Land Resources and Agriculture in India

In nature, land exists as forests, deserts, wetlands or waterbodies (including glaciers), as we have learnt in the Physical Geography book. Humans put this land to a variety of uses. In this chapter, we are going to see how the land is used in India. We are not much concerned about the world in this chapter.

Categories of Land Use in India.

Nine-Fold Classification for the land use as maintained in the Land Revenue Records are as follows:

1. Forests area: This is the area which the Government has identified and demarcated for forest growth. There may be an increase in this category without any increase in the actual forest cover.
2. Non-agricultural Uses: Land under settlements, infrastructure (roads, canals), industries, shops etc. Expansion in secondary and tertiary activities would increase such land use.
3. Barren and Un-culturable Land: barren hilly terrains, desert lands, ravines, etc. normally cannot be brought under cultivation with the available technology.
4. Permanent Pastures and Grazing Lands: Most of this type of land is owned by the village ‘Panchayat’ or the Government. Only a small proportion of this land is privately owned. The land owned by the village panchayat comes under ‘Common Property Resources’.
5. Miscellaneous Tree Crops and Groves (Not included in Net sown Area): The land under orchards and fruit trees are included in this category. Much of this land is privately owned.
6. Culturable Waste-Land: left fallow (uncultivated) for more than five years is included in this category. It can be brought under cultivation after improving it through reclamation practices.
7. Current Fallow: left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year. Fallowing is a cultural practice adopted for giving the land rest. The land recoups the lost fertility.
8. Fallow other than Current Fallow: This is also a cultivable land that is left uncultivated for more than a year but less than five years. If the land is left uncultivated for more than five years, it would be categorised as a culturable wasteland.
9. Net Area Sown: The physical extent of land on which crops are sown and harvested. It is the total area sown with crops and orchards at least once a year.

The Above are the 9 categories of land

Land use in India

Gross Cropped Area and Net Sown Area

Gross Cropped Area (or Total Cropped Area) – It represents the total area sown once or more in a particular agricultural year (from April 1^st to March 31^st), with the area being counted as many times as there are sowings in a year. For example, if in Bengal, rice is sown thrice in a year, we will count it three times under the gross cropped area.

• In contrast, the area would be counted only once in the “Net Sown Area”.
• The “area sown more than once” is obtained by deducting the Net Sown Area from the Gross Cropped area.

Total Agricultural Land in India

The Agricultural land (also known as the Total Culturable Land /Total Cultivable Area/Total Arable land) is calculated by adding the net area sown, the area under current fallows, fallow lands other than current fallows, culturable waste land and land under miscellaneous tree crops.

It does not mean that crops are being grown on this land (for example fallow land), nor does it mean that we intend to bring it under cultivation (for example land under permanent pasture is important for the pastoralists).

It only indicates the total area that can be brought under cultivation.

Total Cultivated Land/Area:

This consists of the net sown area and current fallows.

Changes in land-use pattern in India

The land use changes in an economy undergoes in three ways which affects land use.

1. Size of Economy: Over time as the economy and population grow, changes in income levels, available technology and associated factors occur. As a result, pressure on land will increase with time and even the marginal lands will come under use.
2. Composition of the economy: Secondary and tertiary sectors grow faster than primary (especially agriculture). This results in a gradual shift of land from agricultural uses to non-agricultural uses (such as building purposes). Such changes are sharp around urban areas.  

Such changes are not uniform around the world. In developing countries, the share of the population is dependent on agriculture and declines much more slowly compared to the contribution to GDP. Since the number of people to be fed is increasing.

Reporting area for land utilisation statistics (1 to 9)	1960-61	2002-03	2019-20
Forests	18	23	23.4
Area put to non-agricultural uses	5	8	9.0
Barren and unculturable land	12	6	5.4
Permanent pastures and other grazing lands	6	5	3.4
Land under Misc. tree Crops			1.0
Culturable Wasteland	6	4	3.9
Fallow Land Other than Current Fallows	4	4	3.7
Current Fallow	4	7	4.5
Net Area Sown	45	43	45.6
Agricultural Land (5+6+7+8+9)	59	58	58.7
Cultivated Land (8+9)	49	50	50.1

Increasing Trends:

Three categories have undergone increases (forest, the area under Non-agricultural uses, fallow – both types), while four have registered declines.

