Agriculture and rural economy in India / edited by V.S. Mahajan

Despite over four decades of planned development agriculture still constitutes the key sector of the Indian economy which generates less than 40 per cent of national income and provides livelihood to over 70 per cent of the rural manpower. The fact that more people have to be supported on land than their contribution shows severe lack of alternative opportunities where the fastgrowing load of rural population could be absorbed. The result is the ever growing number of people on land who are just able to keep the wolf of hunger away. Again thanks to agriculture that even the poorest among the poor farmers are able to find some shelter and food. But then this is not the way an economy has to develop over time especially when it has been following a model of planned development since decades. Our planning system has certainly failed to deliver the goods despite its having support of the most sophisticated borrowed models of development which are alien to the socio economic conditions in the country.

The present volume pertains to Agriculture and Rural Economy in India and contains 38 papers divided into 12 parts and deals with areas of crop zoning; agricultural production and productivity; growth of food and non-food crops; emergence of irrigation, marketing and modern credit facilities; land reforms and pattern of land distribution; rural poverty, asset distribution and poverty alleviation pro grammes; dairy, horticultural and vegetable growing, marketing and management; women's participation in agricultural and other rural acti vities and the gender question; regional pers pective; and agriculture under Plans.

This book will be of great use to all teachers, scholars and students of economics, agriculture and rural development, and the planners and policy-makers.