ASANSOL ENGINEERING
COLLEGE
Agriculture and Economic
Development
Name:- Aditya Vardhan
Roll no:-10830622055
Department of Artificial Intelligence
and Machine Learning
HUMANITIES – II (HSMC-301)
Introduction
India's already large population is expected to become the world's largest
in the next 20 years, while its economy will soon overtake Japan's to
become the world's third largest. The resulting increase in the demand
for food will need to be met through higher agricultural productivity or
by increasing food imports. This article discusses some of the key areas
of progress and challenges for India's agricultural sector, including:
productivity, water management, government policies and programs, and
food distribution and storage.
Industries get their raw materials from the agriculture sector, needless to
say, that without a flourishing agriculture sector, a large part of the
economy will freeze. The lessons drawn from many advanced countries’
economic history tell us that agricultural prosperity has made a
significant contribution to fostering economic progress. The lessons
drawn from many advanced countries’ economic history tell us that
agricultural prosperity has made a significant contribution to fostering
economic progress. It is right to note that today’s leading developed
countries were once primarily agricultural, while the developing
economies still dominate agriculture and contribute significantly to the
national income.
Role of agriculture in economic development
1. Stimulates industrial expansion: Expansion in the agriculture sector also led to the
expansion of the industrial sector. When agriculturalists have savings, they can buy
consumer goods, invest in industries too. This results in an indirect expansion of the
industrial sector.
2. Providing employment: When there is an increase in the agriculture sector, its
production, more employment opportunities will also be generated. Direct
employment in the crop raising, agriculture expansion also provides work in the other
sphere.
3. Resources for Capital Formation: This is all more important because with the
existing modern capitalist sector being small, there is little that can come from this
sector by way of surpluses or profits for investments. On the other hand, agriculture, as
is the case in India, is a big sized sector. It can contribute more to the development of
the industrial sector because the primary industries run with the help of raw material
which comes from agriculture. For example Sugar Industry, Juice Factory, Cotton
industry, etc
4. Supply of Foreign Exchange: Agriculture can contribute a great deal in earning
foreign currency through the export of agricultural products. The requirements for the
expansion of exports can be easily met by adding a crop or two within the existing
crop pattern and that too with perhaps no additional capital investments. Further, since
such exports have to cater to the existing and familiar international market, no
additional costs are involved to discover or nurture new markets.
5. The Shift of Manpower: Provides work to the majority of the workforce in the
country. In the least developed countries, the majority of the workforce work in
disguised unemployed agriculture labour. Agricultural progress allows manpower to
shift from the agricultural to the non-agricultural sector. In the initial stages, it is more
necessary to shift labour from the agricultural to the non-agricultural sector from the
point of view of economic growth as it relieves the burden of surplus labour-power
over the limited land. Consequently, the release of surplus manpower from the
agricultural sector is necessary to advance the agricultural sector and to extend the
non-agricultural sector.
6. Supply of Food and Raw Materials: Feeds the requirement of industrialization.
Agriculture plays a very role in development. Contributes in many consumer goods
like oil, clothing, etc. Further food grains are very important for underdeveloped
economies. In case of shortage of food, it helps a lot in developing countries as the
mass import is not possible and economically feasible for them. So, agriculture should
be given due importance so that this essential supply of food and raw material can be
maintained.
7. Helpful to Reduce Inequality: There is greater income inequality between the
world’s rural and urban areas in a country which is largely agricultural and
overpopulated. To reduce this income inequality, greater priority must be given to
agriculture. Agricultural growth will increase the income of the majority of the rural
population and hence the income inequality might be somewhat reduced.
8. Create Effective Demand: Agricultural sector growth will tend to increase farmers’
purchasing power which will help the country’s non-agricultural sector expand. It will
provide a more productive market. It is well recognized that the majority of people in
underdeveloped countries rely on agriculture and it is they who must be able to afford
to consume the goods produced. It will, therefore, be helpful in boosting non-
agricultural sector production. Similarly, an improvement in cash crop productivity
can pave the way for the promotion of the exchange economy that can help the growth
of the non-agricultural sector. Buying agricultural goods such as chemicals, farm
equipment, etc. also improves agricultural dead-outs.