The following observations can be made about these increases:

1. The rate of increase is the highest in the case of areas under non-agricultural uses – Due to:
   •  The changing structure of the Indian economy is increasingly dependent on the contribution from industrial and services sectors and the expansion of related infrastructural facilities.
   • An expansion of area under both urban and rural settlements has added to the increase.
   1. Non-agricultural land is increasing at the expense of wastelands and agricultural land.
2. The increase in the share of “Area under forest” can be accounted for by an increase in the demarcated area under forest rather than an actual increase in the forest cover in the country.

Fluctuating Trend:

Some categories of land use have fluctuated wildly over the years:

1. The trend of current fallow fluctuates a great deal over the years, depending on the variability of rainfall and cropping cycles.
2. Trend in the Net Sown Area:

2. Till the 1990s, the Net sown area slowly increased as the Population increased.
3. The decline in net area sown started in the late 1990s and continued till the early 2000s due to the increases in areas under non-agricultural use.
4. In recent years, the net sown area has increased again as the wasteland is being brought under cultivation.

Declining Trends

Explanation for declining trends in other land uses:

1. The decline in the wasteland: As the pressure on land increased, both from the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, the wastelands and culturable wastelands have witnessed a decline over time.
2. The decline in land under pastures and grazing lands can be explained by pressure from agricultural land. Illegal encroachment due to expansion of cultivation on common pasture lands is largely responsible for this decline.

However, neither the decline in the wasteland nor of the area under grazing is always desirable. Areas that are barren as well as those that are overgrown with vegetation are classified as wasteland. Such land has its own ecology which needs to be preserved. Similarly, grazing land is important for the pastoralist population around the world.

Crop Intensity:

Crop Intensity is the ratio of the Total Cropped Area to the Net sown area. It is simply the number of times an area is sown more than once. In percentage terms, it is represented by the following formula.

When the land is fertile the crop intensity is high, i.e. many crops are grown and harvested per year. It indicates a higher degree of economic activity and development in the region.

Factors affecting crop intensity

The scope for increasing the Net sown area is limited.  The only way to gain greater economic dividends from the region is by increasing the crop intensity.

The Crop Intensity is influenced by the following factors:

1. Raising the yield of any particular crop per unit area of land, through technologies like Gene editing or producing High Yield Varieties (HYV).
2. Using technologies that increase total output per unit area of land from all crops grown over one agricultural year by increasing land-use intensity. This is done by using additives like fertilisers and Pesticides. However, it also increases the demand for labour significantly.
3. Crop intensity can also be improved simply by improving irrigation infrastructure.

There is an urgent need to evolve and adapt land–saving technologies.

Classification of land based on Irrigation:

Land can be classified into two types on the basis of source of moisture:

1. Irrigated Areas
2. Rainfed Areas

Irrigated Area

Those areas which are equipped to provide water to the crops by artificial means are known as irrigated Areas.

In India, the area assumed to be cultivated through sources such as canals (govt. and private), tanks, tube wells, other wells and other sources is classified as an Irrigated area. The Irrigated area is divided into two categories:

1. Net Irrigate Area: The Area irrigated through any source at least once a year for a particular crop.
2. Total/Gross Irrigated area: It is the total area under crops, irrigated once and/or more than once in a year. It is counted as many times as the number of times the areas are cropped and irrigated in a year.

Classification of Irrigated Areas

The objective of irrigation can be: protective or productive:

1. Protective: Protect crops from adverse effects of moisture deficiency that acts as a supplementary source of water over and above the rainfall. The strategy is to provide moisture to the maximum area possible.
2. Productive: to provide sufficient soil moisture in the cropping season to achieve high productivity. For example, Punjab/Haryana for Rice, Maharashtra for Sugarcane.

