A

PROJECT WORK ON
INDIAN AGRICULTURE AND THE CHALLENGES

SUBMITTED TO:-
MISS. ERITRIYA ROY (FACULTY ECONOMICS)

ROLL NO.88
SEMESTER – 2 (BA.L.L.B HONS.)
SUBMITTED BY-NEELAM THAKUR

DATE OF SUBMISSION -19-09-2016

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY
NEW RAIPUR- 493661, (C.G.)

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 TABLE OF CONTENT
1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.....................................................3
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................4
3. OBJECTIVES.......................................................................5
4. INTRODUCTION.................................................................6
 Definition of Agriculture
 History of Indian Agriculture
 Types of Farming
 Types of Agriculture in India
 Nature of Indian Agriculture
 Problems faced in Indian Agriculture
 Importance of Indian Agriculture
 Step taken by Government for agricultural field
5. CONCLUSION....................................................................17
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................18

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First & foremost, I take this opportunity to thank Miss. Eritriya Roy, Faculty Economics,
HNLU for allotting me this challenging topic to work on. She has been very kind in
providing inputs for this work, by way of suggestions and providing me resource of his vast
knowledge of the subject which helped me to look at the topic in its very broad sense also to
look at some of the very narrow concepts by expertise view.

I would also like to thank my dear colleagues and friends in the University, who have
helped me with ideas about this work and also a source for constant motivation and hence
they were a guiding force to me in making of this project. Last, but not the least I thank the
University Administration for equipping the University with such good library and IT lab.

My special thank to library staff and IT staff for equipping me with the necessary books and
data from the website.

Neelam Thakur

Roll No.88

SEMESTER- 2

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This project is descriptive in nature it uses descriptive language for the explanation of
different topics discussed in this project. Also the issues raised in this project are explained in
a descriptive language.

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 OBJECTIVES

1. Describe the features of Indian agriculture and analyse challenges faced

by farmers in Indian agriculture.

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 INTRODUCTION

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Meaning of Agriculture

Agriculture is a science and practise of activities related to production, processing, marketing

and distribution of agricultural products. Agricultural activities even include grazing and
livestock.

Agriculture has always been the backbone of the Indian economy and it will continue to
remain for a long time and it despite concerted industrialisation in the last six decades,
agriculture still occupies a place of pride. It provides employment to around 60 per cent of
the total work force in the country. This significance of agriculture in the national economy
can be best explained by considering the role of agriculture under different heads. Agriculture
contributes almost 17 per cent of world population from 2.3 per cent of world geographical
area and 4.2 per cent of world’s water resources.

Agricultural sector has 56.8% of working population but it is called an unorganised sector
because agricultural farmers are scattered and they are illiterate.

 History of Indian Agriculture

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Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago, and it has undergone significant
developments since the time of the earliest cultivation. Independent development of
agriculture occurred in northern and southern China, India, Africa's Sahel, New Guinea and
several regions of the Americas. Agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop rotation,
fertilizers, and pesticides were developed long ago but have made great strides in the past
only century.

Indian agriculture began by 9000 BCE as a result of early cultivation of plants, and
domestication of crops and animals. Wheat, barley, and jujube were domesticated in the
Indian subcontinent by 9000 BCE. Domestication of sheep and goat soon followed. This
1
ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/30264/1/10010039.pdf
2
^ "India: Basic Information". United States Department of Agriculture - Economic Research Service. August
2011.

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period also saw the first domestication of the elephant. Barley and wheat cultivation along
with the domestication of cattle, primarily sheep and goat was visible in Mehrgarh by 8000-
6000 BCE. Agro pastoralism in India included threshing, planting crops in rows either of two
or of six and storing grain in granaries.

A variety of tropical fruit such as mango, muskmelons are native to the Indian subcontinent.
The Indians also domesticated hemp, which they used for a number of applications including
making narcotics, fiber, and oil. The farmers of the Indus Valley grew peas, sesame, and
dates. Sugarcane was originally from tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.

