Which of the following was not a cause of stagnation in Indian agriculture during colonial times?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Import of cheap goods from Britain
Cheap British goods hurt India’s handicraft industries, not its farming. Agriculture stagnated because of the land settlement systems and low investment.
Option (1) Systems of land settlement — True. These were the main cause. Under the zamindari system, farm profit went to zamindars, not cultivators.
Option (2) Low investment in agriculture — True. Agriculture was starved of investment in terracing, flood-control and drainage.
Option (3) Import of cheap goods from Britain — False. These imports met the demand left by the decline of handicrafts.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.3 Agricultural Sector India’s economy under the British colonial rule remained fundamentally agrarian — about 85 per cent of the country’s population lived mostly in villages and derived livelihood directly or indirectly from agriculture (See Box 1.2). However, despite being the occupation of such a large population, the agricultural sector continued to experience stagnation and, not infrequently, unusual deterioration. Agricultural productivity became low though, in absolute terms, the sector experienced some growth due to the expansion of the aggregate area under cultivation. This stagnation in the agricultural sector was caused mainly because of the various systems of land settlement that were introduced by the colonial government. Particularly, under the zamindari system which was implemented in the then Bengal Presidency comprising parts of India’s present-day eastern states, the profit accruing out of the agriculture sector went to the zamindars instead of the cultivators. …” “… Despite some progress made in irrigation, India’s agriculture was starved of investment in terracing, flood-control, drainage and desalinisation of soil. …” “1.4 Industrial Sector As in the case of agriculture, so also in manufacturing, India could not develop a sound industrial base under the colonial rule. Even as the country’s world famous handicraft industries declined, no corresponding modern industrial base was allowed to come up to take pride of place so long enjoyed by the former. The primary motive of the colonial government behind this policy of systematically de-industrialising India was two-fold. The intention was, first, to reduce India to the status of a mere exporter of important raw materials for the upcoming modern industries in Britain and, second, to turn India into a sprawling market for the finished products of those industries so that their continued expansion could be ensured to the maximum advantage of their home country — Britain. In the unfolding economic scenario, the decline of the indigenous handicraft industries created not only massive unemployment in India but also a new demand in the Indian consumer market, which was now deprived of the supply of locally made goods. This demand was profitably met by the increasing imports of cheap manufactured goods from Britain. …” |