Rainfed Areas

Basic Definitions Related to Unirrigated Areas

Total Net Un-Irrigated Area: Area arrived at by deducing the net irrigated area from the net sown area.                          Net Unirrigated Area = Net Sown Area – Net Irrigated Area Gross Unirrigated Area:                         Gross Unirrigated Area = Gross Sown Area – Gross Irrigated Area

Rainfed areas (known as barani) are unirrigated areas and are classified on the basis of adequacy of soil moisture during cropping season:

1. Dryland farming: confined to the regions having annual rainfall less than 75 cm.  Only drought-resistant crops such as ragi, bajra, moong, gram and guar (fodder crops) practise various measures of soil moisture conservation and rainwater harvesting.
   1. Wetland farming: Rainfall in excess of the soil moisture requirement of plants during the rainy season. Such regions may face flood and soil erosion hazards. Grow various water-intensive crops such as rice, jute and sugarcane and practise aquaculture in the freshwater bodies.

Classification of Land according to ownership:

Based on Ownership land can be broadly classified under two heads:

1. Private Land – Owned by an individual or a group of individuals
2. Common Property Resources (CPRs): CPRs may be defined as a community’s natural resource, where every member has the right of access and usage with specified obligations, without anybody having property rights over them. These provide food and fodder to the livestock and fuel for households along with fruits, nuts, fibre, medicinal plants etc. Weaker sections may depend on these for their income.

Community forests, pasture lands, village water bodies and other public spaces where a group larger than a household or family unit exercises rights of use and carries responsibility for management are examples of CPRs.

Agricultural land use in India:

Land is a crucial resource in India because:

1. Agriculture is purely land-based – access to land is directly related to poverty. Serves as security for credit, natural hazards or life contingencies.
2. It has a direct bearing on the productivity of agriculture.
3. It has a social value – i.e. adds to social status.

Cropping seasons In India:

India has three cropping seasons:

1. Kharif: Largely coincides with S-W monsoon – the cultivation of tropical crops – rice, cotton, jute, jowar, bajra and tur is possible.
2. Rabi: Begins with the onset of winter – Oct – Nov. and ends in March-April. Low-temperature conditions facilitate the cultivation of temperate and subtropical crops – Wheat, gram and mustard.
3. Zaid: Short-duration summer cropping season done on irrigated lands.

Such distinct cropping season does not occur in southern parts of the country. Here temperature is high enough to grow tropical crops during any period, provided soil moisture is available. Thus, rice can be grown thrice a year in the Cauvery plains.

Foods	Production (in Tons)	%
Total Foodgrains	134390	63.58
Total Cereals and Millets	107983	51.09
Rice	48120	22.77
Wheat	35517	16.80
Total Pulses	26407	12.50
Total Condiments and Spices	4170	1.97
Total Fruits and Vegetables	11665	5.52
Total Food Crops	155786	73.71
Total Oilseeds	29346	13.88
Sugarcane	5242	2.48
Cotton	13306	6.30
Total non-food crops	55573	26.29
Total Cropped Area	211359	100

Cropping pattern in India

Editor’s Note: The Cropping Pattern of India has been recorded in detail in our book Titled ‘Agriculture in India’ with all the current issues related to each of the crops. The following discussion is only a gist of cropping patterns in India.

Food grains:

The food grains occupy 2/3^rd of the total cropped area. These are the most dominant crops in every part of the country.

Based on the structure of grains, classified as:

• Cereals (Fine Grains as well as Millets), and
• Pulses

Cereals

Cereals cover 54% of India’s cropped area; 11% of the world and rank 3^rd in production after China and the US.

Cereals are classified as:

