Agriculture 1950-1990

At independence, Indian agriculture was stagnant and the land was in the hands of a few. Two big changes came between 1950 and 1990.

Land reforms aimed to give land to those who worked on it:

• Abolition of intermediaries: the zamindars and other middlemen were removed, and about 200 lakh tenants came into direct contact with the government. Owners of land have a reason to improve it.
• Land ceilings: a limit on how much land one person may own, with the extra land given to the landless.

But many big landowners used loopholes in the laws to keep their land, so the reforms worked only partly. They were most successful in Kerala and West Bengal, where the state governments were committed to them.

The green revolution brought HYV (high yielding variety) seeds. These give much higher yields, but only with regular water, enough fertiliser and pesticides.

• In the first phase (mid-1960s to mid-1970s), the new seeds were used mainly for wheat, in states with good irrigation such as Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• In the second phase, they spread to more crops and more states.

Farmers now produced more than they needed. The part of the crop they sell in the market is the marketed surplus. It lowered food prices compared with other goods, and let the government build up food stocks. By the late 1960s and 1970s, India had become self-sufficient in food grains. Thanks to loans, subsidised fertiliser and government research, small farmers also shared in the gains.

The green revolution left a debate about subsidies. Some argued they were needed to help farmers, especially small ones, adopt new technology. Others said they were a heavy burden on the government's budget, and much of the benefit went to the fertiliser industry and rich farmers. And one problem remained: even in 1990, about 65 per cent of the people still depended on agriculture.