Agricultural Development in India's Districts

India has tried a vast number of innovative policies and programs designed to make her self-sufficient in the production of food. In 1960 a new effort was set in motion-the Intensive Agricultural Districts Programme (IADP). It was the first organized experiment on a scale large enough to introduce onto the Indian scene a modernizing process which would make the farmer and the scientist continuously react to each other. Unlike the older Community Development Programme, IADP's specific purpose was to promote a rapid increase in food grain crop yields. One district in each of India's states was selected for the program, the major concentration of which was on the individual cultivator and not-as in the Community Development Programme-on the village as a whole. Each farmer was offered a crop plan that identified a "package" of yield-increasing practices for his use.This critical analysis of IADP's impact on agricultural output in India traces its development from the beginning, detailing its operation and progress. Brown stresses the importance of a strong and effective agricultural research program, favorable benefit-cost relationships, and the increased use of fertilizers and irrigation.