Science is perhaps the greatest effort of mankind and the great challenge of human beings against natural methods of agricultural work. Science has given man the power and ability to find a solution to this challenge. Through science, there has been considerable success in developing a new commercial and industrial form in place of the traditional and fatalistic nature of Indian agriculture. Agricultural-dominated India has made it to the first ten industrialized countries in the world.
Industrialization
Needless to say that agriculture and industry can contribute best to each other. In the development process, it is necessary that the agricultural sector supplies resources for large quantities of industries. The experience of many developed countries shows that prosperity has made the industrialization path easier and faster to a greater extent. The secret of most development problems lies in maintaining proper balance between agriculture and industry. Industrialization of agriculture reduces the excessive dependence of the country on the volatile benefits of agriculture, inspires national life and develops national behavior.
Production growth
In fact, industrialization is a process in which there are gradual changes in the important production system. It encompasses the fundamental changes that have led to the mechanization of the agricultural organization, the creation of new industry, the creation of new markets, and the industrialization of a new sector that has produced higher production capacity.
Industrialization is also helping in the development of agricultural transport and communication. The development of domestic and foreign trade is largely dependent on industrialization.
Until our scientists were not able to give agriculture an industrial form, the country used to import 60 lakh tons of food grains on an average every year. But today India is not only moving towards self-sufficiency in food grains supply for 88 crore population but is also earning valuable foreign exchange by exporting other agricultural products besides food grains.
The biotechnology branch of science has shown encouraging improvements in the varieties of crops and their production capacity. Continuous successes have been achieved in making crops anti-disease and insect-resistant and to get rid of genetic diseases.
As agriculture based on science is taking an industrial form, the period of increase in agricultural production is going on. The production of food grains and cotton has increased from 2.5 to 3 times in 1992-93 as compared to 1950-51. The gross irrigated area, which was 2.26 crore hectares in 1950–51, increased to 7.95 crore hectares in 1993–94. On this basis, the use of chemical fertilizers, which was 66 thousand tons in 1950-51, reached 147 lakh tons in 1993-94.
Agricultural machinery industry:
The responsibility of industrialization of agriculture is that the intensity of agricultural mechanization is increasing continuously. Where the number of electric powered pump sets was 4700 in 1950, it has increased to more than 1 crore in 1993-94. The number of tractors in the country in 1960-61 was 25,000. It is estimated to be around 6 lakhs at the moment. Towing, sowing, harvesting, fertilizing, irrigating and spraying insecticides are being done by the machines. Now one device which has been involved in this work is the computer. The computer not only helps in these tasks, but it can also be used for canning agricultural products, selecting mandis, Pricing and even setting the route for carrying goods has started. Science has added a new dimension to industrialization using computers in agricultural operations. Due to agricultural mechanization, multi-cropping programs are being conducted successfully in about 400 hectares of land today, whereas the progress of these programs before 1965-66 was negligible.
Successful efforts of the Green Revolution provided a phase where Indian farmers provided high yielding crops, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, modern equipments and latest means of irrigation, on the other hand to expand the storage, processing and regulation programs of agricultural goods. Programs are underway. For this, the establishment of financial institutions has started catching up like industrial sector. On the one hand the agricultural sector is providing raw material for the industries, on the other hand it is receiving the proceeds from the industry.
Before independence, there were only 9 agricultural research institutes in India, of which 45 are today, 68 are All India Coordinated Research Projects. The government has also established 30 agricultural universities. As a result, the effective structure of agricultural research, education and development is working, which is giving agriculture a meaningful industrial shape. Although many works have been done in this direction, but notable among them are as follows: –
Agro-based industries encouraged
Various research has been conducted in various laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, keeping in view the agricultural development. In the field of cereal science and technology, Central Food Technology Research, Mysore has identified and analyzed one fungi protein from sorghum of sorghum. An improved rice mill structure has been developed to obtain good quality rice from brown rice. 50-50 kg in the same laboratory. A manual machine to extract the lentils at a cost of Rs 400 per hour has been prepared.
Under the Mission on Oilseeds Technology, the unit of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore, has developed a pilot plant for processing sunflower seeds. Electric powered granules have been manufactured to produce mustard oil with strong odor. The institute has developed a modern oil-perk with a capacity of 10 tin of oil-permeability.
Similarly, crushing of oilseeds for food and non-food purposes is done in the village oil industry, about one lakh tons of oil is obtained from the oil-rich industry. About one lakh people are engaged in the processing-processing industry of cereals and pulses. Only 400 million meters of textiles are produced from the cotton-only Khadi industry. This includes woolen and silk textiles.
Sugarcane based sugar industry in the country is in a very developed state, India has come first in the world in sugar production by producing more than one million tonnes of sugar in 1989-90. The success of scientific cultivation of sugarcane has led to the rapid development of not only the sugar industry but also the jaggery and khandsari industry. About 300 tonnes of jaggery and khandsari are produced in this industry. About 31 lakh people have got seasonal employment in this industry.
Good use of agricultural waste and waste
Not only this, due to scientific research, agricultural waste and waste are being utilized for industrial purposes. Processes for manufacturing activated carbon from coconut husk, groundnut peel, jute chutti linseed husk, tamarind seed, bagasse, paddy husk are in commercial use. Flax stem, sorghum stem, castor oil, rice and wheat bran are being used in industrial works. Cement can be made from rice bran. Sodium silicate is being used to manufacture detergent, soap, glassfoam from rice bran.
Experiments show that paddy straw can be collected and used to produce energy through small or medium scale thermal units. A study has found that paddy straw is naturally cheaper than coal as a fuel for energy production.
Thus, due to the industrialization of the agricultural sector, the pace of agricultural progress is increasing in many ways. New and improved inputs and productive commodities are being created to give agriculture a mechanical and industrial shape, which directly increases agricultural productivity. Due to the industrialization of agriculture, the market for agricultural commodities is expanding in the market. Production on a more specialized and efficient basis of cash crops is being encouraged. Agricultural processing resource industries are developing and steps are being taken towards the integration of rural and urban economy.
It is evident that with the industrialization of scientific agriculture, new skills, capital formation and technical innovations have spread. Science is playing an important role in the industrialization of agriculture. There is also no involvement of agriculture in the industrial revolution.