9. Source of Foreign Exchange for the Country: Majority of the world’s developing
countries are exporters of primary products. Such goods contribute 60 to 70 per cent of
overall earnings from exports. Thus the ability to import capital goods and industrial
development machinery is crucially dependent on the agricultural sector’s export
earnings. If agricultural exports do not increase at a sufficiently high rate, these
countries will be forced to incur a heavy balance of payments deficit resulting in a
serious foreign-exchange problem. Primary goods, however, face falling prices on the
international market, and there is limited prospect of increasing export earnings
through them. Despite this, major developing countries such as India (with industrial
growth potential) are attempting to diversify their manufacturing structure and
encourage the export of manufactured goods even though this involves the
introduction of protection measures in the initial planning period.
Progress of Indian agriculture
1. Government Measures: Through the five-year plans, the government of India has
played an active role in the development of agriculture. Proper objectives have been
laid down in the various plans. According to these objectives, corresponding measures
have been spelt out. All the activities are directed towards the achievement of these
objectives.
2. Expanding Government’s Role: From the first five-year plan, the government
realized that for the development of agriculture, the government has to play an
important role which would be a crucial one. Agriculture is the backbone of the
economy and the poor farmers cannot uplift themselves. That is why the measures
needed for the upliftment of agriculture could be taken by the government. In recent
years, the government’s actions have expanded to include programmes for rural
development and special area programmes.
3. Laudable objectives: The objectives of different plans are varied from time to time.
Somewhere the aim was to increase productivity and elsewhere to improve the quality
of food grains. Land reforms have been the other significant objective. Another
important objective was to uplift the weaker sections of the society. For example, the
small and marginal farmers, landless agricultural labourers, and many of those
engaged in activities allied to agriculture such as animal husbandry and fisheries, etc.
4. Appropriate measures: In order to achieve these objectives many measures have
been taken by the government of India. For example, to increase the production and
productivity the supply of inputs, infrastructural facilities, an extension of irrigation,
modern laboratory-based seeds, include banking, marketing, credit, transportation,
communication, finance, education, and information dissemination, etc.
5. Considerable resources: Large resources have been devoted to agricultural
development. These have been on the rise from plan to plan. The funding for the
development of agriculture has also been increased from time to time. For the control
of droughts and floods, many funds have been given by the government. Special
programmes for the benefit of rural people have been introduced along with industrial
development.
Loopholes in carrying out agricultural activities
1. Poor inputs and techniques: The techniques and methods of cultivation have been
old and inefficient. It results in a high cost of production and low productivity. These
methods have not undergone and changed for centuries. The investment in agriculture
in the form of manures and fertilizers, improved seeds, irrigation, tools and
implements and other types of assets has been miserably low.
2. Inadequate irrigation facilities: One of the main reasons for the weakness of Indian
agriculture has been the lack of irrigation facilities in the country. The farmers have to
depend upon rainfall and very few of them can avail the facilities of irrigation systems.
Sometimes drought and floods also spoil the whole cultivation and crops.
3. Indebtedness of the farmers: There is an old saying that the farmers in India are born
in debt, live in debt and bequeath debt. The reasons for their indebtedness are many
such as hereditary debt, litigation, want of supplementary incomes and wasteful social
expenditure.
4. Low adoption of improved technology: The adoption of high yielding varieties
(HYV) is very rare in India. The important reasons for the slow growth of HYV are
the non-availability of suitable seeds, the predominance of traditional seeds, short
supply of recommended seeds and defective distribution system.
5. Absence of Innovation in Agriculture: Absence of alternative for escaping pre-
monsoon showers to avoid the problem of pre-harvest sprouting of crops in flood
periods is a major problem. There is a lack of improved crop management practices for
shifting cultivation. The facilities of storage, processing and marketing are particularly
deficient for perishable commodities.
6. Rural transport and communication network: Most of the areas remain
inaccessible during rainy seasons for non-availability of all-weather roads. Roads are
found to be highly damaged and there are no proper transport facilities to the access of
the villagers.
Conclusion
Agriculture is the Indian economy’s most important sector. India’s farm sector is the largest
industry. Approximately 70 per cent of people in India are either farmers as a vocation or as
workers. The share of GDP is just 18 per cent. But it provides employment for around 50 per
cent of the workforce in the country. It provides food in India for about 135 crore people. India
has become the world’s largest producer of pulses, rice, wheat spices, etc. Approximately 12
per cent of export earnings come from the agricultural sector. The Indian trade surplus of 14.6
billion dollars from agriculture generated in 2018. These stats show how big and important part
of the country’s functioning is the agriculture sector. With constant changes and developments
happening, policies being introduced, it is only going to go upwards from here and will always
remain as an important factor in the economic development of the nation.
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