Agriculture
1 Citations•2020•
Tirthankar Roy
The Economic History of India, 1857-2010
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Abstract
Cultivation of land engaged more than two-thirds of the employed population. Cultivated land increased by 50 per cent between 1860 and 1920. The opportunity to trade encouraged the trend. Whereas commercialization made many merchants rich, it improved the lives of peasants and landlords in only a few regions, and it left agricultural wages nearly stagnant. As the population increased, and few people could find good jobs outside the village, more people shared the poverty of the village. Why did the village produce more and yet stay poor? Why was growth so uneven? Why was growth low overall? Why did regions differ so much? Chapter 4 describes agricultural change over the period, 1858–1947, and answers these questions.