decreasing percentage contribution of the agricultural sector does not mean that there has been a decrease in agricultural production, but it has been possible only due to the development of the agricultural sector
- Share in Employment:- Agriculture is the biggest source of employment in India. Through this only about 52.1 percent of the total labour force get employment, it has provided the means of earning livelihood to the people.
- Basis for Industrial Development:- Agriculture plays a very important role in the development of the industrial sector in India. Raw materials, such as cotton, wood, sugarcane, jute, etc., are supplied by agriculture to the productive industries.
- Importance in foreign trade: Agriculture plays an important role in the international trade of the country. The main items of export in India are spices, cotton, jute, rice, oil etc. The agriculture sector has become the base of foreign exchange.
- Importance in Domestic Consumption: – Due to the decrease in per capita income in India, a large part of the total income is spent on food.
- Importance for trade and services: – A large part of the country’s trade and services depends on the activities of agriculture. Which mainly includes transportation, banking, storage and stores.
- Supply of wage goods : Those items which are used by the people of the country in their subsistence are called wage goods such as: Wheat, rice, pulses etc. These items are used in the form of animal feed and people’s food.
Problems of Indian agriculture
Agricultural productivity is low on both per worker and per hectare basis. The problems of Indian agriculture are as follows:-
Common problems of Indian agriculture :-
1. Social environment: – The social environment of the villages is a hindrance in the development of agriculture. Most of the farmers are illiterate, narrow and superstitious, so they neither want to leave the ancestral land nor adopt modern technology, For them it is not a business, it is just a means of subsistence.
2. Population pressure on land: – The population in India is increasing very fast and the pressure to accommodate the growing labour force is on the agriculture sector itself.
3. Damage to crops: – Due to insects, insects, diseases of crops, unseasonal rains, drought etc., there is loss in agricultural production, which reduces the productivity of agricultural products.
Institutional problems of Indian agriculture :-
Faulty Reforms: One of the most important reasons for low productivity is the wrong implementation of land reforms. There is a lack of ability and desire among farmers to increase production. Most of the landowners do not do farming, they lease their land and charge high rent, so the tenant does not have any surplus for investment.
Lack of credit and market facilities :- Due to insufficient credit and market facilities, the tenant is not able to plan to invest heavily in agriculture. If these facilities are provided, then agricultural productivity in India can be improved.
Technical problems of Indian agriculture:-
Obsolete Techniques of Production :- Most of the farmers still cultivate with traditional wooden plow bullocks and depend on monsoon for irrigation. The use of high yielding seeds, chemicals, fertilizers, manures and pesticides and irrigation facilities is limited and this reduces productivity.
Improvements in Indian Agriculture :-
1. Land Reforms :- Intermediate persons like:- Zamindar, Mahalwar and Ryotwad etc. who used to collect rent from the real tenants, used to treat the tenants like slaves. After independence, they were abolished, as a result of which the ownership of the land now belonged to the state government. The government was given 173 crore acres of land from middlemen to landless farmers.
2. Improvement in Tenancy:- Zamindars do not do farming themselves, they give it on rent to the tenants. The tenants live at the mercy of the landlords. For this the following improvements were made:-
(i) Regulation of Rent :- After independence, laws were made in all the states to stabilize the payment of rent by the tenants.
(ii) Protection of tenants:- Most of the states have passed laws to provide security to the tenants. Landlords can keep a limited area of land with them only for individual agriculture.
(iii) Proprietary rights of tenants: – In some states, the rights tenants have been made owners and they have been asked to pay compensation to the previous land owner. In some other states, the state has become the owner of the land.
3. Re-organization of Agriculture :-
Re-distribution of agriculture:- The limit of land owners has been fixed. It means the minimum and maximum limit of the size of the land, which is permitted to be purchased by an individual. The surplus land was then redistributed by the government among the small holders or landless labourers.
Consolidation of holdings:- In this, small scattered pieces of land are joined together to form a block and after that land is provided at one place. This has been possible mostly in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. This is called consolidation.
Cooperative Agriculture :- In this scheme, all the land owners of the village form a cooperative society to do farming in the village. Small holdings are combined and cultivated together to increase the size of the working unit and reap the benefits of scale savings.
Other measures :-
(i) Irrigation facilities were expanded, many big and small irrigation projects were started in many parts of the country. In 1951, only 17 percent of the land had permanent means of irrigation, now it has increased to 40 percent.
(ii) Technological improvements have also been made such as: use of HYV seeds, use of chemical fertilizers, use of insecticides.
(iii) Credit societies were formed to provide loans to farmers at the least interest rate, besides rural banks were also formed. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was established in 1982.
(iv) Price support policy was implemented to keep farmers safe from market uncertainties. Due to this, the farmers got the assurance of getting the lowest price for the crop.
Reasons for slow pace of land reform process:–
(1) Lack of political will: – To implement land reforms, there is a need for hard political decisions, effective political support, direction and control. No material progress is possible without necessary political will.
(2) Deficiencies in the law: – Legally, personal inspection is required by the owner instead of personal wages for individual agriculture.
(3) It was allowed to have a subsistence area of land for individual agriculture.
(4) Problem of voluntary surrender:- Zamindars forced the tenants to voluntarily give up the ownership of the land, for this purpose they were often threatened and beaten.
