On attaining independence, India inherited an agriculture with perhaps the lowest productivity in the world (before World War II rice yield per acre in Taiwan was twice as high as in India), the infrastructure was insignificant and practically no chemical fertilizer was used. The development of Indian agriculture since 1949 is described and compared with other developing countries. Topics examined include the increase of area under cultivation, use of fertilizers, adoption of high-yielding varieties, growth rates of production of the several agricultural products (1949/50-1964/65), structure of Indian farming, and agricultural labour force. E. A. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)
