Prime Moving Force: Agriculture Vs. Industry

After gaining independence from British rule in 1947, India started its journey of rebuilding its economy and adopted centralised planning. It implemented the five-year plans as its main tool for development. 

The Indian Government established the Planning Commission in the year 1950 to oversee the planning, allocation of resources, implementation and appraisal of five-year plans. The first five-year plan came into implementation in 1952 and was largely focused on agriculture, the creation of irrigation facilities, the construction of dams and the laying of infrastructure. Since then, India has focused on this sector. 

Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India’s population. But, previously, the main focus was on developing the industry sector, which was chosen as the prime moving force of the economy. 

Sectors of the Indian Economy

There are three main sectors in the Indian economy, i.e., primary, secondary and tertiary or service sectors. These sectors cater to different classes of people in the economy depending upon the nature of their activities. Here, we will focus on the agriculture and industry sectors. 

• Primary Sector

The primary sector is also known as the agriculture sector and is mainly dependent on the availability of natural resources. Activities such as fisheries and forestry also come under this sector. This sector provides input or raw material for the secondary sector. 

• Secondary Sector

The secondary sector, often termed the manufacturing sector, is mainly dependent on the natural ingredients procured from the primary sector to create the goods. They consume the produce of primary sectors and create the final product for the end-user consumption. In terms of value added to the products or services, this sector is considered the best sector. Activities such as manufacturing and transportation fall under this category and are the backbone of the Indian economy. 

If we analyse the decision today and consider the available resource base at that time, it seems illogical to choose industry as their prime mover at that time. The economy lacked prerequisites required for the industry as there were:

1. Almost no infrastructure for transportation, power and communication.
2. No infrastructure industries, such as cement, steel and iron, crude oil, coal, electricity and oil refining.
3. Absence of investible capital in private and government sectors. 
4. Lack of technologies to support industrialisation, and hardly any investments were made in research and development.
5. Lack of manpower having the desired skills.
6. Lack of entrepreneurship skills in people.
7. No market for selling industrial goods.

Current Trends 

The 1990s saw a major shift in the agriculture sector globally. The agricultural sector no longer represented backwardness for an economy if they emphasised the agriculture sector as their prime engine of growth and development. The Indian economy witnessed a major shift when the then-Government of India declared in 2002 that agriculture is the prime moving force of our economy, instead of industry. 

This policy shift was aimed to address the below-mentioned challenges faced by the economy at that time:

1. To achieve food security: It was aimed that, with this major shift, our economy would be able to increase agricultural production and achieve food security. The policy also aims for agricultural surplus to be exported.
2. Poverty alleviation: The challenge of poverty in the agriculture sector was aimed to be solved with this move. The focus was moved to make agriculture a higher income-yielding activity, which induces growth of the rural population and generates more employment. 

The major policies implemented towards improving the agriculture sector are:

1.  New Agriculture Policy, 2000: This policy aims to translate agriculture into a proper industry that can yield profits from agricultural activities. The policy also focuses on maintaining the same pace and mode of development as the industrial sector is able to achieve. 
2. National Agricultural Insurance Scheme of 1999–2000: This insurance scheme was launched for the agricultural sector to provide insurance for all agricultural and related activities. 
3. Exim Policy of 2002–2007: This policy accepted the experts’ opinion that a 1% increase in the exports of agricultural products provides an additional amount of Rs. 8,500 crores to the agricultural sector. 
4. Second Green Revolution: This was launched in 2004 and aimed to enhance agricultural production using sustainable approaches. 
5. Bharat Nirman: Launched in 2005, this program focused on the rural and agricultural infrastructure to improve the rural economy.
6. National Food Security Mission: Launched in 2008, this mission aimed to increase the production of rice, wheat, and pulses. 
7. Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana: Launched in 2008, this policy aims to incentivise states to increase agricultural and allied activities. 
8. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai and Vikas Yojana: Both these policies were launched in 2015, Sinchai yojna aims for the development of micro-irrigation and, Krishi Vikas yojna aims to promote organic farming
9. eNAM: Launched in 2017, National Agriculture Market (eNAM) is a pan-India electronic trading portal networks
10.  Agriculture Export Policy, 2018: Launched in 2018, this policy aims to promote agriculture export-oriented production, export promotion, better farmer realisation, and synchronisation. 
11. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana: Launched in 2019, this policy aims to fix a minimum fixed pension of Rs 3000 for eligible small and marginal farmers on attaining the age of 60 years. 

Conclusion

The obvious choice could have been agriculture as the prime moving force of the economy due to the reason that India has a natural resource of fertile land, which was fit for cultivation, and for that, human resources did not require any kind of specialised training. Considering the size of the population that depends on the agriculture sector and various policies implemented by the Government, visible results of the policy shift have been witnessed.