“The Government of India has introduced various institutional and technological

reforms to improve agriculture in the 1980s and 1990s.” Support this statement with

examples.

OR

Compare ‘intensive subsistence farming’ with that of ‘commercial farming’ practiced in

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy because of its high share in employment and livelihood creation. However, the growth of agriculture over a period of time remained lower than the growth in non-agriculture sectors.

Government introduced several institutional and technological reforms to improve agricultural.

1. Zamindari and consolidating land holdings were abolished.

2. adjacent small fields were combined into single large farms and individual landowners were encouraged to do cooperative farming.

3. The green revolution was initiated where high yielding varieties of seeds and fertilizers were provided to farmers, and

large-scale irrigation facilities were developed to allow them to grow two crops in a year and Continue expansion of farming areas.

4. Doctor Verghese Kurien is credited with architecting Operation Flood -- the largest dairy development programme in the world.

5. Insurance cover was provided to farmers against damage to crops and rural banks and cooperative societies were set up to provide them with loans on easy rates of interest.

6. The government also started broadcasting radio and television programmes to educate farmers about new techniques of agriculture and give them a prior warning about weather conditions.

7. , the government announced the procurement, remunerative and minimum support prices of all the major crops in India to stop the exploitation of small and marginal farmers by the middlemen.

8. The government also launched personal benefit schemes for farmers, like the Kisan Credit Card and the Personal Accident Insurance Scheme.

9. Under the Land Ceiling Act by the government no individual or family could own more than a certain quantum of land.

OR

A range of farming practices has been emerged to increase productivity, of the agricultural land. Two such farming practices are intensive farming and extensive farming.

1. Intensive Farming is a farming method that uses higher inputs and advanced agricultural techniques to increase the overall yield. In contrast, Extensive Farming is one in which more and more land is brought under cultivation to increase the output produced.

2. Intensive cultivation as adopted in areas where agricultural land may be scarce such as hinterland or suburban areas. In these zones, rigorous cultivation is practiced with the aim of utilizing the available land to the fullest.

3. In subsistence farming, farming is done at a small scale level to meet the own consumption levels of the producer. Usually, fragmented lands are used for cultivation and old techniques of cultivation is adopted.

4. In commercial farming, farming takes place at a larger scale with the aim of generating maximum revenue by producing maximum output.