What was the state of agriculture before independence in India?

Or

Explain the state of agriculture in India at the time of Independe.

The important features of Indian agriculture during the British rule in India were as follows:

(i) Agriculture was the main source of livelihood in India. Most of the Indian people were engaged in agricultural activities. There was extensive cultivation. The surplus over the family requirements was exchanged with other commodities of requirements.

(ii) There was the absence of organised market for agricultural product. Production for the market was not the idea behind farming.

(iii) Methods and techniques of production in agriculture were old and backward. It involved more physical work of men and animals.

(iv) The people were economically sound, simple, self-sufficient and dependent on cultivation.