New agricultural strategy

The place of agriculture in Indian economy has never been so prestigious and important as it is today. The Indian farmer is now proud of raising the highest yield of wheat on his farm. He is now receptive to new ideas and methods of cultivation. Today, agriculture is a revolutionary concept to an Indian farmer. New Agricultural Strategy has unfolded enormous potentialities of growth in Indian agriculture. It is no longer viewed with pessimism and stagnation. The Green Revolution holds a great promise for the future growth of agricultural pro duction and productivity. Agriculturist's income has recorded a sharp increase and he views his occupation with greater dignity than he did ever before. But, what are the implications of the Green Revolution? This is the question that agricultural economists have set themselves to investigate.

The Green Revolution is said to have led to the emergence of islands of affluence in the ocean of rural misery. Shall such islands grow in number or in size or shall the revolution storm the ocean itself and change its outlook altogether? These are the pertinent questions that agricultural planners have to examine in depth. New Agricultural Strategy has not only but social implications as well. We have, in this book, made a modest attempt to bring to light some of the social and economic implications of the new agricultural strategy. Our findings are based on a research study conducted in Jammu and Kashmir state. While presenting the content of the book, we have tried, as far as possible, to provide a reasonably complete and rigorous exposition of the elementary quantitative techniques used in research besides a simple narrative of the problems of modern agriculture. Three major aspects of the new agricultural strategy, viz., income, employment and productivity, have been discussed at length. Social implications have also been discussed in detail.