Traditional agriculture relied on outdated methods using indigenous knowledge and tools. Modernization introduced high-yielding varieties, fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation techniques to increase production. Key differences are traditional agriculture used few inputs while modern uses technology and chemicals. Reforms included land reforms, credit access, irrigation expansion, and price supports to boost output and farmer incomes. Technological reforms centered on the Green Revolution while institutional reforms privatized sectors and deregulated rents.

1. Traditional agriculture and its
modernization questions
Traditional agriculture and its
modernization questions

3. TRADITIONAL FARMING
• . The outdated and old methods of farming used from earlier times are known as
traditional methods of farming.
• It can be defined as a primitive style of food production and farming that involves the intensive
use of indigenous knowledge , traditional tools, natural resources , organic fertilizers.
• Economists have traditionally analysed agricultural development in terms of its relationship to
growth to overall economy.
• At time of independence , there were 3 types of land tenure system – Zamindari system , Mahal
Wari system and Ryotwari system.

4. Traditional
farming
characteristics
Traditional farming is characterized by-
- the use of fire for clearing a new farm plot (slash-and-
burn agriculture),
- superficial tillage by hand,
- often planting on mounds or ridges,
- mixed cropping using a number of carefully composed
crop associations,
- the lack of any inputs for fertilizing and crop
protection.

5. Agriculture
• India that is Bharat is a country of villages
and the farmer is the backbone.
• Agriculture sector creates employment to
larger number. Moreover, agriculture is
more dependent on the cycle of monsoons.
Now the rains are unpredictable. This might
be due to ecological imbalances,. The
farmers and the land both become poorer
and poorer. The farmer is being trapped in a
debt cycle and the soil is losing its fertility.
Organic farming practices is one and only
solution to get out of all these miseries.
Against this backdrop, when we closely
examine the current traditional practices
that are being followed very successfully one
will certainly bestow his/her attention to
realise the underlying truth.

6. Ancient Irrigation techniques
The need for continuous supply of water for irrigation whether from canal, well, pond or lake is
realized as the most important for agriculture in ancient period. The different irrigation principles
adopted in ancient period are :
• Construction of large mud embankment on a stone foundation for diverting flood water.
• Building of small tanks.
• Severe penalty was imposed when water is let out other than sluice gate.
• Extensive tank irrigation systems were adopted in Sri Lanka and later in South India. In Sri Lanka
ancient kings practiced that not even a drop of rainfall should go to sea without benefiting man.
• The topography of Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka is ideally suited for the
construction of tanks. A special feature of tanks in Telangana tank construction in series, by bunding
the same valley at several points and surplus water from lower elevation and so on. Even now the
tanks constructed by chola king in the same way exist today in Tamil Nadu.
• It is also suggested that preference of the use of water should be in the order of food crop,
vegetables and flowers.
• Water wheels were used.

7. Traditional
methods to
minimize crop
loss
The following traditional agro ecosystems were adapted to
minimize crop loss due to insect and pests:
• (a) Ploughing, hoeing and basin preparation to influence soil inhabiting
pests through “microclimate manipulation”, e.g., goat droppings burnt along
with dried Euphorbia spp. to maintain a smoke blanket layer throughout the
night arresting the pathogenic activity,
• (b) Intercropping of diverse plant species to provide habitats for the natural
enemies of insect pests as well as alternative host plants for pests, and also
to prevent competition of crops from weeds,
• (c) Shifting cultivation that helped the easy migration of natural pest
predators from the surrounding forest,
• (d) Genetic diversity of cropping systems followed to delay the onset of
diseases and reduce the spread of disease-carrying spores, and modify
environmental conditions less favorable to the spread of certain diseases,
• (e) Practice of integrated crop-livestock systems to balance the biomass
and nutrient inputs and outputs.

8. Final view of
traditional
agriculture
• Economists viewed Agri as engine of economic growth and that agriculture
is the only activity capable of generating a surplus large enough to
stimulate growth in other sectors of economy . According to them only
agriculture turned out a “net product” over and above its cost of
production and it is only in agriculture that nature labors along with man n
by her bounty yields not only what the agricultural laborer or farmer
consumes, but also surplus that nourishes other class of society .
Agriculture plays an important as well as most strategic role in economic
development
• This agriculture was not able to increase the production from land and
supply of land was getting inelastic due to land fragmentation and various
land reforms, so they needed to change their techniques to increase the
production as population was growing .SO , improvement of agriculture was
required ,here started modernisation of agriculture.

9. Difference
between
modern and
traditional
farming

10. Modern
agriculture

11. Modernization
With a view to
improve the
standard of Indian
agriculture,
government of
India took various
steps and reforms.
A reform taken
after
independence is
called AGRERIAN
REFORMS or
GREEN
REVOLUTION.
Unfavourable weather conditions have been responsible for
fluctuations in agricultural output. However ,since the green
revolution, magnitude of these fluctuations has narrowed considerably.
The new technology has opened a process of modernization of Indian
agriculture and has substantially increased its production capacity
The new dwarf plants can grow and mature even under cloudy skies
which cuts down the cropping period. This had made multiple cropping
possible. This means that the peracre yields can be raised many fold.

12. Agriculture
technology
Technology is knowledge applied by man to
improve production or marketing process. It is
seen in hybrid seeds, improved crop varieties,
pesticides, machinery and fertilizers. The main
objective of technology is to provide more output
from a given bundle of production inputs.
According to Moxcher, Technology in farming is
“simply the way things are done”. It all started
with green revolution during mid sixties
emcomposing HYV seeds.