(5) Inadequacy of the law of land-ownership limit:- Till 1972, the level of limit was different in different states. This caused a lot of conflicts and mistakes. Similar laws were enacted only after 1972, but by then a great deal of damage had been done.
Green Revolution :- The Green Revolution started in India in October 1965. Its originator was MS Swaminathan, this revolution made India self-sufficient in agricultural productivity, due to which India was counted among the countries leading agricultural productivity, its phase started in 1967 and lasted till 1978. It mainly had two stages
1. First Stage:- mid 60s to mid 70s
2 . Second Stage :- 70’s mid 80’s to mid 80’s
It was limited to the production of only five crops:- Wheat, Rice, Bajra, Maize and Jowar. It had three main elements:-
(1) Continuous increase in agricultural area (2) Availability of multi-cropped agricultural land (3) Use of high yielding seeds
Properties : –
(1) For the first time in India, high quality seeds (HYV) were used in place of traditional seeds
(2) Chemical fertilizers started being used in agriculture
(3) Equipment’s were used for irrigation and many projects were started.
(4) Declaration of Minimum Support Price (MSP) is announced in advance at the time of sowing of food grains, so that farmers can be assured that they will get fair price for their produce.
(5) The use of modern machines in agriculture was encouraged so that productivity would increase.
Major achievements of Indian agriculture :-
(1) Increase in production and productivity
(2) Increase in income.
(3) Increase in commercial farming.
(4) Increase in social revolution and old superstitions and customs were destroyed and people now voluntarily adopt new technological changes, seeds and fertilizers.
(4) The level of employment increased.
Economic impact:
Increase in Indian Agricultural Production:- The direct effect of Green Revolution can be seen from the increased agricultural production. The index of agricultural production which was 85.9 in 1970-71 has increased to 189.2 in 2005-06. This change is observed more only on the production of certain crops like wheat production which increased from 23.0 million tones in the year 170-71 to 77.8 million tones in 2008-09, rice production increased from 42.2 million tones in the same time period 99.2 million tones. Apart from this, there has been an increase in the production of jowar, oilseeds, pulses, cotton and sugarcane.
Increase in Indian Agricultural Productivity:- The main reason for the increase in agricultural yield can be attributed to the increase in per-hectare yield. On the basis of the data, we can see this clearly. The index of agricultural productivity which was 92.6 in 1970-71 increased to 188.7 in 2008-09.
It is clear from the above discussion that both agricultural production and agricultural productivity have increased due to the new agricultural strategy, but the effect of the new strategy has been limited to some crops and wheat in particular.
Social Effects of Green Revolution :-
Increase in employment: – Due to the Green Revolution, now many crops can be grown on a piece of land, so seasonal unemployment has helped a lot in working, besides the use of new equipment and change in irrigation facilities, employment has also been increased to a great extent. has been promoted
Increase in Income:- Due to the Green Revolution, the income level of the people in rural areas has increased. With the increase in production and the implementation of agricultural support prices by the government, a large amount of income has been generated in the rural area. But the Green Revolution has also had two bad effects. First, the Green Revolution has encouraged individual inequality in the villages, and secondly, it has increased regional inequalities.
Individual inequalities:- The Green Revolution has also increased inequalities and the existing gap between the rich and the poor has increased even more. With the use of new technology, small and large farms could increase production in equal amounts, but the benefits of technical knowledge of the new strategy remained functional only to the rich people, in other words, the benefits of the new changes went to those who had land and Other assets are owned. On the contrary, marginal (small) farmers were deprived of their benefits, due to which income inequality has increased, we can explain this by the following:-
- This technique is very expensive due to which weak farmers are not able to use the inputs used in this technique. On the other hand, big farmers could easily buy these inputs, due to which only rich farmers could get their benefits.
- The risk in adopting new technology was high. Early maturing crop requires proper care from beginning to end. Any mistake during this time period can destroy the entire crop. Apart from this, high yielding seeds attract more pests due to all these reasons new technology is fraught with risks. To avoid these risks, small farmers adopt their traditional technology.
Regional disparities:– The use of new technology is limited only to those areas where continuous irrigation facilities are available for the crops. In India, only one-fourth of the agricultural land gets irrigation facilities throughout the year. This means that three-fourth of the land under agriculture does not get the benefits of new technology. In general, the benefits of Green Revolution should be available to the North-Western region of the country in which Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are prominent.
Disadvantages of Green Revolution :-
1. Improved seeds and chemical fertilizers are very expensive, so only rich farmers can use them.
2. The Green Revolution is limited to only those areas where irrigation facilities are available. Therefore, development of Haryana and Punjab was more, which increased regional inequality.
3. Green revolution is limited to some crops like wheat and rice, there was no change in other crops like pulses and oilseeds.
Financial assistance to farmers: – When the realization provides inputs (means) to the farmers at a price less than the market price, then it is called financial assistance.
Arguments in favor :-
- The number of poor farmers in the country is very high, so without financial assistance they will not be able to buy agricultural inputs.
- If financial aid is abolished, the gap between the rich and the poor will widen.
Arguments in opposition:-
- Most of the big farmers got the main benefit of the assistance given on high quality seeds, so it should be stopped now.
- Financial assistance is fine as long as it is needed, getting more then it starts being misused.