Gujarat BoardEnglish MediumSTD 12 CommerceEconomicsAGRICULTURE SECTOR5 Marks
Question
State the measures to improve Productivity in Agriculture.
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Answer
$1.$ Introduction:
Low productivity of agriculture sector shows backwardness of agriculture sector.
Agriculture productivity has increased during planning but it is very low as compared to other developed countries of world.
Increase in agriculture productivity results in increase in income at rural sector, and it will ultimately helps in providing market for industrial & service sector.
Apart from this, employment, poverty, urbanization, migration, unequal distribution of income etc problems will be solved.
The increase in population at one end & scarcity of land for fulfillment of necessities at other end can be tacked only by increasing agriculture productivity.
$2.$ Measures to Increase Agriculture Productivity:
The measures to increase agriculture productivity can be divided in three parts:
$(a)$ Institutional Measures $(b)$ Technological Measures $(c)$ Other Measures
$[A]$ Institutional Measures:
The following institutional measures were taken in India during planning.
$(1)$ Land Related Reforms:
Law to abolish zamindari system, to protect tillers and to control rent are implemented in India to provides ownership of land to farmers & land labourers may have protection to till land.
To stop exploitation of farmers & this way farmer may have big share of their crop.
This will encourage them to invest more capital.
It will increase agriculture productivity.
Along with it, the upper ceiling limit of the land can be supervised.
For increasing productivity.
Apart from this, non economical cultivable substances can be converted to economical substances by land acquisition, co-operative farming & by formation of laws.
$(2)$ Availability of Institutional Finance:
The majorities of India farmers are poor & so they should be provide sufficient finance at reasonable rate.
Agriculture related investment can be increased by proper financial facilities.
During planning, lots of efforts have been made for providing finance to farmers at resonates through co-operative finance structure.
Significant increment has been down in agricultural finances by nationalization of banks in $1969\ \&\ 1980.$
National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development $\text{(NABARD)}$ which is body of $\text{RBI}$ set up in $1982$ to do special focus on agriculture sector & Regional Rural Banks $\text{(RRBs)}$ & Land Development Banks $\text{(LDBs)}$ development under it to provide cheap & enough credit to Indian farmers.
The total share of finance by organized sector in agriculture has increased due to the steps taken by Govt.
Efforts are being made for procurement of short term & medium term loans from banks to farmers.
$(3)$ Improvement in Structure of Agriculture Marking:
The Indian agriculture product marking system is inefficient & defective.
The following steps were taken during planning period for farmers to receive reasonable price of their products & for removing markets manipulative:
$(i)$ Regulated markets have been setup.
$(ii)$ National warehouse corporation & state warehouse corporation started to increase agricultural produce of farmers & from untimely selling of agricultural produce.
$(iii)$ To classify the agriculture produce as per their quality $\text{"AGMARK" (}$Agriculture Marking$)$ has been introduced.
$(iv)$ System has been developed to provide information about prices of agriculture produce.
Information about agriculture product price is given through radio & Television.
$(v)$ To protect farmers from market price changes, bottom price being announced by government.
$(vi)$ Efforts have been made for selling through co-operative purchase & sales unions so the farmers get benefits of wholesale selling.
$(4)$ Agriculture Research:
The Indian farmers are less educated & they are not economically sound to do research on their own.
So the duty is given to $\text{NABARD.}$
It closes various agriculture researches and provides information to farmers & trains them.
So the farmers should not cultivate only with traditional technique but they produce as per rising demand and by that earn more income & start doing market oriented production.
For this agricultural universities & 'Indian Council of Agricultural Research $\text{(ICAR)}'$ have been established.
These institutes try to innovate various agricultural methods & find out various seeds.
To include farmers in agricultural reform programs, collective rural development programs, Panchayati Raj, integrated rural development programs, Jan-Dhan Yojana etc. started to modernize the agriculture sector to direct them for increase in agricultural productivity.
$[B]$ Technological Measures:
Proper conditions are created at agriculture sector by institutional measures & it helps farmers to develop farms.
The technological measure brings real transformation in agriculture.
The effect of institutional measures on agriculture is direct & short term.
For instant agriculture revolution, irrigation, fertilizers, seeds & use of pesticides etc. technological measures are necessary.
There is a saying in Gujarati, "Ploughing, irrigation & fertilizers brings crop".