13. Technological development achieved
Bio-technology
Bio-diversity in agriculture
Boll guard cotton
Genetic enhancement of plants
Post Harvest Technology -
Substantial quantity of food crops is lost after harvest because of handling and storage problems.
This technology with emphasis on farm post-harvest handling and storage system for different
commodities should receive suitable attention

14. Irrigation
• Irrigation is defined as the carefully controlled process of watering agricultural crop through artificial means in order to facilitate their
growth and development.
• Well, the whole process of irrigation is strictly controlled. The farmer must determine the exact amount of water required by the
crop. Too little water will dry out the plants, whereas too much water may damage the root. In addition to watering the crops,
irrigation also entails watering the lands before planting seeds to create a favorable habitat for crops. It also needs to be done
carefully. Thus, irrigation is a much more complicated process than just watering plants.
• Modern Methods of Irrigation
• The methods of irrigation can be divided into four main types. These include – Surface irrigation, sprinkler, drip and subsurface.
• These modern irrigation techniques have been discussed in detail below –

15. • Surface irrigation –
• It is one of the most common methods of irrigation. Here water is applied to the soil with the help of gravity. Since the
distribution of water is not regulated, surface irrigation is also known as flood irrigation.
• This irrigation system is farther classified into three other types of modern methods of irrigation. These are as follows –
• Furrow – in case of furrow irrigation, water is made to flow through shallow channels which are evenly spaced out and at a
slope to the field. The water in these shallow channels are supplied through a variety of ways such as siphon, main ditch, gated
pipe etc.
• Inflow rate, soil infiltration, slope and shape of furrows and surface roughness determine the speed of the water. It
requires less capital investment, but it is one of the most labor-intensive methods of irrigation.
• Basin and border irrigation – Both of these techniques involve water running through the soil. However, in basin irrigation,
water is supplied to a field which may result in ponding for a while. on the other hand, water is made to flow through ditches
running through the ground with a drainage system at the end.
• Sprinkler –
• in case of this irrigation system, water is sprinkled or sprayed on plants. The effect is similar to rainfall. A sprinkler irrigation
system requires sprinklers, laterals, mainlines, sub mainlines and pump unit.
• The mainlines and sub mainlines transport the water from pumps to fields where it is sprayed on the plants via the sprinkles.
Sprinklers are differentiated based on the volume of water it can spray. Examples of crops which are watered through this
irrigation technique are cotton, onion, maize, wheat, gram, sunflower etc.

16. • Advantages of this technique are –
• It is suitable for watering all types of soil except heavy clay.
• It is useful in areas where crop population per unit is high.
• It reduces soil compaction.
•Drip –
This irrigation system, as the name suggests, involves watering the crops drip by drip. Hence, it is also
irrigation system includes small diameter pipes with emitter or drippers that lie close to grounds, thereby
the most efficient modern irrigation techniques as it reduces runoff and water evaporation significantly.
to provide fertilizers to crops.
The water application is more frequent with this irrigation technique compared to other methods which
Some crops which require this type of irrigation are vegetables, cash crops, plantation, spices etc.
Some of the benefits of the drip irrigation system are –
1. It helps in the conservation of water and reduces the cost of fertilization
2. Since water is provided uniformly, crop growth is also consistent.

17. Reforms
Agrarian reforms comprise reforms in respect of all such areas which
have a bearing on agri production ,marketing and income distribution
in rural areas. Land reforms are a part of agrarian reforms. According to
FAO(food and agri organization) land reform means: “More than
redistribution of land either by breaking up large estates to improve
consolidation of land holdings, it must include a no. of measures to
improve the relationship of man who works the soil to land he works,
including opportunity for land ownership, improved conditions of
tenancy, agricultural credits at reasonable rates of interest , reforms of
exorbitant rents and taxes and facilities for obtaining agricultural
supplies and marketing agricultural products with emphasis on
cooperatives”.
It has further 3 heads-
• Technical reforms
• Institutional reforms

18. Technological
Reforms
1. The Green Revolution based on the use of package technology and
the White Revolution (Operation flood) were some of the strategies
initiated to improve Indian agriculture.
2. Introduction of High Yielding Varieties of seeds, chemical fertilisers ,
insecticides and pesticides.
3. Development of surface and ground water irrigation and rural
electrification.
4. Introduction of modern farming tools and equipments like power
tiller, tractor, harvestor etc.
5. Special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes for farmers
were introduced on radio and television to acquiant farmers with
modern farming techniques.
6. In the 1980s and 1990s, a comprehensive land development
programme was initiated, which includes both institutional and
technological reforms.

19. Institutional
Reforms
It refers to reforms in basic economic policy n way the overall
economy is organized. An example of this reform is the process
of liberalization that launched in 1991.Till then , economic policy
in India favored public sector at expense of private sector. The
Indian economy was relatively closed in the sense that it did not
encourage too much interaction with outside world in form of
trade and investment. This reform led to greater privatization
and liberalization in India. It had 2 points under it-
• Abolition of Intermediators
• Regulation of Rent
Also steps like consolidation of holding and ceiling of land
holdings and cooperative farming was under this reform.

20. General
Reforms
Expansion of irrigation
facilities with a view to
improve efficiency of Agri
production, irrigation
facilities have been
extended various steps
along with Five-year Plans
were taken (there were
basically 12 plans till now)to
improve efficiency. In 1950-
51 around 17% of land was
under permanent means of
irrigation which is now 45%.
Price support policy and
provision of credit were
under this reform.

21. So this was all about traditional and
modern agriculture.
Thank you