During the third five year plan out of the total plan outlay of Rs. 8,577 crore 20.5 per cent (Rs. 1,754crore) was allocated to agriculture. The achieve­ment of self-sufficiency in food grains and increased agricultural production to meet the requirements of industry formed one of the five basic objectives of the third plan.

The plan target fixed 30% increase in the output of food and non-food crops but the actual production remained far behind the target due to wars with China (I962) and Pakistan (1965) and severe drought (1965-66) conditions. Although the food grain production registered an increase of 8.5% during the first four years of the plan, it fell down sharply (decline of 19%) during the last year (from 82 million tons in 1960-61 to 89 million tons in 1964-65 and 72.3 million tons in 1965-66).

Simi­lar fluctuating trend was also observed in the pro­duction of oil seeds, cotton, and jute. On the contrary advancing trend was noticed in the output of sugarcane. Although the plan was utter failure but it gave a new thrust to the country’s agriculture by launching IADP (intensive agricultural district pro­gramme), IAAP (intensive agricultural area pro­gramme) and stepping towards self-sufficiency.