In the past century agriculture has been characterized by enhanced productivity, the
substitution of labour for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, selective breeding,
mechanization, water pollution, and farm subsidies. Earlier, the farmer practises different
methods for cultivation. At that the technology was not developed in agricultural field.
Farmer uses their cattle’s for grazing their land which further increases the fertility of the soil,
they use pure cow dunks in acts as a manure for them and increases fertility, but now many
new techniques has been introduce in the field of agriculture. Now farmers are using
insecticides and pesticides for increasing fertility. Now many new technologies has been
introduces by which a farmer can cultivate their agricultural product during off season also.
Now farmers are using many scientific methods such as chemicals which give fast growth as
well as increases life time of agricultural product. Earlier these tube wells and water pumps
were not introduced so at that time farmers had to be only depend upon monsoon. But, now
new technology of water sprinklers have came up. Tractors are now used in the place of
bullock carts. In recent years there has been a backlash against the external environmental
effects of conventional agriculture, resulting in the organic movement.

The economic reforms, initiated in the country during the early 1990s, have put the economy
on a higher growth trajectory. Annual growth rate in GDP has accelerated from below 6
percent during the initial years of reforms to more than 8 percent in recent years. This
happened mainly due to rapid growth in non-agriculture sector. The workforce engaged in
agriculture between 1980-81 and 2006-07 witnessed a very small decline; from 60.5 percent
to 52 percent.

Indian agriculture is characterized by agro-ecological diversities in soil, rainfall, temperature,

and cropping system. Besides favourable solar energy, the country receives about 3 trillion m
3 of rainwater, 14 major, 44 medium and 55 minor rivers share about 83 per cent of the

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drainage basin. About 210 billion m 3 water is estimated to be available as ground water.
Irrigation water is becoming a scarce commodity. Thus proper harvesting and efficient
utilization of water is of great importance. It is a largest Private Sector in India.

Types of Farming

 Subsistence and commercial farming:

Majority of farmers in India practises subsistence farming. This means farming for own
consumption. In other words, the entire production is largely consumed by the farmers and
their family and they do not have any surplus to sell in the market. In this type of farming,
landholdings are small and fragmented. Cultivation techniques are primitive and simple. In
other words there is a total absence of modern equipments like tractors and farm inputs like
chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides. In this farming, farmers mostly cultivate
cereals along with oil seeds, pulses, vegetables and sugarcane. Commercial farming is just the
opposite of subsistence farming. In this case, most of the produce is sold in the market for
earning money. In this system, farmers use inputs like irrigation, chemical fertilizers,
insecticides, pesticides and High Yielding Varieties of seeds etc. Some of the major
commercial crops grown in different parts of India are cotton, jute, sugarcane, groundnut etc.
Rice farming in Haryana is mainly for commercial purpose as people of this area are pre-
dominantly wheat eaters. However in East and North-Eastern states of India, rice cultivation
would be largely of subsistence type.

 Intensive and Extensive Farming:

The basic difference between these two types of farming is the amount of production per unit
of land. In comparison with temperate areas of USA, Canada, and former USSR, India does
not practise extensive cultivation. When we use large patch of land for cultivation then we
call it extensive farming. Here, total production may be high due to larger area but per unit
are production is low. Intensive Farming records high production per unit of land. Best

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example of intensive cultivation is in Japan where availability of land for cultivation is very
limited. Similar kind of situation can be observed in the state of Kerala in India.

 Plantation Farming:

It is an estate where a single cash crop is grown for sale. This type of agriculture involves
growing and processing of a single cash crop purely meant for sale. Tea, coffee, rubber,
banana and spices are all examples of plantation crops. Most of these crops were introduced
in India by the Britishers in the 19th Century.

 Mixed Farming: It is a situation in which both raising crops and rearing animals are
carried on simultaneously. Here farmers engaged in mixed farming are economically
better off than others.

