Solution

The Indian agricultural economy was largely subsistence in nature after Independence. During partition about one-third of the irrigated land in undivided India went to Pakistan.

After Independence, the immediate goal of the Government was to increase food-grains production by:

1.Switching over from cash crops to food crops.

2.Intensification of cropping over already cultivable land.

3.Increasing cultivation by bringing cultivated land and fallow land under plough.

4.This strategy helped in increasing food grains production. But it stagnated during the late 1950s. Intensive Agricultural District Programme and Intensive Agricultural Area Programme were launched to overcome this problem.

5.New seed varieties of wheat and rice known as HYVs were available for cultivation by mid-1960. Package technology including HYVs was introduced in Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

6.This strategy of agricultural development led to an increase in production of the food grains at a very fast rate and this agricultural growth came to be known as the Green Revolution. This strategy of agricultural development made the country self-reliant in food grain production.

7.The Planning Commission of India initiated agro-climatic planning in 1988 to induce regionally balanced agricultural development in the country. It also emphasised the need for diversification and harnessing of resources for development of dairy farming, poultry, horticulture etc.