Assertion: The stagnation in the agricultural sector in India during colonial time was mainly because of the lack of interest of Britishers in agriculture development.

Reasoning: The Zamindars appointed by Britishers did nothing to improve the condition of agriculture during colonial times .

Assertion (A) is not true but Reasoning (R) is correct.

Under British colonial rule, India's economy remained predominantly agrarian, with approximately 85 percent of the population living in villages and relying on agriculture for their livelihoods. However, despite the significant proportion of the population engaged in agriculture, the sector experienced stagnation and occasional deterioration. While there was some growth in the overall area under cultivation, agricultural productivity remained low.

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.