Consider the following statements about the agricultural situation in…

Consider the following statements about the agricultural situation in India at independence:

(A) It was marked by low productivity.
(B) It was marked by dependence on imported fertilisers.
(C) It was marked by the intense poverty of a large section of the rural population.
(D) It was marked by dependence on imported food grains.
(E) It was marked by the intense poverty of a large section of the urban population.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → A, C and D only

(A) It was marked by low productivity. — Correct. Low productivity was one mark of the dismal farm situation that the policymakers faced after independence.

(B) It was marked by dependence on imported fertilisers. — Incorrect. Chemical fertilisers came into wide use only later, with the Green Revolution of the 1960s. The import that marked the years after independence was of food grains.

(C) It was marked by the intense poverty of a large section of the rural population. — Correct. A large section of the rural population lived in intense poverty. This was one reason land reform became a goal of planned development.

(D) It was marked by dependence on imported food grains. — Correct. India did not grow enough food for its people at that time, so it depended on food grains brought from abroad.

(E) It was marked by the intense poverty of a large section of the urban population. — Incorrect. The intense poverty was of a large section of the rural population, the people who lived off the land. Shifting it to the urban population changes the fact.

NCERT (2026-27): “Independent India
After India became independent, Nehru and his policy advisors embarked on a programme of planned development that focused on agrarian reform as well as industrialisation. The policymakers were responding to the dismal agricultural situation in India at that time. This was marked by low productivity, dependence on imported food grains, and the intense poverty of a large section of the rural population. They felt that a major reform in the agrarian structure, and especially in the landholding system and the distribution of land, was necessary if agriculture were to progress. …”