Commercialisation of agriculture in british time in india
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Till the end of the first half of the 19th century, the Indian village was essentially self-sufficient. It had hardly any contact with the world outside except for the occasional visits of the grain or cloth merchant who carried the surplus of one village to make good the deficiency of another. In such a village, production was dictated by its self-sufficient character.
The village grew its own food, made its own implements and produced small-quantities of cotton and oil seeds—all for its own requirements. There were, however, two crops which could not be grown all over the country. These were cotton and Sugar-cane. Even in these, trade was severely limited in extent and restricted to a small area.
In such a self-sufficient community, which had only a few exchanges to make with the outside world, the need for money was rarely felt. Instead, grain was the standard of value which was used by the villagers for remunerating services or for effecting exchanges with each other.
However, from 1860 onwards, a series of developments took place which, on one side, broke the traditional isolation of the village, and, on the other, transformed the nature of agriculture from subsistence to commercial farming. The farmer, no longer, produced for his domestic consumption but “a good proportion of land went under the plough for purposes of export”.
The development of transport and foreign trade led to the introduction of a variety of new crops such as tobacco, groundnuts and potatoes while, at a later stage, the Commercial requirements of the Company led it to encourage the cultivation of indigo, jute, tea and coffee.
Dependent as he became on foreign markets, the farmer now realised that it was more paying to live on the profits earned from his farm than on the products that he grew. This change in Indian agriculture is called the commercialisation of Agriculture
A point worth noting is that all these crops, which now came in vogue, had been grown for a long time on small patches around every village. The change which now came about was not so much an increase in the total area under commercial crops. This was not possible because India had also to produce sufficient food grains for her increasing population.
The change which came about with commercialisation was in the direction of increasing localisation and specialisation. The irrigated areas in Deccan took to the cultivation sugar-cane; cotton growing became localised in Berar, Jute in Bengal and wheat in the canal colonies of the Punjab.
The commercialisation of agriculture, was brought about by a series of developments which took place in the second half of the 19th Century.
Commercialisation of Agriculture # Causes:
The most significant event was the revolution in the means of transport. The railways were rapidly extended, the route mileage increasing from 432 in 1859 to 1990 in 1881 and 25,363 in 1901. At the same time, the work of road construction was also seriously taken in hand.
A road from Bombay to Agra was commenced in 1840 and by 1853, the Grand Trunk Road had been extended from Benares to Delhi. These newly opened roads and railways linked up different parts of the country, thereby facilitating the movement of crops from the surplus to the deficit areas and from the hitherto isolated village to the port towns from where it was shipped to distant parts of the world.
Every railway station became a Mandi or an export Centre to which traders and exporters alike-flocked.
The opening of the Suez canal in 1869 was another event of world-wide importance. The opening of the canal cut the sea-route between India and England by over 3000 miles and shortened the period of journey between Calcutta and London by 36 days.
The village grew its own food, made its own implements and produced small-quantities of cotton and oil seeds—all for its own requirements. There were, however, two crops which could not be grown all over the country. These were cotton and Sugar-cane. Even in these, trade was severely limited in extent and restricted to a small area.
In such a self-sufficient community, which had only a few exchanges to make with the outside world, the need for money was rarely felt. Instead, grain was the standard of value which was used by the villagers for remunerating services or for effecting exchanges with each other.
However, from 1860 onwards, a series of developments took place which, on one side, broke the traditional isolation of the village, and, on the other, transformed the nature of agriculture from subsistence to commercial farming. The farmer, no longer, produced for his domestic consumption but “a good proportion of land went under the plough for purposes of export”.
The development of transport and foreign trade led to the introduction of a variety of new crops such as tobacco, groundnuts and potatoes while, at a later stage, the Commercial requirements of the Company led it to encourage the cultivation of indigo, jute, tea and coffee.
Dependent as he became on foreign markets, the farmer now realised that it was more paying to live on the profits earned from his farm than on the products that he grew. This change in Indian agriculture is called the commercialisation of Agriculture
A point worth noting is that all these crops, which now came in vogue, had been grown for a long time on small patches around every village. The change which now came about was not so much an increase in the total area under commercial crops. This was not possible because India had also to produce sufficient food grains for her increasing population.
The change which came about with commercialisation was in the direction of increasing localisation and specialisation. The irrigated areas in Deccan took to the cultivation sugar-cane; cotton growing became localised in Berar, Jute in Bengal and wheat in the canal colonies of the Punjab.
The commercialisation of agriculture, was brought about by a series of developments which took place in the second half of the 19th Century.
Commercialisation of Agriculture # Causes:
The most significant event was the revolution in the means of transport. The railways were rapidly extended, the route mileage increasing from 432 in 1859 to 1990 in 1881 and 25,363 in 1901. At the same time, the work of road construction was also seriously taken in hand.
A road from Bombay to Agra was commenced in 1840 and by 1853, the Grand Trunk Road had been extended from Benares to Delhi. These newly opened roads and railways linked up different parts of the country, thereby facilitating the movement of crops from the surplus to the deficit areas and from the hitherto isolated village to the port towns from where it was shipped to distant parts of the world.
Every railway station became a Mandi or an export Centre to which traders and exporters alike-flocked.
The opening of the Suez canal in 1869 was another event of world-wide importance. The opening of the canal cut the sea-route between India and England by over 3000 miles and shortened the period of journey between Calcutta and London by 36 days.
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