Agriculture in India is the means of livelihood of almost two thirds of the work force in the country. It has always been INDIA'S most important economic sector. The 1970s saw a huge increase in India's wheat production that heralded the Green Revolution in the country. The increase in post -independence agricultural production has been brought about by bringing additional area under cultivation, extension of irrigation facilities, use of better seeds, better techniques, water management, and plant protection.
Dependence on India agricultural imports in the early 1960s convinced planners that India's growing population, as well as concerns about national independence, security, and political stability, required self-sufficiency in food production. This perception led to a program of agricultural improvement called the Green Revolution, to a public distribution system, and to price supports for farmers. The growth in food-grain production is a result of concentrated efforts to increase all the Green Revolution inputs needed for higher yields: better seed, more fertilizer, improved irrigation, and education of farmers. Although increased irrigation has helped to lessen year-to-year fluctuations in farm production resulting from the vagaries of the monsoons, it has not eliminated those fluctuations.
Non traditional crops of India, such as summer mung (a variety of lentil, part of the pulse family), soyabeans, peanuts, and sunflowers, were gradually gaining importance. Steps have been taken to ensure an increase in the supply of non-chemical fertilizers at reasonable prices. There are 53 fertilizer quality control laboratories in the country. Realizing the importance of Indian agricultural production for economic development, the central Government of India has played an active role in all aspects of agricultural development. Planning is centralized, and plan priorities, policies, and resource allocations are decided at the central level. Food and price policy also are decided by the central government. Thus, although agriculture in India is constitutionally the responsibility of the states rather than the central government, the latter plays a key role in formulating policy and providing financial resources for agriculture. Expansion in crop production, therefore, has to come almost entirely from increasing yields on lands already in some kind of agricultural use.
The monsoons,
however, play a critical role in Indian agriculture in determining whether the harvest will be
bountiful, average, or poor in any given year. One of the objectives of
government policy in the early 1990s was to find methods of reducing this
dependence on the monsoons.
The Department of Agriculture has a chief role to play in formulating policies
based on crops, seasonal growth and importing technology to enhance the
fertility of soil.
There are special schemes for loans available for farmers. The government is
backing the efforts of many farmers and their families. Education and newspapers
are reaching the rural lands and today’s farmer is recognized as an important
player in providing the basic food for the entire country.
Agriculture in India is improvising with collaboration in technology using
tractors, fertilizers and also new methods to aid farming. Barren lands are
researched and guidelines for funding the same are being allocated. Exhibitions
on rabi and kharif crops and model schemes are allocated to precisely boost
sales and also promote export of local produce.
Rainfed farming, banking loans, education for the farmer are the chief
initiatives by the Government to develop the life of rural farming lands.
Agriculture is also looked with the motive of maintaining the ecological
balance. Harvest preservation, marketing for agriculture produce, tertiary
market up gradation are some of the plans followed by the agricultural
department of India.
It has to be understood that the life of a farmer goes beyond tilling and
yielding crops. Their standard of living has to be uplifted by small scale
industries set up which will increase their income. Other facilities like
shelter, drainage system, education and alternative employment will secure their
future. The change is accepted well by farmers as India still believes in the
phrase, ‘ Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’.
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