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Culture Documents
Agriculture can be defined as “The art and science of growing plants and other crops and raising animals
for food, other human needs, or economic gain”. It came from two Latin words, ‘Ager’ meaning field;
farm; land, and ‘Culture’ meaning cultivation. Thus, agriculture is the art or the practice of cultivating
soil, producing plants, and raising livestock.
The agricultural practices began thousands of years ago and it has been a literal part of the Indian
economy, both before and after independence. Before 1947, the Indian agriculture sector contributed
more than 90% of the total national income of India. Agriculture was the primary source of livelihood in
India as a large portion of the country’s population resided in rural areas. The pre-colonised India was
sustainable and self-sufficient even with the production of two crops, namely rice, and wheat.
Due to the invasion of the British government, the Indian economy, and especially the agricultural sector
suffered a lot and had a downfall. And, on the eve of independence, the most remarkable sector of India
was suffering from stagnation and constant degradation.
Land Reforms- Land Reforms refer to the change in the ownership, tenancy, and management of
landholdings. It refers to the growth in the agro-economic organisation. Land Reforms include measures
and policies relating to redistribution of land, regulation of rent, improving the conditions of tenancy,
agricultural education, etc. The Land Reforms were found to be successful in Kerala and West Bengal as
they were committed to this policy. Other states, however, did show the same level of improvement.
The measures of this policy are:
Green Revolution- The concept of the Green Revolution was introduced by M.S. Swaminathan (the
Father of the Green Revolution) in India, in the year 1965. It refers to a period when India had a
tremendous increase in agricultural production with the usage of high-yielding seeds, techniques, and
modern tools such as tractors, pesticides, fertilizers, improved irrigation facilities, etc. The Green
Revolution mainly focused on three elements. They were: