OSCEEN MISHRA

AGRICULTURE

Characteristics:
1. Subsistence agriculture:
Most parts of India have subsistence agriculture. The farmer owns a small
piece of land, grows crops with the help of his family members and
consumes almost the entire farm produce with little surplus to sell in the
market. This type of agriculture has been practised in India for the last
several hundreds of years and still prevails in spite of the large scale
changes in agricultural practices after Independence.

2. Pressure of population on agriculture:

The population in India is increasing at a rapid pace and exerts heavy
pressure on agriculture. Agriculture has to provide employment to a large
section of work force and has to feed the teeming millions. While looking
into the present need of food grains, we require an additional 12-15 million
hectares of land to cope with the increasing demands by 2010 A.D.
Moreover, there is rising trend in urbanization.

Over one-fourth of the Indian population lived in urban areas in 2001 and
it is estimated that over one-third of the total population of India would be
living in urban areas by 2010 A.D. This requires more land for urban
settlements which will ultimately encroach upon agricultural land. It is now
estimated that about 4 lakh hectares of farm land is now being diverted to
non-agricultural uses each year.

3. Importance of animals:
Animal force has always played a significant role in agricultural operations
such as ploughing, irrigation, threshing and transporting the agricultural
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products. Complete mechanisation of Indian agriculture is still a distant

goal and animals will continue to dominate the agricultural scene in India
for several years to come.

4. Dependent upon Monsoon:

Indian agriculture is mainly dependent upon monsoon which is uncertain,
unreliable and irregular. In spite of the large-scale expansion of irrigation
facilities since Independence, only one-third of the cropped area is
provided by perennial irrigation and the remaining two-third of the cropped
area has to bear the brunt of the vagaries of the monsoons.

5. Variety of crops:
India is a vast country with varied types of relief, climate and soil
conditions. Therefore, there is a large variety of crops grown in India. Both
the tropical and temperate crops are successfully grown in India. Very few
countries in the world have a variety of crops comparable to that produced
in India.

6. Predominance of food crops:

Since Indian agriculture has to feed a large population, production of food
crops is the first priority of the farmers almost everywhere in the country.
More than two-thirds of the total cropped area is devoted to the cultivation
of food crops.

7. Insignificant place to given fodder crops:

Although India has the largest population of livestock in the world, fodder
crops are given a very insignificant place in our cropping pattern. Only four
per cent of the reporting area is devoted to permanent pastures and other
grazing lands. This is due to pressing demand of land for food crops. The
result is that the domestic animals are not properly fed and their
productivity is very low compared to international standards.
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8. Seasonal pattern:
India has three major crop seasons.

(i) Kharif season starts with the onset of monsoons and continues till the
beginning of winter. Major crops of this season are rice, maize, jowar,
bajra, cotton, sesamum, groundnut and pulses such as moong, urad, etc.

(ii) Rabi season starts at the beginning of winter and continues till the end
of winter or beginning of summer. Major crops of this season are wheat,
barley, jowar, gram and oil seeds such as linseed, rape and mustard.

(iii) Zaid is summer cropping season in which crops like rice, maize,
groundnut, vegetables and fruits are grown. Now some varieties of pulses
have been evolved which can be successfully grown in summer.

Causes of Backwardness of Agriculture in

India/Causes of Low Agricultural Productivity in
India:
(A) General Factors,
(B) Institutional Factors
(C) Technological Factors.
General Factors:
1. Overcrowding in Agriculture: The increasing pressure of
population on land is an important demographic factor responsible
for low yield in agriculture. In India, too many people depend on
agriculture. Almost two third of our labour force depends on
agriculture. Increasing pressure on land has leads to the
fragmentation of land holdings. The area of cultivated land per
cultivator has declined from 0.43 hectare in 1901 to 0.23 hectare in
1981 despite an expansion of area under cultivation. Hence,
agricultural sector has become overcrowded and this has adversely
affected the agricultural productivity.
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2. Discouraging Rural Atmosphere: Indian farmers are

