Brief Story of Evolution of Indian Agriculture

In the 1950s, India’s agriculture was marked by stagnation and low growth.  The growth in crop was around 0.4% and in grain production was around 0.1%. In 1950-51, India produced around 50 million tonnes of Foodgrain, which was not enough to feed our 350 million people. Due to this, India had to import food grains. The farms were characterised by a low yield, which lingered around 580 kg per hectare.

In 1960s, India ushered into the green revolution era when it imported some 18,000 tonnes of High Yield Variety (HYV) of seeds from Mexico. The HYV seeds in conjunction with increased use of fertilizers and irrigation resulted in a significant spike in production and India thus ushered into an era of Green Revolution. By early 1970s, India attained food security and reduced import of food grains.

Green revolution was possible because of the pioneering work of our agricultural scientists and also due to the audacity of Indian farmer who took the risk to adopt the new technology. Between 1980s to 2000s, India saw an expanding cereal production. The Government introduced economic reforms brought greater encouragement to exports. In these two decades, India turned itself from a net importer of agricultural products to net exporter. Today, our country is largest producer of spices, pulses, milk, tea, cashew, jute etc. and the second largest producer of wheat, rice, fruits and vegetables, sugarcane, cotton and oilseeds.