1. Fine grains: Rice, Wheat.
2. Millets: Coarse grains: Jowar, Bajra, Maize, Ragi etc.  

Fine Grains

Crop	Conditions	States in India	India’s Position
Rice: Around 3000 varieties are grown around the world. It is the Staple food of the majority of the world.	Tropical humid areas. Varieties from Sea level to 2000m. 25OC Temperature, 100+cm rainfall. Time: 130 days.Kharif crop in most of India Alluvial clay.	5 leading States: Bengal, UP, Andhra, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu West Bengal: 3 crops of ‘aus’, ‘aman’ and ‘boro’. Southern states: 2-3 times a year. After the Green Revolution in Irrigated areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western UP, and north Rajasthan, with HYV seeds. Also grown in Humid areas in Eastern India. Yield highest: Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Andhra, Bengal and Kerala. (all 4 states are fully irrigated, except Kerala).	India produces 22% of rice, 2nd after China (30%); India: Largest exporter. China: largest importer. 1/4th area cropped is under rice in India
Wheat: 2nd most important.	Temperate zone crop – Moderate Temperature,Moderate rain (50-75cm evenly distributed) Rabi Season: winter crop. Takes 140 days Harvest: bright sunshine. Well-drained loamy (sand + clay).	1. Indo-Gangetic plain 85% of the area in the North, covering UP, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and MP – 5 leading states. Yield: highest in Punjab and Haryana Moderate in UP, Raj and Bihar. Mostly grows in irrigated areas. 2. Himalayas up to 2700m altitude. It’s a Rainfed crop in Himachal and J&K. 3. Parts of Malwa plateau (MP).	India produces 12% of total wheat 14% of total area. States: UP, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and MP – 5 leaders.

Millets 

Crop	Conditions	States in India	India’s Position
Jowar: or Sorghum.	Both Rabi and Kharif. – 900mm rainfall, – 110 days. – Soil: Less fertile and sandy soil.	Grown in semi-arid areas of central and southern India. Kharif in North India: grown as a fodder crop. South of Vindhyanchal – rainfed crop – yield is very low (Both Rabi and Kharif) Maharashtra grows 50%, followed by Karnataka, MP and Andhra Pradesh	5.3% of cropped area
Bajra: Hardy crop (can resist frequent dry spells)	– Hot and dry climatic conditions.- Low fertility. – Sandy and Shallow black soil.	Northwestern and western parts. 5.2% of cropped area. Leading producers: Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP, Rajasthan and Haryana. Rainfed: Yield is low in Rajasthan and fluctuates. Irrigation: Yields have increased in Haryana and Gujarat.	50% of world.
Maize: food as well as fodder	Semi-arid conditions – 21-27oC; i.e. Moderate Temperature:   – Moderate Rainfall. – Lots of sunshine. – Soil: Well-drained fertile ~ old alluvial. (Mainly in Inferior soils)	Not concentrated in any specific region. Sown all over India except NE. Leading producers: MP, Andhra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and UP. Yields: Higher than other coarse cereals. High in Southern states and declines towards central parts	Occupies 3.6% of the total crop area.
Ragi: Rich in Fe, Ca, fibre, and micro-nutrient.	– Dry regions Red, Black and sandy soil	Important Producers: Karnataka (largest), TN; and UK, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh

Pulses: 

• Legume crops – increase the natural fertility of soils. India is a leading producer.
• About 1/5th of the total production of the world.
• Largely concentrated in dry lands of Deccan and central plateaus and North-Western parts – 11% of total production. Yields are low and fluctuate being a rainfed crop.

Crop	Conditions	States in India	India’s Position
Gram (Chana) Most important Pulse	Subtropical areas: Rainfed Requires one or two light showers or irrigation. Cultivated during Rabi in central, western and N-W parts of the country.	MP, UP, Maharashtra, Andhra and Rajasthan Before the Green Revolution: Punjab and Rajasthan were the largest, which have now shifted to rice and wheat. Yield continues to be low and fluctuates.	2.8% of the total cropped area
Tur: Arhar, red gram or pigeon pea – 2nd most important	Dry tropical Tur Kharif in the North, Rabi in the South. Marginal lands under rainfed conditions in dry areas of Central and Southern India	Maharashtra contributes 1/3rd. Other states: UP, Karnataka, Gujarat and MP. Per hectare output – yield is very low.	2% of cropped area.

Oil seeds

Oilseeds are used for extracting oil. Groundnut, rapeseed, Mustard, soybean and sunflower are the main oilseeds grown in India.

It is a Dryland crop and occupies 14% of the country – with areas including the Malwa plateau, Marathwada, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana and Rayalseema region.

