Give 5 merits and demerits of commercialization of agriculture.

During the time of rule, the British government encouraged the production of cash crops to get financial gain and to use India as a producer of raw material. These crops were produced to sell in the markets and not for consumption. Example – tea, coffee, tobacco, jute, etc.

Merits of commercialization of agriculture are –

• Increase in the production of cash crops in some countries.

• This led to the economic development of the country.

• Britishers earned profit from this by selling cash crops in the market at high rates.

• It served as a raw material for the British countries.

• Commercialization of agriculture helped them to earn profit from the agriculture sector of India which engages more than 50 percent of the population.

Demerits of commercialization of agriculture are –

• The cash crops which were produced were used by the British industries only.

• Cash crops were produced instead of food crops; this didn’t benefit the farmers.

• It didn’t improve the economic condition of the farmers.

• Britishers through the commercialization of agriculture fully exploited India.

• Continuous harvesting of cash crops led to the reduction in the fertility of the land. Thus, farmers were not able to grow food crops.