Intensive Agriculture Development program

Intensive Agriculture Development program (IADP) was the first major experiment of Indian government in the field of agriculture and it was also known as a “package programme” as it was based upon the package approach. The programme was launched in 1961 after the Community Development Programme lost sheen. The core philosophy was to provide loan for seeds and fertilizers to farmers. Intensive Agriculture Development program was started with the assistance of Ford Foundation.

It was launched as pilot basis in one district of 7 states at that time. These 7 districts were:

1. Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu)
2. West Godavari (Andhra Pradesh)
3. Shahabad (Bihar)
4. Raipur (Madhya Pradesh)
5. Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh)
6. Ludhiana (Punjab)
7. Pali (Rajasthan)

The BDOs and VLWs were made double in number and “Agriculture Extension Officers” were appointed. The package which consisted of economic, institutional and technical innovations was having loans to farmers as the key part of this programme. The programme was expanded later.

Difference between CDP and IADP

The major difference between the CDP and IADP was that CDP was a generalized development programme while the IADP was a “sectoral development programme”

However, when this programme was expanded to rest of the country, the staff of BDOs and VLWs was reduced, to compromise on economic backend. This withdrawal was also due to overstaffing in some districts.

Success and Failures of IADP

The success and failures of the IADP are as follows:

• Production of wheat as well rice increased. India produced 23.5 Lakh tones of wheat in 1964-65 compared to 17 Lakh tons in 1961.
• Some parts of the country tasted the “efforts of the Independent country’s responsible government” for the development.
• Only some parts benefitted and farmers of those parts became rich, other parts failed to do good.
• The success was due to increased area rather than the increased productivity.
• The overstaffing created problems for the government.

The IADP was expanded and later a new Intensive Agriculture Area programme (IAAP) was launched to develop special harvest in agriculture area.

Category: Agriculture Current Affairs • Economy & Banking Current Affairs - 2024