Crop	Conditions	States in India	India’s Position
Groundnut	Largely rainfed Kharif crop of dryland.	Yield high in Tamil Nadu – it is partly irrigated. Low in AP and Karnataka. 3.6% of total area Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka and Maharashtra.	17% of the total groundnut in the world
Rapseed and Mustard: Rai Sarson, toria, taramira.	– Sub-tropical areas – Rabi season N-W and central part.	Rajasthan – 1/3rd Other: UP, Haryana, WEST BENGAL and MP. Their yields have improved to some extent with irrigation. Yields high in Haryana and Rajasthan.	2.5% of cropped area;

Other oil seeds:

• Soya bean: 90% of total output: MP and Maharashtra
• Sunflower: Concentrated in Karnataka, AP and adjoining areas of Maharashtra – Minor crop in the northern part of the country. Yield high in northern parts due to irrigation – minor crop here.

Fibre crop:

Fibre crops provide us with fibre for preparing cloth, bags, sacks and several other nutrients. Even Jute can be used for coarse clothing.

Crop	Conditions	States in India	India’s Position
Cotton   India grows both short-staple cotton and long-staple cotton – ‘Narma’	Kharif crop Semi-arid areas. High Temperature, Light rainfall – a total of 900mm Clear sky at the flowering stage: 210 frost-free days. Bright sunlight. 6-8 months to mature. Black/alluvial.	Acreage has increased in the last 50 years. 3 Regions: North: Punjab, Haryana and North Rajasthan. West: Gujarat and Maharashtra. South: Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Leading producers: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Punjab and Haryana	China, India, US, Pak. India accounts for 23%.
Jute (golden fibre)	Tropical RegionHigh TemperatureHigh Rainfall, Humid climate.Well drained – Alluvial soil.	West Bengal accounts for 3/4th of India’s production.Other States: Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Meghalaya.	India and Bangladesh. 3/5th of the Jute of the world. 0.5% of total area.

Other Crops:

Crop	Conditions	States in India	India’s Position
Sugarcane:   Source of Sugar, Gur (jaggary), Khandsari and molasses.	Tropical and sub-tropical. Under rainfed it is: Sub-humid and humid climates Hot (21oC-27oC) Humid (75-100cm) Irrigation required, 2000 mm. Variety of soil; Needs manual labour.	Indo-Gangetic plains – UP (India’s 40%) and Bihar – but yield is low West India: Maharashtra (2nd largest producer) and Gujarat. South India: In Irrigated tracts – yield is high – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra	India accounts for 23% of world production. 2.4% area
Tea: beverage;   Fermented – Black Tea   Unfermented – Green tea;   It is rich in Caffeine and Tannin.	Grown over undulated topography of hilly areas. Well-drained soils. Humid and sub-humid tropics and sub-tropics.	Assam: Plantations started in Assam’s Brahmaputra valley in 1840s – Assam still holds half of India’ cropped area. West Bengal: Introduced to the Sub-Himalayan region of W (Darjeeling and Cooch Behar district) Tamil Nadu: Lower slopes of Nigiri and Cardamom hills.	It is Indigenous to China. India’s leading producer: 28% of the world. India is 3rd largest exporter after Sri Lanka and China – Exports have declined substantially.
Coffee:Seeds are roasted, and ground and are used for preparing a beverage.   Plantation crop		Highlands in the Western Ghats: Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Karnataka: 2/3rd of production.	4.3% of world; India is the World’s 6th after Brazil, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Mexico.

 Major coffee Varieties include Arabica, Robusta and Liverica; India grows Liberica, which has high international demand.

Agricultural Development in India:

According to the 2011 Census, 40% of the Indian population depends on farming in Rural India. This has declined from 53% in 2001. About 60% of our land is under crop cultivation (almost stagnant); In the world, the corresponding share is about 37.7%.

Despite this, there is tremendous pressure on agricultural land. Land to human ratio is about 0.31ha/person in India; It is about half of the world average of about 0.59 ha/person.

Strategy development:

In the first half of the 20^th century, agriculture had a dismal performance due to drought and famines. After Independence, the immediate goal was to increase production, this was done by:

1. switching over from cash crops to food crops;
   1. intensification of cropping over already cultivated land;
   1. increasing cultivated area by bringing cultivable and fallow land under plough.

Initially, this strategy helped increase food grain production. Stagnated during late 1950. To overcome this challenge Intensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP) and Intensive Agricultural Area Programme(IAAP) were launched.

However, still, two consecutive droughts during the mid-1960s resulted in a food crisis in the country, which forced us to import food grains.

