Question

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Answer 1

Introduction

The British rule had pronounced and profound economic impact on India. The various economic policies followed by the British led to the rapid transformation of India’s economy into a colonial economy whose nature and structure were determined by needs of the British economy. One important aspect of British economic policy was commercialization of agriculture. Commercialization of agriculture which can be defined as a process where peasants start producing primarily for sale in distant markets, rather than to meet their own need for food or to sell in local markets, (Roy, 2007) has taken place at different times in response to different stimuli.

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Though markets and trade in agricultural goods existed in quite organized forms and on a large scale in the pre-British period but the market expansion in the British period marked a qualitative and quantitative break. According to Tirthankar Roy, there were three main qualitative changes.

‗First, before the British rule, product markets were constrained and subject to imperfections, given multiplicity of weights and measures, backward and risky transportation systems, and extensive use of barter. British rule and the railways weakened these constraints. By doing so, it enabled closer integration of global, regional and local markets. Second, from the time of industrial revolution, a new international specialization began to emerge as a result of trade. India specialized, in agricultural exports. Third, in turn, changes in the product market induced changes in land, labor, and credit markets‘ (Roy, 2007). The American Civil War also indirectly encouraged commercialization of agriculture in India: the British cotton demand was diverted to India. The demand of cotton was maintained even after the civil war ceased because of the rise of cotton textile industries in India.

The commercialization of India agriculture was initiated in India by the British through their direct and indirect policies and activities. Firstly, the new land tenure system introduced in form of permanent settlement and Ryotwari Settlement had made agricultural land a freely exchangeable commodity. The Permanent settlement by giving ownership right to the zamindars created a class of wealthy landlords

Impact of Commercialization on Indian Agriculture

It is interesting to note that though there is little controversy with regard to the role of British in initiating and promoting the forces which led to the commercialization of Indian agriculture, however, the nature of commercialization and its impact on the Indian peasantry had been very controversial issue, both during and after the British rule. To the nationalists, it was not out of the free will of the cultivators– commercialization of agriculture was forced and artificial (Dutt, 1906). This was so because the high pitch of revenue demand in cash compelled the cultivators to sell large portion of the produce of their fields keeping an insufficient stock for their own consumption. On the other hand the colonial bureaucracy argued that it was the market force rather than the pressure of land revenue that was drawing the farmers into the business of production for the market. The commercial crops were more profitable and this economic incentive led them to produce for sale and export, thus making it possible for them to increase per capita income.