Agriculture in India: Before and After Independence

And as a result of all this our country has been converted from an agrarian into an industrial country; for the proportion of industrial output, as compared with agricultural output, has risen from 48 per cent of the total in the beginning of the Five-Year Plan period (1928) to 70 per cent at the end of the fourth year of the Five-Year Plan period (1932)….

The revolution is surrounded by many inventions including fertilizers and pesticides. It is through these innovations that developed countries were able to feed their people (Standage, 199). As Standage refers to it, feeding the world. Standage's descriptions of this revolution clearly indicate that developed countries achieved what they have by feeding their people first. As such, food can be used for the betterment of the nation. Through the book, the writer focuses on the impacts of agriculture on various aspects of a human's life. The main audience seems to be the people (leaders) who have the role in making and implementing food

New mechanized farming techniques led farmers to be able to increase their profits (Document C). With the help of the new technology for farming, farmers produced more crops than ever. However, the overproduction of wheat and the Great Depression is what unfortunately led to the reduced market prices. As a result, the wheat market was swamped, and people were too poor to buy. Furthermore, due to the great loss, farmers were unable to earn back what they produced, so instead they expanded their fields in an effort to turn their unfortunate circumstance into a profit. However, the prairies they covered with wheat caused the grass to slowly disappear and the fields were left bare (Document

Brilliant farming ideas came out of the Agricultural Revolution, but there were also negative effects. One negative effect would have to be that farmers would need larger amounts of raw goods in order to maintain their increasing outputs.

Indian groups have adopted agriculture. The ability to grow crops has a huge implication for the

Use of new technology and machine help to increase the agriculture production. Similarly, “settlement of the American West by a class of new farmers translated into greater yields in crop production”. These changes were beneficial to the American people and America but they opened many more challenges. One of the most challenge was over production and low consumption.

Many people who relied on their farm and on agriculture struggled in the 1980’s. WWII was the fire that lit the Farm Crisis of the 1980’s. WWII brought forth many new advances in all aspects of agriculture. New farm equipment, pesticides, seeds, and fertilizers made it easier for the everyday life of a farmer. Greater efficiency and productivity were the result of the new inventions. In the 1950’s and 1960’s there was a massive

Throughout time, humans have pushed forward in every aspect in life in order to improve their living standards, wealth and most importantly the agricultural sector which is the base of every human race. Food is the basic requirement for any individual to stay alive and healthy. In an article by Tamsin McMahon, she states that over the past 60 years, the world population has grown from 2.5 billion to 7 billion while world hunger dropped from 40% down to 15% (McMahon T., July 2012). This shows that our agricultural advances through technology have helped control world hunger and decrease it by more than half, but this is a short-term solution if we want to consider the future generations that depend on our current actions toward the three main pillars of agriculture which are: Health and nutrition, Economy and sustainability all while considering the local small farms and corporate farms.

South Asia is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, where despite a slow growth, agriculture remains the backbone of rural economy as it employs one half to over 90 percent of the labor force. Both extensive and intensive policy measures for agriculture

Deliberate barbaric British policies made the natives consume their costly goods whilst implying hefty tax and left millions of Indians unemployed due to economic exploitation and destruction of major companies. With limited ways to make money and a heavy tax on unwanted food and resources, famine became a rising issue. Consequently, the great country of abundant resources and wealth had become the exact opposite as extreme poverty, hunger and disease painfully took over the country. In Fact, poverty and starvation seized 30 million native lives. Unfortunately, 270 millions of Indians continue to experience poverty to this

India, at the time, had two and a half times as many people (461 million) as in Latin America, on a landmass about one-fifteenth as large (~3 million km2) (Hesser 77, India.gov, World Bank Group). The Indian citizenry was reluctant to adopt his scheme of crop management due to xenophobia and deep enculturation into traditional lifeways. To counter this resistance, Borlaug came up with the “Kick-Off Approach” (KOA), a tripartite program which manipulated three factors of diffusion: technical, psychological, and economic. The technical aspect was accomplished in successful local experimental nursery field trials managed by students under his supervision. Psychological, via Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who lent credence to the campaign by transplanting a flower garden in her front lawn with the Mexican dwarf wheat, which flourished. And, economically, through government action proposed by Borlaug: provide credit for farmers to purchase fertilizers and seed in advance of the planting season and to guarantee a fair market price for grain crops. Upon acceptance, which came after a struggle with various high-ranking diplomats to adopt the KOA to-the-letter, India experienced dramatic increases in food production - beyond the original forecast (Hesser

The existing problem was the exhaustion of the soil, reduced in the amount of nitrogen and then destruction of crops. There was an open field system, where the lands were divided into several large fields and given to the peasants of a village to cultivate. They used to cultivate same grain crops which led to

As the British took control of India, it found ways to make India better and with its help, soon enough, India was placed as the second best economy under the British economy (British 12). India’s economy and trade had improved tremendously after the British took over because there was more money coming into India to cause such a rise in its economy. The British also built railroads which created more ease when transporting goods and trading throughout India. The railroads allowed supplies and goods to be exported quickly, bringing it to the ports. Goods that would usually take months to be traded with others now only took a few days with the installment of railroads (Fisher 348). The railroads in India impacted everyone not just the merchants and businessmen in India. But, it was especially beneficial for them because now they could make deals and have goods be transported to them without a long wait. Nevertheless it seem to be that with these new installments India could run smoothly but eventually a problem came along the way. The British did not allow Indians to make their own goods, they banned homemade crafts and since most of India was out of work, the Indians turned to the fields. Work was hard and there were certain goods they needed like clothes so they had to buy it from the British since they could no longer make it themselves from the cotton they collected. Craftsmen became farmers to pay for goods and live a stable life (Bose 53). The British had wanted to get rid of the competition for goods so they decided they want to prevent the Indians from making their own goods. That way if the Indians needed something they can only get it from the British (Bose 53). This led to economic downfall for the Indians because while they were not doing great before the British came, their economy was pretty

Meanwhile, agricultural reformers advised farmers to rotate their crops, conserve the soil, use fertilizers, adopt new crops, improve livestock breeds, and use the latest machinery. Although a few farmers practiced soil conservation by rotating crops or growing legumes, they just simply plowed up new lands when the fertility of their fields declined. Of the three main components of production—land, labor, and capital—land was the cheapest, so it made economic sense in the short run to exploit the soil to the fullest (Fite 28).

     Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.