The tasks of modernisation and structural change in agriculture were even more difficult and discouraging at the start of the planning era. The outmoded land tenure system, the primitive technology of cultivation and lack of an infrastructure for raising productivity proved formidable barriers to agricultural advance.

The fact that these barriers have been overcome to an extent is one of the major successes of our planning effort. Zamindari and other intermediary tenures have been almost eliminated. The technology of cultivation has changed substantially with the spread of high-yielding varieties and the extension of irrigation, a change which was facilitated by the elaborate network of agricultural research and extension set up during the planning era.

One further change of consequence is the establishment of a system of support prices, procurement and public distribution. Significant progress has been made not only in the production of major foodgrains but also in horticultural crops like apples and animal products like eggs, milk and fish.

Some data on the indicators of modernisation in agriculture are presented in the growth in irrigation is a common feature which runs through the plans though the pace of expansion in recent years is far higher than before. The use of the new technology based on high yielding varieties and fertilisers spread rapidly only after 1965.1 This difference is reflected in the larger contribution of productivity gain to production growth in the period after 1964-65.

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Several changes have taken place in agricultural credit and marketing. The system of cooperative credit has spread, lessening the dependence of the cultivator on exploitative money-lending and trading practices. Institutional term finance for agriculture has growth with the reorientation of the banking system and the establishment of Land Development Banks, Regional Rural Banks and apex institutions like the Agriculture Refinance and Development Corporation.

In agricultural marketing, the dominant role of the Food Corporation of India in foodgrain trade and the growth of marketing and processing cooperatives have helped both farmers and consumers. In the case of milk, cooperatives and urban milk supply schemes have captured, a substantial part of the market. These and other’ changes in the field of credit and marketing have altered the very unequal relationship between the farmer and the trader and, by doing so, have stimulated agricultural progress,