( 1000 ha)
8
contributed to raising rural income and alleviating poverty. The real wages of agricultural laborers in India had started to rise and also rural poverty started to decline for the first time in the long history of the country.
20000 18000 16000 14000 12000
Canal( Government)
Tube-well
10000 8000
Other well
6000 4000 2000
0
Tank |
Others |
|
|
|
|
Canal( Private) |
1960 / 61 |
1970 / 71 |
1980 / 81 |
1990 / 91 |
1995 / 96( p) |
( Year)
Figure 6 Net Irrigated Area by Source of Irrigation in India Source. Until 1990 / 91: Water and Related Statistics 1994, Statistics Directorate, Irrigation Management Organization, Central Water Commission, p. 81, Regarding the year 1995 / 95, Fertilizer statistics 1998 / 99.
If we look at the indicator of per capita per day calorie intake by the data of FAO( FAO, 1995), both South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa were almost at the same level at 2100 calorie / day until the late 1970s, but after the 1980s whereas Sub-Saharan Africa stagnated at the same level, South Asia began to rise continuously to the level of approximately 2300 calorie / day by the end of the 1980s( Figure 7). Therefore, it can be stressed here that the 1980s was the critical period for South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa to make a great divergence in the economic development thereafter.
Lastly, it should be noted that in India not only rice and wheat increased their yield levels dramatically during the period of the Green Revolution( Figure 4, Figure 5), but also coarse cereals accomplished a continuous and substantial increase of their yield( Figure 8). According to Figure 8, the average yield of coarse cereals increased from less than 500 kg / ha in the 1950s to more than 1000 kg / ha in recent years, although sown area experienced a rapid decrease from the beginning of the 1970s due to the continuous decline of demand for human consumption. At present, as indicated in Figure 9, although demand for coarse cereals for human consumption became minimal except some spots( rural and urban Karnataka, rural Maharashtra, rural Gujarat and rural Rajasthan), demand for animal feed is increasing, especially in the case of maize and jowar( sorghum).