All classifications are based on nature and purpose of farming. It may overlap. For example:
Banana is a plantation type of farming. It can also be classified as commercial farming.

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Types of Agriculture in India

Subsistence Agriculture: As mentioned earlier, most parts of India have subsistence

agriculture. This type of agriculture has been practised in India for several hundreds of years
and still prevails in a larger part of India in spite of the large scale change in agricultural
practices after independence.

Pressure of population on Agriculture: Despite increase in urbanization and

industrialization, about 70% of population is still directly or indirectly dependent on
agriculture.

Mechanization of farming: Green Revolution took place in India in the late sixties and early
seventies. After more than forty years of Green Revolution and revolution in agricultural
machinery and equipments, complete mechanization is still a distant dream

Dependence upon monsoon: Since independence, there has been a rapid expansion of
irrigation infrastructure. Despite the large scale expansion, only about one third of total
cropped area is irrigated today. As a consequence, two third of cropped areas is still

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www.preservearticles.com/.../notes-on-the-different-types-of-agriculture

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dependent upon monsoon. As you know, monsoon in India is uncertain and unreliable. This
has become even more unreliable due to change in climate.

Variety of crops: Can you guess why India has a variety of crops? As mentioned in the
beginning of the lesson, India has diversity of topography, climate and soil. Since India has
both tropical and temperate climate, crops of both the climate are found in India. There are
very few countries in the world that have variety comparable to that of India. You would
realize that when we would discuss the different type of crops in detail. Look at the table
No.1 to get an idea.

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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.
However, in recent years, there has been a decline in the share of land used for food crops
due to various other commercially most advantageous uses of these lands.

Seasonal patterns: India has three distinct agricultural/cropping seasons. You might have
heard about kharif, rabi and zaid. In India there are specific crops grown in these three
seasons. For example rice is a kharif crop whereas wheat is a rabi crop.

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Nature of Indian Agriculture

As there is rapid growth in the population, there is a scarcity of land for the purpose of
cultivation and irrigation. There is a conversion of land into dams & industries, old farm
lands where now converted for building societies, those agricultural lands were now used as a
part of city. For making different fragments of society. Mainly the farmers here are scattered
and they are illiterate, so they are unaware about technologies and new farming methods.
They face financial problems so can’t even produce a good crop. They work in others farm
land as a labour and the landowner or landlord use to give their wages in return, so Indian
Agriculture is a Labour Intensive with a less development in technology. Secondly, there is
disguised unemployment which means Unemployment that does not affect aggregate output.
Disguised unemployment exists where part of the labour force is either left without work or is
working in a redundant manner where worker productivity is essentially zero.

4
www.preservearticles.com/.../notes-on-the-different-types-of-agriculture
5
isidev.nic.in/pdf/nature./Indian agriculture/

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 Challanges faced in Indian Agriculture

The major problems confronting Indian agriculture are those of population pressure, small
holdings, depleted soils, lack of modern technology and poor facilities for storage.

(a) Population Pressure:

India has a huge population of over one billion and it is increasing at a very fast rate.
According to 2001 census figures the overall density of population is 324 persons per sq. km.
This is likely to increase further in future. This has created great demand for land. Every bit
of land has been brought under the plough. Even the hill slopes have been cut into terraces for
cultivation.

(b) Small and Fragmented Land Holdings:

The pressure of increasing population and the practice of dividing land equally among the
heirs has caused excessive sub divisions of farm holdings. Consequently, the holdings are
small and fragmented. The small size of holdings makes farming activity uneconomical and
leads to social tension, violence and discontentment.

(c) Inadequate Irrigation Facilities:

By and large the irrigation facilities available in India are far from adequate. So for half of the
total area under food crops has been brought under irrigation and the remaining half is left to
the mercy of monsoon rains which are erratic in time and space.

