Agriculture and the Rural Economy of Bihar and India
Questions here cover agriculture's role, Bihar's crop strengths, the institutions of price and food security, and the structural problems of small holdings.
Why agriculture matters
It supplies food, raw material to industry (sugar, jute, edible oil), employment to nearly half of India's workers, a market for industrial goods and a source of foreign exchange.
Bihar's strengths
Rice, wheat and maize are the main cereals; Bihar is India's leading producer of litchi and makhana (fox nut), and a leading producer of maize and potato. Madhubani painting, Bhagalpur silk and Sujni embroidery supplement rural incomes.
Institutions and schemes
Minimum Support Price, recommended by the CACP (1965); Food Corporation of India (1965); Public Distribution System and the National Food Security Act, 2013; Kisan Credit Card (1998); PM-KISAN (₹6,000 a year in three instalments); PM Fasal Bima Yojana (2016). The Green Revolution (from 1966-67) spread HYV wheat and rice with irrigation and fertiliser.
Problems
Fragmented holdings, dependence on the monsoon, floods in north Bihar (the Kosi is called the 'sorrow of Bihar'), drought in the south, weak cold storage and mandi infrastructure, and low price realisation for small farmers.
Worked example
A farmer with 2 hectares grows paddy at 45 quintals per hectare, giving 90 quintals. At an MSP of ₹2,300 per quintal, gross receipts are ₹2,07,000. If the cost of cultivation is ₹1,20,000, net income is ₹87,000; with five family members this is about ₹17,400 per person per year. Reasoning: multiply yield by area to get output, then by price for receipts; subtracting cost shows why small holdings with low yields leave little surplus for investment.
Traps that cost marks
Naming the CACP as the body that procures grain (that is the FCI); confusing MSP with the market price; forgetting that makhana and litchi are Bihar's distinctive crops.