Agriculture and Rural Economy

What the official syllabus says

General Studies-III (Main Examination, Paper VI), (D) Economy of India and Gujarat:

• Agriculture & Rural Economy: Major crops, Cropping patterns, and irrigation. Land reforms and their socio-economic impact. Food security, Public Distribution System (PDS), and agricultural subsidies. Food processing and related industries in India. E-technology in agriculture and supply chain management. Policies for Sustainable agriculture, Organic farming, Cooperative sector in Gujarat etc.

This page covers the line for India. The cooperative sector in Gujarat, named at the end of the line, and Gujarat's agriculture are on Economy of Gujarat: Agriculture, Industry and Cooperatives.

Topics in detail

Crops and cropping patterns

• Cropping seasons: kharif, rabi, zaid
• Food grains (rice, wheat, millets, pulses), oilseeds, cotton, sugarcane, jute, plantation crops, horticulture
• Cropping patterns: monocropping, multiple cropping, intercropping; cropping intensity
• Shifts in cropping patterns: towards rice and wheat after the Green Revolution, towards horticulture and high-value crops; millets (International Year of Millets, 2023)
• Agro-climatic zones and crop diversification

Irrigation

• Sources: canals, tanks, wells and tube wells; irrigated area
• Micro-irrigation (drip and sprinkler); Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana ('more crop per drop')
• Problems: waterlogging, salinity, groundwater depletion, inefficient canal use
• Watershed development; participatory irrigation management (water users' associations)

Land reforms

• Abolition of intermediaries (zamindari), tenancy reform, land ceilings, consolidation of holdings
• Bhoodan movement; land records modernisation (Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme), SVAMITVA
• Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016
• Socio-economic impact: success in some States, limits of ceiling laws, fragmentation, landlessness

Food security and PDS

• Dimensions: availability, access, absorption, stability
• National Food Security Act, 2013: entitlements, Antyodaya Anna Yojana; free foodgrains under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
• Public Distribution System: from universal to targeted; leakages and reforms (Aadhaar seeding, ePoS, One Nation One Ration Card)
• Food Corporation of India, buffer stocks, procurement and storage
• Nutrition security: POSHAN Abhiyaan, fortified rice

Agricultural subsidies and prices

• Input subsidies: fertiliser (nutrient-based subsidy, urea), power, irrigation, seeds, credit (interest subvention)
• Minimum Support Prices and the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices; procurement
• Income support: PM-KISAN (2019); crop insurance under PM Fasal Bima Yojana
• WTO Agreement on Agriculture: amber, blue and green boxes; peace clause
• Effects of subsidies: soil and water degradation, fiscal burden

Food processing and related industries

• Scope and significance: reducing waste, raising farm incomes, jobs
• Location factors; upstream (supply of produce) and downstream (markets) requirements
• Schemes: PM Kisan Sampada Yojana (mega food parks, cold chains), PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises, PLI for food processing
• Dairy, meat, fisheries and fruit and vegetable processing

E-technology and supply chains

• e-NAM (2016), Kisan Call Centres, mobile advisories, Soil Health Cards
• Digital Agriculture Mission and AgriStack; drones (Kisan drones), precision farming, remote sensing for crop estimates
• Agricultural marketing: APMC system and reforms; farmer producer organisations; warehousing (Warehouse Receipt system)
• Supply chain management: aggregation, grading, cold storage, logistics, reducing intermediaries

Sustainable agriculture and organic farming

• Problems of intensive farming: soil fertility loss, groundwater, chemical residues
• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture; Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (2015)
• Organic farming: certification (PGS-India, NPOP); Sikkim as a fully organic State
• Natural farming: the National Mission on Natural Farming; integrated farming systems; conservation agriculture
• Climate-resilient agriculture (National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture)

Cooperatives in Indian agriculture

• Credit, marketing, processing, dairy and fertiliser cooperatives
• 97th Constitutional Amendment (2011): Article 19(1)(c), Article 43B, Part IXB; the Supreme Court's 2021 judgment limiting Part IXB to multi-State cooperatives
• Union Ministry of Cooperation (2021); computerisation of primary agricultural credit societies
• Gujarat's cooperative sector: see the Gujarat economy page

Overlaps

• Prelims General Studies: agriculture sector (crops, land reforms, food security and PDS, sustainable agriculture and organic farming).