In economics `Land’ is used in a broader sense to include all gifts of nature such as soil, sunshine, rain, wind, water, etc. Land a basic factor of production is limited in nature and has to be operated in a given natural environment. Though, man has made a tremendous progress in science, the basic importance of land has not been reduced at all. On the contrary, because of increasing population, we are required to pay more attention to it by way of proper use and good management.
India possesses 329 million hectares of geographical area of which only 136 million hectares (41 percent) is the net agricultural land. Only about 20 percent of the total area is covered under forest.
In the course of development and progress, because of increasing needs of human beings, man started using this valuable resource because of ruthless destruction of forest, problems of soil erosion, pollution, rainfall, etc. became severe. Increasing demand for food, fuel and other amenities added to this misuse further, several factors affect the productive value of land, sustainable use of land is now the basic consideration.
Land Tenure – Meaning:
Land tenure refers to the way in which land is held by an individual from the Government. It shows the relationships between the land holder and the State. The absolute ownership of land rests with the Government. Government gives proprietary rights to individuals or communities. Thus, whom we call a land owner, is in that sense is the proprietor of that land and he has to pay land renew for that.
Land Tenure
Land Tenure means, how the land (which ultimately belongs to Government) is held by the landholder or operator. For their convenience, British Govt., introduced exploitative tenure systems like Zamindari, Mahalwari, in very large areas of the country. However, a good system like Rayatwari was introduced only in 2 states viz. Bombay and Madras.Soon after independence, Zaminderi Abolition Acts were passed in different States and lands were given to the tillers of the soil. Similarly, Tenancy Acts were passed in order to stop the exploitation of tenants by the landowners (holders).
Price Policy :
It is well known that, in India, prices of agricultural commodities fluctuate from time to time. It is mainly due to factors like supply (seasonal production) situation, many times affected by vagaries of nature, hoarding by the traders, etc. While the demand remains more or less constant. Another important reason is that there is no control over the acreage under a particular crop. Cultivators are free to have any acreage i.e. any amount of production. These fluctuations in prices adversely affect both farmers and the consumers. Price stability is necessary for the progress of agriculture. Stable prices means that the prices should be beneficial to both producers and consumers.
In order to bring in stability in prices of agricultural commodities, Govt. adopts three important measures viz. Minimum support price, Buffer stock, and in exceptional circumstances, the import of the commodity. Improved/High Yield varieties
Another important feature of the commercial farming is the use of improved/hybrid/high yielding varieties of crops. Our Green Revolution was started with the high yielding varieties of wheat. It further spread to other crops like rice, maize, sorghum, fruit and vegetable crops. Area under high yielding varieties has increased by leaps and bounds. The farmers have become more responsive to the use of HYVs are compared to the past.
Now, there has been tremendous increase in the research relating to breeding of new varieties of different crops in Agriculture Universities, Control Institutes as well as the private agencies. As a result, there has been a greater influx of new HYVs in markets and farmers are also adopting the same.
The genetic engineering and other breeding techniques have made much headway in recent years and several new varieties of crops having all the good characteristics will be available soon.
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