MNR 001: Indian Agricultural Development

The course describes the various phases of the Indian agriculture development starting from the pre-historic agriculture to the modern agriculture. The course identifies the traditions, belief and agricultural practices followed by Indian farmers. The course explains the scope of Indian agriculture and its contribution in the Indian economy. The status, utilization pattern, problems and development of agricultural resources viz. land, labour, water, biodiversity, livestock and fisheries are covered. Institutional development in agriculture such as cooperatives, farmers’ organization, institutional finance, research, educationand extension warehousing and storage, public distribution system, etc. are explained along with their importance. Various concepts such as capital formation, agricultural pricing, taxation and subsidies are briefly described along with their importance in agricultural production management. The course talks about the role of food grains procurement, storage, marketing, research and technology transfer in development of Indian agriculture. The learners will recognise the emerging issues and trends in agriculture such as diversification, agriculture industry interface, trade, quality, gender and sustainability, globalization and use of information and communication technology.The course content is delivered through 40 video lessons in 16 weeks duration. Every week, learners will have to go through the video lessons. The video lessons are supported by the self learning materials. In addition, a number of web links will be provided to support the study materials and to get the updated information. Self assessment questions will be provided after each lesson. Learners have to complete the assignments after going through major sections of study material.This Post graduate course on "Indian Agricultural Development" is useful to those who are working or who want to build their carrier in agriculture and allied sectors as this course provides basic learning about the agriculture sector.

Course layout

Week 1

Evolution, Scope And Diversity of Agriculture

Week 2

Indian Farmers’ Traditions, Beliefs and Practices

Week 3

Importance, Performance and Development of Indian Agriculture

Week 4

Land and Water Resources and Cropping Pattern

Week 5

Plant Genetic Resources and Germplasm Conservation

Week 6

Agricultural Labour, Livestock and Fisheries Resources

Week 7

Agricultural Credit, Warehousing, Insurance and Public Distribution System

Week 8

Cooperatives and Farmers Organizations

Week 9

Institutional development in Agriculture

Week 10

Capital Formation, Pricing, Taxation and Subsidies in Agriculture

Week 11

Management of Foodgrains and Research & Development in Agriculture

Week 12

Diversification in agriculture and Agriculture-Industry Interface

Week 13

Issues Related to Trade, Quality, Gender and Sustainability

Week 14

Information and Communication Technology in Agriculture