Explain any 5 steps taken by the central and state government to improve Indian agriculture after Independence.
Answers
Widespread use of radio and television acquainted the farmers in new and improved techniques of cultivation.
The government could provide different facilities on its own because in the due time various activities were entrusted to specific public agencies.
Introduction of special weather bulletins by the government for farmers on radio and television.
The zimindari system was abolished by the government and consolidation of small holdings to make them economically viable.
Answer:Principles of Research:
In India, the holdings are generally small, the average farmer is poor, and the draft cattle are also small and ill fed. Taking these factors into consideration, certain principles, on which research is to be carried out, have been laid down.
These are given below:
(i) That the implements and machines for the Indian farmers should be simple in construction so that they could be operated by the illiterate farmers, and should either be manufactured or could be repaired by the village artisans or mechanics;
(ii) The prices of the implements should be within the reach of the ordinary farmers, though need not necessarily be cheap at the cost of efficiency, but they should also not be too costly. In power-driven equipment, the difficulty be overcome by giving the machinery on hire or hire- purchase system or on custom basis or can be utilized on co-operative basis;
(iii) The implements should be light, so that they can be transported from the village to the field and that the draft of the implement is suitable for the types of animals that are used in particular areas;
(iv) That the implements should be scientifically tested on a fairly uniform basis throughout India, so that the results are known and can be compared. There should be as little guess work as possible; and
(v) In designing the implements, as far as possible, the local available materials are to be used. In the case of soil-working and plant-working parts, durable materials, such as high-carbon steel, should be used.
To fulfil these requirements, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has also finalized procedures for the testing and designing of implements and the preform as in which the test data are to be collected, in recent years, oil-engines, and pumps. Quite a large number of the farmers are using these implements and firms have also been established in India to manufacture them. This trend towards mechanized farming is bound to increase.
Recently, however, new developments have taken place to bring about mechanization of agriculture. Due to the shortage of diesel-oil and its increased price, the mechanical operation will have to be restricted to deep ploughing, land-levelling, clearing land, and other operations which cannot be carried out with bullock-power.
Now greater attention has to be paid to the bullock drawn implements and manually operated implements. For instance, for short distances, bullock-carts have been found more economical than trucks; hence the necessity for improving bullock carts and also bullock-drawn, but improved implements, on priority basis.
Explanation:
When India became independent in 1947, the agricultural productivity was very low (about 50 million tonnes). The agriculture was mainly rained and was being done as a subsistence farming using mainly animate sources of farm power and traditional tools and equipment’s. More than 80% of the population living in rural areas was dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.
The Royal Commission on Agriculture in its report in 1928 had laid stress on harnessing science to develop and spread new agricultural technologies for the irrigated, arid and semi-arid areas. However, the quantum of efforts generated in agricultural engineering research and education till 1947 was microscopic in relation to the magnitude and diversity of the problems awaiting solutions.
The manpower for agricultural engineering research in the ICAR system was inadequate, both, qualitatively and quantitatively for facing successfully the numerous problems of developing equipment and technologies for mechanization of agriculture for maximizing efficiency of costly inputs like seeds, fertilizers, irrigation water, plant protection chemicals, and energy sources to increase higher production and productivity, reduction of drudgery; post-harvest technology and value addition, water, Plant Protection chemicals, and energy sources to increase higher production and productivity, reduction of drudgery; post-harvest technology and value addition, waste utilization, and generating income and employment in rural areas.