8.4         ndian       onom
               the late 1940s. But due to market failure                       the uncertainties of monsoon for their
               the sector failed to lead the economy                           irrigational requirements.10
               after independence. Without increasing
               the income of the people who depend                       KHArIF & rABI
               on agriculture for their livelihood, the
                                                                     There are certain special terms used to understand
               market was not going to support the                   the cropping seasons of India. The agricultural
               industries. As a result, the Government               crop year in India is from July to June. The Indian
               of India announced agriculture as the                 cropping season is classified into two main seasons-
               prime moving force of the economy only                (i) kharif and (ii) rabi based on the monsoon. The
               in 2002.6                                             kharif cropping season is from July to October
      (viii)   With 1 per cent increase in the share of              during the South-West/Summer Monsoon and
               agriculture in India’s total exports, the             the rabi cropping season is from October to March
               money which flows into agriculture is                 (North-East/Returning/Winter Monsoon). The
               calculated to be Rs. 8,500 crores.7                   crops grown between March and June are summer
                                                                     crops, known as jayads.
       (ix)    In 2017-18 foodgrains production is
                                                                           Pakistan and Bangladesh are two other countries
               estimated to be a record 277.49 million
                                                                     that are using the term ‘kharif’ and ‘rabi’ to describe
               tonnes of which is around 7 per cent
                                                                     their cropping patterns. The terms ‘kharif’ and ‘rabi’
               higher than the total production of                   originate from Arabic language where kharif means
               2015-16 (252.23 MT)8.                                 autumn and rabi means spring.
        (x)    Productivity of major crops are lower                       The kharif crops include rice, maize, sorghum,
               in case of India in comparison to the                 pearl millet/bajra, finger millet/ragi (cereals), arhar
               world’s best practice. Though it has                  (pulses), soyabean, groundnut (oilseeds), cotton,
               been improving with a slow pace, the                  etc. The rabi crops include wheat, barley, oats
               productivity of rice, wheat and pulses                (cereals), chickpea/gram (pulses), linseed, mustard
               improved from 2,202 kg, 2,900 kg and                  (oilseeds) etc.
               625 kg per hectare of 2007–08 to 2,390
               kg, 2,872 kg (falling from 3,026 kg                       Food PHIlosoPHy oF IndIA
               of 2011-13) and 744 kg per hectare in
                                                                     Indian food philosophy11 is generally seen divided
               2016-17.9                                             into three phases with their own objectives and
       (xi)    A total of 66.1 per cent of the cropped               challenges:
               area in the economy still depends on
                                                                     the first PhAse
       6.   Planning Commission, Approach Paper to the Tenth
            Five Year Plan (New Delhi: Government of India,          This phase continued for the first three decades
            2002).                                                   after Independence. The main aim and the struggle
       7.   This was the general opinion of the experts throughout
            the     s, ut the official document which accepted this
                                                                     of this phase was producing as much foodgrains as
            contention was the Foreign Trade Policy 2002-07, of      required by the Indian population, i.e., achieving
            the Ministry of Commerce. This View continued with       physical access to food.
            the govenment in all its forthcoming trade policies till
            about four decades.                                         10. Ministry of Finance, Economic Survey 2015-16, Vol. 2, p. 103.
       8.   Ministry of Agriculture, GoI, N. Delhi, March, 2018.       11. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),
       9.   Ministry of Agriculture, GoI, N. Delhi February 2018.            N. Delhi, 1998.