generally illiterate, ignorant and conservative. They are bound to
outdated and traditional customs such as caste system, joint family
system etc. Their blind faith in social customs, traditions and fatalism
keep them happy with the old methods of cultivation. They, instead
of giving their money for the development of agriculture,
unnecessarily waste it on the social customs. Besides, the presence
of mutual bitterness and group conflicts among the groups lead to
litigation. Under such a discouraging rural atmosphere, there is no
possibility of agricultural development. In brief, the Indian farmers,
living in rural areas are generally tradition-bound, illiterate, ignorant,
superstitious and conservative. Their attitude of apathy and
negligence keeps the system of cultivation primitive. The farmers
are not prepared to accept anything new as a consequence of which
modernization of agriculture becomes difficult.
3. Inadequate Non-firm Services: Shortage of finance,
marketing and storage facilities are also responsible for agricultural
backwardness in India. The co-operatives and other institutional
agencies have not been able to eliminate the village money lenders.
Storage facilities for farmers are not still available to preserve their
agricultural product to have a better price.
4. Lack of Professionalization: An attitude of farmers towards
agriculture in America, England, Russia and Japan is of
professional. They are doing agriculture as a business and are trying
to get more and more profits from agriculture. But, in India, farmers
are doing the agriculture as livelihood. So due to the lack of
professionalization, the productivity of agriculture is low.
5. Natural Calamities: Indian agriculture gamble in the monsoon.
If monsoon becomes favourable, we have a good crop; otherwise,
agriculture get affected by drought, flood and cyclone.
Institutional Factors:
1. Size of Holding: The small size of holdings in India is an obstacle
in the way of progressive agriculture. The average size of holdings
in India is less than 2 hectares. In case of very small firms, it is
difficult to introduce new technology. Further, due to fragmentation
of land holdings a great deal of labour and energy is destroyed in
cultivation. The average size of land of holding in India is very
uneconomical. It is less than 2 hectares as against 122 hectares in
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America. Not only agricultural holdings are small but also

fragmented. Small holdings of land lead to wastage of land, labour
and capital. As a result of this small holdings, scientific cultivation is
not possible.
2. Defective Land Tenure Structure: The agrarian structure in
India is not conducive for a progressive agriculture. The tendril
relationships were such that the big landlords used to have a
considerable influence on their respective areas. The actuarial
cultivator had known incentive for improvement and more
production. Though the zamindari system has been abolished,
absentee landlordism still prevails; heavy rents are still extracted
and there is no security of tenancy. Under these circumstances, it is
unwise to expect any remarkable increase in agricultural
productivity due to the apathetic attitude of the tillers of the land.
Before independence, the agricultural productivity of our country
was seriously affected by land tenure. Under this system, the
tenants could be thrown out of their land any time. They were left at
the mercy of their landlords. Under this condition, the cultivators did
not take much interest in any improvement on land to increase the
productivity.
3. Lack of Organization: In agriculture the farmers are not united
and they do not have dynamic leaders. The philosophical outlook,
inclement weather, vagaries of monsoon, fluctuating prices,
harassment due to village factions and petty officials, etc. have
discouraged the young generation to come forward with new ideas
into the agricultural sector.
Technological Factors :
1. Old Methods of Production: The technique of production
adopted by Indian farmers is old, out-dated and inefficient. The
tradition-bound poor farmers have not yet been able to adopt the
modern methods to get the best yield from their land. The seeds
they use are of poor quality and the age- old, traditional wooden
plough still exists in Indian agriculture. The farmers do not enjoy the
benefits of agricultural research and development programmes.
Theyconsider agriculture as a way of life rather than a business
proposition. Therefore, production remains at a low level. Indian
farmers have been using old tools and implements such as the
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wooden plough, spade and hoe. Majority of the farmers have failed
to use the modern tools such as the tractors etc.
2. Inadequate Irrigational Facilities: Indian agriculture highly
depends on monsoon due to non- availability of irrigation facilities.
In spite of several measures, irrigation has not substantially
increased in India. At present only 38% of the land is irrigated. The
rest is left under the mercy of the monsoon which is highly irregular
and uncertain. Thus, Indian agriculture is called as the “gamble of
Monsoon”. Under such a situation, the fertilizers and the HYV seeds
cannot be used effectively.
3. Lack of Crop Management: The low quality of variety of crops
being grown in traditional agriculture, due to poor quality seeds
available to the villagers. Lack of better field preparation and
inadequate manure, sowing operations, crop management and with
unavailability of post-harvest storage facilities lead to poor quality of
crops as well as yields
4. Agricultural Finance: For their cash requirements, the farmers
mainly have to depend on the village money lenders who exploit
them by charging exorbitant rates of interest. Small farmers cannot
get sufficient loan from the financial institutions.
5. Inadequate Research: Benefits of the research and
development have not been reached at the door of the farmers and
they are not in an applicable form. Extension is confined to individual
good practioners and the modern farming methods have yet to take
roots in the countryside.

