question_answer 3)

What were the main causes of India's agricultural stagnation during the colonial period?

Answer:

Under the colonial rule, India was basically an agrarian economy with nearly 85% of its population employed in agriculture sector. Nevertheless, the growth of the agriculture sector was very poor and productivity was low. This was due to the following causes (i) Land Settlement and Revenue Settlement System Under the colonial rule, India was basically an agrarian economy with nearly 85% of its population employed in agriculture sector. Nevertheless, the growth of the agriculture sector was very poor and productivity was low. This was due to the prevalence of various systems of land settlement, particularly zamindari system which was implemented in the then Bengal Presidency comprising parts of India's present day Eastern states. Under this system, the zamindars (owners of land) got the profit from land cultivation who collected rent from the cultivators regardless of the economic condition of the cultivators. They never took any steps to improve the productivity of the land. The revenue settlement system was responsible for this altitude of zamindars. Zamindars were required to pay very high revenue to the British Government on specified dates otherwise they would lose their rights on land. (ii) Commercialization of Agriculture In order to provide British industries with cheap raw materials, the Indian farmers were forced to' grow cash crops (like indigo and cotton required by British textiles industries) instead of food crops (like rice and wheat). This led to the commercialization of Indian agriculture. This commercialization of Indian agriculture not only increased the investment costs for the poor farmers but also led India to face shortage of food grain, resources, technology and investment. (iii) Lack of Irrigation Facilities and Resources Besides the above factors, Indian agricultural sector also faced lack of irrigation Facilities, insignificant use of fertilizer, lack of investment, frequent famines and other natural calamities etc that further exaggerated the agricultural performance and made it more vulnerable.