The following technological measures are taken in India:
$(1)$ Improved Seeds:
Improved seeds $($Hybrid seeds$)$ are developed by scientific inventions.
These scientifically developed seeds give more production & helps in producing crops speedily.
It protects crop against diseases.
Extraordinary rise in food grains production is known at the place of agriculture revolution as 'Sees revolution’ higher priority is given to improved seeds during planning period.
National agriculture research committee, National seed corporation & agriculture universities given priority to seed development to increase agriculture productivity in reality.
In India, goods amount of $\text{H.Y.V.P}$ has been used in various crops like wheat, rice, cotton, bajra, corn, etc. proper care is taken in 'Green triangle' program to grow more crop In lees time.
Crop production can be done thrice a year because of such program.
$(2)$ Use of Chemical Fertilizers:
Use of chemical fertilizers is necessary along with improved seeds for better crop production.
By scientific research, the suitable chemical fertilizers can be suggested for right crop.
Nitrogen, phosphate, potash & other chemicals used as per crop.
The public sector enterprises contribute in a significant manner to crop up the increasing demand of chemical fertilizers.
Even fertilizers are imported & distributed at lower rates $($Subsidy rates$).$
Finance is available for purchasing fertilizers.
Programmes have been organized to prepare organic fertilizers out of garbage in rural sector.
Programs like ‘Gobar Gas Plant $($Cow Dung$)$’ have been implemented.
$(3)$ Increase in Irrigation Facility:
Indian agriculture sector depends on sky $($for rain purpose$)$ in majority cases but rain is quite uncertain.
So it directly affects agricultural production and productivity.
Irrigation facility is necessary for technological changes like fertilizers, improved seeds etc.
Efforts have been made during planning period to give suitable environment, more than one crop production policy & to give protection against irregular rainfall.
Various small, medium & large scale irrigation projects have been undertaken in this regard.
'Irrigation sector development program’ & ‘Infrastructural development Fund’ set up by India.
Huge dams like ‘Bhakhra Nangal', 'Kakrapar' & 'Narmada Dam' have been built for irrigation facilities.
Government has started various programs like 'Farm Pond' for storage of rain water, so that ground water level can be maintained.
Experience of 'Haryana' & 'Punjab' shows that role of irrigation is significant in agriculture productivity.
Efforts have been made to make maximum use of irrigation capacity by 'Drip Irrigation Method’.
It is necessary to establish reasonable distribution channel of irrigation facility & to expand it upto small & remote farmers.
In addition to that incomplete irrigation projects & to develop other facilities $\text{NABARD}$ being assigned.
$(4)$ Use of Machines:
One of the reasons for low productivity of agriculture is traditional equipment or machines.
In reality with the development of engineering and automobile sectors, tractors, trailers, Threshers, Electric Pump Set, engine oil, pesticide, and Sprinkler Pump etc modern machines are invented.
These machines are very helpful to have more than one crop a year which increases productivity.
For the development of these, in various states Agro Industries Corporations has been established.
$(5)$ Pesticides:
The hybrid seeds used to increase agricultural productivity makes the use of pesticides inevitable.
To prevent crop from various diseases and to protect plants from insects scientifically developed pesticides are very useful.
By using them the loss of crop can be restricted which also will give high productivity.
Farmers should be given information about pesticides and also should be given subsidy to buy them.
$(6)$ Soil Testing:
To do farming scientifically soil testing is a must.
Before taking the crop it is advisable to check if the land is suitable to take that crop.
Soil testing will also give information of deficiency of elements of soil.
That also helps to remove deficiency of land.
This will increase the productivity of the land.
This test answers about favorability of land for crop or not so.
$[C]$ Other Measures:
To improve agricultural productivity, farmers are needed to be educated with the help of education they will readily adopt the modern methods of agriculture.
They should be made aware about new form techniques which will help them to adopt it easily.
They even should be awakened for bad customs of rural areas and can be explained about not to believe in fatalism.
In place of seeing agriculture as a mean of livelihood, they need to see it as a profession, which automatically will help them to increase the productivity of land.
To increase agriculture productivity it is important to develop the allied works of agriculture like fishing, poultry farming, forestry and food processing industries.
This will reduce the burden on agriculture.
If small industries develop in rural areas, that will also be helpful indirectly to agriculture.
It will help as a motivator to increase productivity.
Farmers should also be given crop insurance coverage due to which buffer stock can be created which will help to stabilize the prices and increase the agriculture productivity.
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