Imagine you are looking down from a drone over a vast agricultural region of India. Some patches are green with rice, others golden with wheat, some blooming with sugarcane, and others dotted with pulses. Now, if we take a notebook and record how much land is under which crop—that’s essentially the cropping pattern. Definition: Cropping…
Introduction What exactly is Agricultural Productivity? Let us begin with a simple question:Two farmers—Farmer A and Farmer B—both have 1 hectare of land.Farmer A produces 3 tonnes of wheat, while Farmer B produces 6 tonnes from the same area. Now ask yourself: who is more productive?Clearly, Farmer B.So, agricultural productivity is just a measure of…
Background: Why was FCI needed in the first place? Let’s start with a simple reality check. In the 1960s, India was staring at food shortages. Our dependence on foreign aid like the infamous PL-480 wheat from the US made food insecurity not just an economic issue—but a national dignity issue. To tackle this, the Government…
Public Distribution System: What it is all about? Imagine a country where a large section of the population struggles to afford two meals a day. In such a country, the government acts as a guardian—it buys food from the farmers and sells it to the poor at subsidized prices. This system of distribution is known…
Minimum Support Price Imagine you are a farmer. You’ve invested money, time, and labour into growing your crop. But when harvest season comes, the market price crashes—perhaps because of bumper production or import surpluses. In such a scenario, MSP becomes your economic safety net. Minimum Support Price (MSP) is the price at which the Central…
Agriculture Finance in India: A Brief History Agricultural finance in India has evolved significantly since independence to address the needs of farmers and promote inclusive rural growth. The journey can be divided into key phases: Phase I (1951–1969): Laying the Foundation Phase II (1970–1990): Institutional Expansion and Rural Focus Phase III (1991–Present): Reform, Innovation &…
Land Acquisition Let us begin with a basic definition. 🟡 Land acquisition is the process by which the government—either central or state—takes private land for public purposes such as building roads, dams, railways, schools, or even industrial corridors. Now, one may ask: “Why can the government take someone’s private land?” This power is based on…
Let’s start with the basic question: What are Land Reforms? 👉 Land Reforms are institutional changes introduced by the State to correct historical injustices in land ownership and land use. Technically speaking, they are measures that aim at changing the existing structure of land ownership, tenancy, and cultivation in rural areas—where land is not just…
📜 Article 31A and 31B of the Indian Constitution 🌾 Context: Why were these Articles needed? After Independence, India’s biggest challenge was addressing agrarian inequality: But there was a constitutional problem. Laws like Zamindari Abolition Acts were challenged in courts as violations of Fundamental Rights—especially: So to protect these laws, the Constitution was amended, and…
📌 General Observation: It is often observed, and empirically supported in several developing countries including India, that as the size of the farm increases, the per acre yield decreases.This leads to the conclusion that small farms are more efficient than large farms. The Economic Behaviour Argument: Marginal Output Approach Let’s understand this through the lens…