Suggestions for Removal of Low Productivity of

Indian Agriculture/Measures to Raise Agricultural
Productivity in India:
1. Better Irrigation Facilities: Indian agriculture is mainly
dependent on monsoon. So permanent means of irrigation should
be developed. There should be large number of tube wells and
canals for irrigation.
2. Supply of Quality Seeds: Quality seeds should be sold through
co-operative societies or village Panchayats. Farmers should be
given awareness regarding various varieties of seeds. Marginal
farmers should be given seeds on loan.
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3. Green Manure: Production of chemical fertilizers should be

increased and it should be made available to farmers at sub-sidised
rates. Farmers should be educated for firing green manure. Oil
cakes may be used as fertilizers.
4. Credit Facilities: Farmers should be advanced loans at
reasonable rates of interest. Regional Rural Banks should be
opened. Commercial banks should be directed to provide loans to
small farmers on easy terms. Local moneylenders should be
scrutinized to stop their malpractices.
5. Agricultural Marketing: Agricultural marketing should be
improved so that the farmer gets proper price for their produce
warehousing facilities should be improved. Means of Transport
should be strengthened. Regulated markets and Co-operative
marketing societies should be established.
6. Land Reforms: For the development of agriculture land reforms
are essential. Zamindari system should be abolished. Cultivators
should be made owners of land. Ceiling on land holdings should be
imposed. Minimum size of farms should be fixed. Problem of soil
erosion and waterlogging should be solved. Waste land should be
put in use for cultivation.
7. Mixed Farming: Farmers should be educated for adopting mixed
farming. Mixed farming refers to the practice of crop cultivation,
animal husbandry, vegetable and fruit growing simultaneously.
Diary farming should be encouraged with a view of improving the
economic condition of the farmers.
8. Education: Agricultural Department along with Extension
Education Department of Agricultural Universities should educate
the farmers in general and farming operations in particular. They will
get new ideas of latest methods of cultivation. They will increase
their production.
9. Help is Small Farmers: Small and marginal farmers should be
helped with high yielding variety seeds, fertilizers and new
agricultural techniques. Loans should be given to farmers at
concessional rates of interest.
10. Price Stability: Due to mechanised farming and Green
Revolution, production of crops will increase. So price of crops will
fall. Govt. should ensure that prices should not fall and proper price
should be made available to farmer.
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11. Efficient Administration: Plans are made for agricultural

development but their proper implementation is not done and
farmers are not able to derive the required benefit. So for this
efficient and dedicated officers with agricultural background should
post for proper implementation of these policies.
12. Decreased Pressure of Population: The pressure of
population on land should be decreased. More industrial units
should be set up to absorb the disguised unemployment of
agriculture. Population control measures should be followed.
13. Mechanised Farming: Farmers should be educated for
adopting mechanised farming. Kisan Melas (Farmers’ Fair) should
be organized. In these Melas Agricultural tools and implements and
new variety of seeds should be displayed. Farmer should be given
knowledge about these inputs.

14. Scientific Cultivation: Various scientific methods of

cultivation should be employed to increase production. Farmers
should adopt techniques like rotation of crops, use of fertilizers,
pesticides. Farmers using new techniques must be encouraged.
More research on the crops, seeds and fertilizers will be useful.

15. Tenancy Reforms: For the development of agriculture,

tenancy reforms are much needed. Land rent should be fixed. Work
without remuneration should not be taken from tenants. Cultivators
should not be evicted till they pay rent.