{"id":49894,"date":"2019-07-16T14:49:16","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T09:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?page_id=49894"},"modified":"2019-07-16T14:49:16","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T09:19:16","slug":"answered-discuss-thecommercialisation-of-agriculture-in-india-duringcolonial-rule-discuss-various-consequences-of-agricultural-commercialisation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-discuss-thecommercialisation-of-agriculture-in-india-duringcolonial-rule-discuss-various-consequences-of-agricultural-commercialisation\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] Discuss thecommercialisation of agriculture in India duringcolonial rule. Discuss various consequences of agricultural commercialisation."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Demand of the question<\/strong>
Introduction.<\/strong>Contextual introduction.
Body. <\/strong>Discuss commercialisation of agriculture. Positive and negative impact.
Conclusion.<\/strong>Conclude contextually. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

The British rule had pronounced and profound economic impact on India. The various economic policies followed by the British led to the rapid transformation of India\u2019s economy into a colonial economy whose nature and structure were determined by needs of the British economy. One important aspect of British economic policy was commercialisation of agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commercialisation of Agriculture during British\nPeriod<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commercialisation of Indian agriculture started\npost 1813 when the industrial revolution in England gained pace. It became\nprominent around 1860 A.D (during American Civil War which boosted demand of\nCotton from India to Britain as America was not able to export Cotton).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Its aim was not to feed the industries of India\nbecause India was far behind in industrial development as compared to Britain,\nFrance, Belgium and many other European countries of eighteenth century.But was\ndone primarily to feed the British industries.<\/li>
  2. It led toproduction of only those agricultural\nproducts which were either needed by the British industries or could fetch cash\ncommercial gain to the British in the European or American market.For example,\nseveral efforts were made to increase the production of cotton in India to\nprovide raw and good quality cotton to the cotton-textile industries of Britain\nwhich were growing fast after the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Therefore,\ncotton growing area increase in India and its production increased manifold\nwith gradual lapse of time. <\/li>
  3. Indigo and more than that, tea and coffee\nplantation were encouraged in India because these could get commercial market\nabroad.<\/li>
  4. Most of the plantations for commercial crops were\ncontrolled by the English. Jute was another product that received attention of\nthe English company because the jute made products got a ready market in\nAmerica and Europe.<\/li>
  5. Cash transactions become the basis of exchange and\nlargely replaced the barter system.<\/li>
  6. The new land tenure system was introduced in the form\nof permanent settlement and Ryotwari Settlement had made agricultural land a\nfreely exchangeable commodity.The Permanent settlement by giving ownership\nright to the zamindars created a class of wealthy landlords; they could make\nuse of this ownership right by sale or purchase of land. <\/li>
  7. The agriculture which had been way of life rather\nthan a business enterprise now began to be practiced for sale in national and\ninternational market.<\/li>
  8. Crops like cotton, jute, sugarcane, ground nuts, tobacco\netc. which had a high demand in the market were increasingly cultivated. The\nbeginning of the plantation crops like Tea, coffee, rubber, indigo etc heralded\na new era in agricultural practices in India. These were essentially meant for\nmarkets and thus commercialisation of agriculture took to new heights with the\nexpansion of the British rule.<\/li>
  9. The commercialisation of agriculture was a forced\nand artificial process for the majority of Indian peasants. It was introduced\nunder coercion of the British and not out of the incentive of peasantry at\nlarge. The peasantry went for cultivation of commercial crops under duress. He\nhad to pay the land revenue due to the British government in time. Moreover, he\nhad to grow commercial crop on a specified tract of his land under the\noppression of planters.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Negative\nImpacts of Commercialisation of Agriculture<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Led to inequalities-<\/strong>It should have acted as a catalyst in increasing\nagricultural productivity. But, in reality this did not happen due to poor\nagricultural organization, obsolete technology, and lack of resources among\nmost peasants. It was only the rich farmers; who benefited and this in turn,\naccentuated inequalities of income in the rural society.<\/li>
    2. Benefited rich-<\/strong>The commercialisation of agriculture beneficial to\nthe British planters, traders and manufacturers, who were provided with\nopportunity to make huge profits by getting the commercialised agricultural\nproducts at, throw away prices. The commercialisation of Indian agriculture\nalso partly benefited Indian traders and money lenders who made huge fortunes\nby working as middlemen for the British.<\/li>