(d) Depleted Soils:

Indian soils have been used for growing crops for thousands of years which have resulted in
the depletion of soil fertility. With deforestation the sources of maintaining natural fertility of

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soil has been drying out. Lack of material resources and ignorance of scientific knowledge
have further depleted the soils of the natural fertility. Earlier only animal waste was enough
to maintain soil fertility.

(e) Storage of food grains:

Storage of food grains is a big problem. Nearly 10 per cent of our harvest goes waste every
year in the absence of proper storage facilities. This colossal wastage can be avoided by
developing scientific ware-housing facilities. The government has taken several steps to
provide storage facilities.

(f) Farm Implements:

Although some mechanisation of farming has taken place in some parts of the country, most
of the farmers are poor and do not have enough resources to purchase modern farm
implements and tools. This hampers the development of agriculture.

Importance of Indian Agriculture

a) Indian Agriculture contributes to GDP.

b) It is a backbone of poor Indian economy
c) It provides employment.
d) It acts as a source of foreign exchange.
e) It is a life line for food security in India.

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Steps taken by the Government to improve Indian Agriculture.

1. To begin with government took lead in providing various facilities on its own. In course of
time different types of activities were entrusted to specific public agencies.

2. The government abolished the zamindari system. It was followed with the consolidation of
small holdings to make them economically viable.

3. Another important input was the widespread use of radio and television for acquainting
farmers in new and improved techniques of cultivation.

4. The crop insurance was another step to protect the farmers against losses caused by crop
failure on account of natural calamities like drought, flood, hailstorm, cyclone, fire, diseases
etc.

5. Easy availability of capital or investment input through a well-knit network of rural

banking and small scale cooperative societies with low interest rates were other facilities
provided to the farmers for modernisation of agriculture.

6.7 Special weather bulletins for farmers were introduced on radio and television.

7. The government announced minimum support price for various crops removing the
elements of uncertainty. It ensures minimum price for the crop grown by the farmers.

6
www.preservearticles.com/.../seven-steps-taken-by-the-government-to-i.
7
www.shareyouressays.com/.../10-steps-the-central-government/

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 CONCLUSION

Irrigation is one of the important devices in modern agriculture, where the HYVs seeds when
implemented, will demand much amount of water resources. In recent years, the irrigation is
affected due to unfavourable rainfall conditions. The area under irrigation is changing
continuously over a period of time.

The retail sector has played a phenomenal role throughout the world in increasing
productivity of consumer goods and services. It is also the second largest industry in US in
terms of numbers of employees and establishments. There is no denying the fact that most of
the developed economies are very much relying on their retail sector as a locomotive of
growth. The India Retail Industry is the largest among all the industries, accounting for over
10 percent of the country�s GDP and around 8 per cent of the employment. The Retail
Industry in India has come forth as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries with
several players entering the market.

The spectacular story of Indian agriculture is known throughout the world for its multi-
functional success in generating employment, livelihood, food, nutritional and ecological
security. Agriculture and allied activities contribute about 30% to the gross domestic product
of India. With arable land area at 168 million hectares, India ranks second only to the U.S. in
size of agriculture. A well-developed agricultural research system, a significant area of
almost 60 million hectares under irrigation and an increasing productivity in major crops
enable Indian agriculture to become a globally competitive player. The United Nations
estimates that with assured irrigation, India's food grains output can increase SIX times
within five years- enough to feed two planet Earths.

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Achievements of Indian Agriculture: India is the largest producer of wheat in the world§
India is the largest producer of Rice in the world

India is among the largest vegetable oil economies in the world

India is the largest producer of Tea in the world

India is the largest producer of Milk in the world

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www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/.../major-achievements-in-agriculture/

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India is the largest producer of Cotton in the world

BILIOGRAPHY

1. www.jstore.org
2. www.google.co.in
3. www.icar.org.in/
4. agricoop.nic.in/
5. Rudra Dutt Indian Economy

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