Revision summary
Green Revolution technology raised yields and a commercial farmer class. Labour became more hired and mobile. Gains were regional and caste-land skewed. Later machines and seeds continue differentiation. Technology changes the farm; it does not by itself calm rural unrest.
Model answer
Introduction
Agrarian technology in India has changed who grows what, who hires whom, and who captures surplus. The Green Revolution is the classic case; machines, seeds, and phones now extend that story.
Body
Green Revolution package
- HYV seeds, fertiliser, irrigation, and later tractors raised yields in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh.
- A rich-peasant class thickened; labour became more hired and seasonal, recasting Thorner’s malik–kisan–mazdoor map.
- Dominant castes with land rode the technology; dryland and Adivasi tracts were left as another agrarian India.
Later technologies
- Tube wells, GM and hybrid seeds, and market apps change risk and information, but debt and procurement politics remain social facts.
- Mechanisation cuts some labour demand and feeds circular migration, which COVID reverse flows then revealed in reverse.
Sociological role
- Technology is not a neutral tool. It is a class and region sorter inside planned development.
- Unrest over prices and farm laws shows that technology without secure bargaining still leaves the countryside tense.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD T[HYV irrigation machines] --> Y[Yield surplus] Y --> RP[Rich peasant mechanisation] Y --> LAB[Hired migrant labour] REG[Irrigated vs dryland] --> UNEV[Uneven agrarian change]
Conclusion
Technology’s role in Indian agrarian change has been to raise surplus and differentiate classes and regions. It transformed the farm without equalising the village.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Point out the benefits of 'green chemistry' for agrarian transformation in India.
Next question on this syllabus topic (2020 · Q5(a)). View answer →
-
Did technology end food shortage?
It raised grain in some regions. Nutrition and dryland poverty are not the same question.
-
Is digital farming the next Green Revolution?
It may cut information gaps. Land and caste still decide who benefits.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2022 · Q5(e) · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
What role do co-operatives plays in poverty alleviation in rural India ? -
2022 · Q6(a) · Sociology GS 2 · 20 marks
Examine whether rural bondage still continues to be a social reality. Give your argument . -
2021 · Q3(b) · Sociology GS 2 · 20 marks
Examine the factors responsible for the rural unrest in contemporary India -
2021 · Q4(a) · Sociology GS 2 · 20 marks
What are the sociological reasons and implication of "reverse migration" during the recent pandemic in India ? -
2021 · Q5(b) · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Comment on the role of co-operatives in rural development -
2020 · Q5(a) · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Point out the benefits of 'green chemistry' for agrarian transformation in India. -
2020 · Q6(b) · Sociology GS 2 · 15 marks
Do you think MSP (Minimum Support Price) Scheme for ag can help in rural development? Elaborate your response with suitable examples. -
2020 · Q6(c) · Sociology GS 2 · 15 marks
How can skill development programme induce social change? Illustrated.
More from this topic
Q8(c) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
What are the Indian government's schemes launched for poverty alleviation after the United Nation's Declaration of 'Sustainable Development Goals - 2015' ? Briefly describe
Rural and Agrarian transformation in India
SDG 2015 became a frame for Indian poverty policy rather than a single new statute. PM-KISAN, Ayushman Bharat, Jal Jeevan and PMAY are major post-2015 launches. NFSA, MGNREGA and NRLM pre-date 2015 but were continued and digitised in the SDG era. POSHAN, PMGKAY and Ujjwala sit in the same toolkit. The package is broad; landless and informal workers still fall through title-based and insurance-based designs.
Q5(d) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
What are the major problems faced by the labour migrants while working in informal sectors of Indian States? Discuss.
Rural and Agrarian transformation in India
Interstate migrants in informal work are hired through contractors, not stable contracts. Wage theft, unsafe housing, and missing social security are the core problems. Women and children carry extra risks of harassment and lost schooling. COVID reverse migration exposed their civic invisibility. Portability laws and e-SHRAM are incomplete answers to a structural informality.
Q5(d) · UPSC Mains 2024 · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Discuss the changing nature of political elites in India.
Rural and Agrarian transformation in India
Political elites are regular decision-makers in parties and the state. Kothari’s Congress system centred a professional and upper-caste mediating elite. Mandal and regional parties diversified caste and linguistic composition. Post-1991 capital and media reshaped recruitment and funding. Women and informal labour remain weakly present inside the elite.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.