    3. Exploitation of poor-<\/strong>The poor peasant was forced to sell his produce\njust after harvest at whatever prices he could get as he had to meet in time\nthe demands of the government, the landlord, the money lender and his family\nmembers\u2019 requirements. This placed him at the money of the grain merchant, who\nwas in a position to dictate terms and who purchased his produced at much less\nthan the market price. Thus, a large share of the benefit of the growing trade\nin agricultural products was reaped by the merchant, who was very often also\nthe village money lender.<\/li>
    4. Loss of land-<\/strong>Indian money lenders advanced Cash advances to the\nfarmers to cultivate the commercial crops and if the peasants failed to pay him\nback in time, the land of peasants came under ownership of moneylenders.<\/li>
    5. Increased miseries of Indian farmers-<\/strong>Most of the Indian people suffered miserably due to\nthe British policy of commercialisation of Indian agriculture. It resulted in\nreduced area under cultivation of food crops due to the substitution of\ncommercial non-food grains in place of food grains. This had a devastating\neffect on the rural economy and often took the shape of famines. The misery was\nfurther enhanced became the population of India was increasing every year,\nfragmentation of land was taking place because of the increasing pressure on\nland and modern techniques of agricultural production were not introduced in\nIndia. Thus, the commercialisation of agriculture in India by the British was\nalso one of the important causes of the impoverishment of the Indian people.<\/li>
    6. Regional Specialisation-<\/strong>Regional specialisation of crop production based on\nclimatic conditions, soil etc., was an outcome of the commercial revolution in\nagriculture. Deccan districts of Bombay presidency grew cotton, Bengal grew\njute and Indigo, Bihar grew opium, Assam grew tea, Punjab grew wheat, etc.<\/li>
    7. Impacted indian market-<\/strong>Another important consequence of the commercial\nrevolution in agriculture was linking of the agricultural sector to the world\nmarket. Price movements and business fluctuations in the world markets began to\naffect the fortunes of the Indian farmer to a degree that it had never done\nbefore. The farmer in his choice of crops attached greater importance to market\ndemand and price than his home needs. The peasant class got adversely affected\nowing to imbalances in market condition.<\/li>
    8. Decreased self sufficiency-<\/strong>Commercialisation of agriculture adversely affected\nself sufficiency of village economy and acted as major factor in bringing the\ndeclining state in rural economy.Commercialisation effected traditional\nrelations between agriculture and industry. In India, traditional relations\nacted as factors for each other\u2019s development which were hampered.<\/li>
    9. Assisted Britain\u2019s industrialisation on the cost of\nIndia\u2019s growth-<\/strong>The commercialisation\nof agriculture had mixed effects. While it assisted the industrial revolution\nin Britain, it broke the economic self-sufficiency of villages in India. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Positive Impacts of Commercialisation of\nAgriculture:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Encouraged social exchange-<\/strong>In spite of having many negative effect commercialisations\nin one sense was progressive event. Commercialisation encouraged social\nexchange and it made possible the transformation of Indian economy into\ncapitalistic form.<\/li>
      2. Linked indian economy with global economy-<\/strong>Commercialisation linked India with world economy.\nIt led to the growth of high level social and economic system. The important\ncontribution of commercialisation reflected in integration of economy. <\/li>
      3. Growth of national agriculture-<\/strong>It also created a base for growth of national\neconomy commercialisation of agriculture led to growth of national agriculture\nand agricultural problem acquired national form.It also brought about regional specialisation\nof crops on an efficient basis.<\/li>
      4. New commercial crops<\/strong>– <\/strong>It led\ntointroduction of a large number of commercial crops such as tea, coffee,\nindigo, opium, cotton, jute, sugarcane and oilseed.<\/li>
      5. Capitalism-<\/strong>It made possible the transformation of Indian\neconomy in to capitalistic form. Commercialisation of Indian agriculture also\npartly benefited Indian traders and money lenders who made huge fortunes by\nworking as middlemen for the BritishIntegration of economy took place which\nalso created for the growth of national economy.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        The commercialisation of agriculture was a new phenomenon in Indian agriculture scene introduced by the British. While the upper class and British industries benefitedfrom it, the Indian peasants\u2019 life was tied to remote international market. The worst effect of commercialisation was the oppression of Indian peasants at hands of European. This found expression in the famous Indigo revolt in 1859. Moreover, commercialisation of Indian agriculture got manifested in series of famines which took a heavy toll of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Demand of the question Introduction.Contextual introduction. Body. Discuss commercialisation of agriculture. Positive and negative impact. Conclusion.Conclude contextually. The British rule had pronounced and profound economic impact on India. The various economic policies followed by the British led to the rapid transformation of India\u2019s economy into a colonial economy whose nature and structure were determined by… Continue reading [Answered] Discuss thecommercialisation of agriculture in India duringcolonial rule. Discuss various consequences of agricultural commercialisation.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":49132,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-49894","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}