Suggest the initiative taken by the government to ensure the increase in agricultural production.
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Solution
As the Agriculture sector provided livelihood for more than 60 per cent of India’s population, there was a need for serious institutional and technical reforms.
Thus after independence, priority was given to bring about institutional reforms in the country through various measures such as abolition of zamindari, consolidation of holdings, cooperation, collectivisation, etc.
The main focus of our First Five Year Plan was ‘Land Reforms.’
Consolidation of holdings was necessary as there was fragmentation of land holdings which was caused by the right of inheritance.
Providing loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest, banks, cooperative societies, and Grameen banks were established.
Provisions were made to provide crop insurance against diseases affecting the crops, fires, cyclones, floods, droughts.
The Government of India introduced different schemes for the benefit of the farmers: Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS), Kissan Credit Card (KCC).
On the television and radio, special agricultural programmes and weather bulletins were introduced for the benefit of farmers.
The White Revolution (Operation Flood), the Green Revolution based on the use of package technology and were some of the strategies initiated to improve the lot of Indian agriculture.
However, development was concentrated in a few selected areas, despite Government of India efforts to introduce reforms in the agriculture sector, in the 1960s and 1970s.
Therefore, in the 1980s and 1990s, including both technical and institutional reforms, there was initiation of a comprehensive programme for land development.
To check the exploitation of farmers by middlemen, and speculators, the government even announced the procurement prices, remunerative, minimum support price for important crops.
The Government of India made many efforts to modernise agriculture, considering the importance of agriculture.
Government of India established agricultural universities, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) was established, focused on development of horticulture, animal breeding centres, veterinary services.
For improving Indian agriculture, priority was given to research and development in the field of weather forecast and meteorology.
Lot of importance was also given to improve rural infrastructure like providing power, irrigation facilities, rural roads, markets and mechanisation of agriculture.