The Green Revolution

New HVY seed varieties of wheat (from Mexico) and rice (from the Philippines) were made available for cultivation by the mid-1960s.

• India took advantage of this and introduced package technology comprising:
  • HYVs, along with chemical fertilizers in irrigated areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western UP, AP and Gujarat.
  • Assured supply of soil moisture through irrigation was a basic pre-requisite.
• It paid dividends instantly and increased the food-grains production at a very fast rate – Green Revolution;
• Gave a fillip to the development of a large number of agro-inputs, agro-processing industries and small-scale industries;
• It made the country self-reliant in food-grain production.
• It was initially confined to irrigated areas only – causing disparities in agricultural development till the 70s; Later technologies spread to Eastern and Central parts.

Agroclimatic Planning

The Planning Commission of India focused its attention on the problems of agriculture in rainfed areas in the 1980s.

• It introduced Agro-climatic planning in 1988 to induce regionally balanced agricultural development in the country.
• Emphasised the need for crop diversification of agriculture
•  and Harnessing resources for the development of dairy farming, poultry, horticulture, livestock rearing and aquaculture.

Initiation of the policy of liberation and free market economy in the 1990s but the Lack of development of rural infrastructure, withdrawal of subsidies and price support, and impediments in availing of the rural credits may lead to inter-regional and inter-personal disparities in rural areas.

Growth of Agricultural Output and Technology: significant increase in last 50 years.

Impact of Green Revolution:

The Impact of the Green Revolution has been huge on the yield and the Productivity of Agriculture:

• The yield of rice and wheat has increased.
• Among other crops: production of sugarcane, oilseeds and cotton has also increased appreciably.
• However, the yield of other crops, especially those grown in rainfed areas continues to remain low.

India ranks 1^st in the production of pulses, tea, jute, cattle and milk. It is the 2^nd largest producer of rice, wheat, groundnut, sugarcane and vegetables.

Expansion of irrigation:

Irrigation has played a very crucial role in enhancing agricultural output in the country. It provided the basis for the introduction of modern agricultural technology such as high-yielding varieties of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and farm machinery.

The net irrigated area in the country has increased from 20.85 to 54.66 million ha over the period 1950-51 to 2000-01. It has increased to 77 million ha by 2022.

Over these 50 years, the area irrigated more than once in an agricultural year has increased from 1.71 to 20.46 million ha.

Introduction of Agricultural Industry

Modern agricultural technology has diffused very fast in various areas of the country.

Consumption of chemical fertilizers has increased by 15 times since the mid-60s. In 2001-02, per hectare consumption of chemical fertilizers in India was 91kg which was equal to its average consumption in the world (90 kg).

However, in the irrigated areas of Punjab and Haryana, the consumption of chemical fertilizers per unit area is three to four times higher than that of the national average. Since the high-yielding varieties are highly susceptible to pests and diseases, the use of pesticides has increased significantly since the 1960s.

Related FAQs of Land Resources and Agriculture in India

1. What are the main categories of land use in India?

India classifies land into nine categories: forests, non-agricultural uses, barren land, permanent pastures, miscellaneous tree crops, culturable wasteland, current fallows, fallows other than current, and net sown area. These categories help monitor land utilization and development priorities.

2. How is net sown area different from gross cropped area?

Net sown area refers to the actual land used for cropping at least once a year. Gross cropped area includes all crop sowings, even if a piece of land is used multiple times a year. If land is double-cropped, it gets counted twice in the gross cropped area.

3. What is crop intensity and why does it matter?

Crop intensity is the ratio of gross cropped area to net sown area. It shows how many times land is used for growing crops in a year. Higher crop intensity means more productivity and better use of available agricultural land.

4. Why is land under non-agricultural use increasing in India?

Land under non-agricultural use is growing due to urbanization, infrastructure development, and industrial expansion. As cities expand and economic activities shift to services and manufacturing, agricultural land is increasingly being converted.

5. How has the Green Revolution changed Indian agriculture?

The Green Revolution introduced high-yield seeds, irrigation, and fertilizers in the 1960s, especially in Punjab and Haryana. It boosted food grain production, reduced dependence on imports, and made India self-sufficient, though it also led to regional disparities and overuse of inputs.