ri lt re and ood ana ement 8.15
maize-gram, sugarcane-wheat, soybean-wheat, food, which may lead the nation to attain food
sorghum-sorghum, groundnut-wheat, sorghum- security. By the late 1980s, India was able to
groundnut, groundnut-rice, sorghum-wheat, manage self-sufficiency in foodgrains. We see the
sorghum-gram, pigeonpea-sorghum, groundnut, emergence of big farmers in the GR regions for
sorghum-rice, groundnut-sorghum and soybean- whom at least farming did not remain subsistence
gram. —commercial dimension enters the Indian farm
practices, for the first time.
chAnges in the croPPing PAtterns This is the period when the traditional
Due to various reasons, the cropping pattern of cropping pattern of India got exposed to new
Indian farmers have undergone changes over the inputs of farming and geographical dimensions
time—we can see them in following three phases. of crop selection were undermined. Soon (by
Pre-Green Revolution Period: In this phase we 1996–97), the government came to know that the
see Indian farmers going in for a cropping system GR farm practices were ecologically damaging and
(generally), which was primarily decided by the unsustainable. The Government of India officially
socio-cultural and economic factors—more or less adopts the idea of sustainable agriculture by 1997.
they were closer to being sustainable as they had Reform Period: Another wave of change in
developed through the long process of trial and the cropping pattern comes with the process of
error of their forefathers. A combination of crops economic reforms commencing in 1991, which
we see being grown by farmers across the country brings in new opportunities together with the
with judicious mixture of crops till the Green challenges in the area of farm sector:
Revolution. This was a period of subsistence
The issue of food security continued
farming with high dependency of population
to give pressure on policymakers as
for livelihood on it. The nature of the cropping
pattern was too stubborn to change by incentives. foodgrains production was not able to
keep pace with the population growth
Green Revolution Period: Under the spell of the
rate. The situation becomes even more
New Agricultural Strategy (NAS), more popularly
serious with Food Rights (NFSA) given to
as the Green Revolution, since 1965 onwards, we
a large population of the country recently.
see a major shift in the cropping pattern of Indian
farmers. The main forces of change were economic, Globalisation brought in new
infrastructural and technological. Initiation of opportunities of farm exports together
high yeilding varieties of seeds, financial supports with the challenge of cheap production
of chemical and other inputs together with the (need of farm mechanisation and
provisions of minimum support price (MSP) commercial farming so that Indian farm
gave major shift to the farmers’ choices of crops. products can compete in the global market)
In the GR regions we see a highly repetitive kind in wake of the agricultural provisions of the
of cropping pattern with the ‘wheat-rice’ having World Trade Organisation. It made India
predominance. In coming times, the Government think of mobilising huge investments in
of India started announcing MSPs for many other the sector. India accepts agriculture as
crops, which had its own impact on the farmers’ an industry (2000) giving green signal to
choices of crops in their cropping systems. corporate and contract farmings.
This period was primarily guided by the Ecologically sustainable farming becomes
singular objective of attaining self-sufficiency in the need of the hour due to ensuing danger