Role of Social Sciences in Agricultural Development in India

Agriculture, as the backbone of Indian economy, plays the most crucial role in the socio-economic sphere of the country. Indian agriculture is a diverse and extensive sector involving a large number of actors which includes farmers, farm women, rural youth, agricultural researchers, extension workers etc. Historically, the Indian agricultural research system is the zenith of a process which started in the 19^th century and which resulted in the establishment of the Imperial (now Indian) Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on the recommendation of a Royal Commission on Agriculture in 1929. Since then there was a stupendous evolution of agricultural research in India.It has been one of the remarkable success stories of the post-independence era through the association of Green Revolution technologies even though India has one of the largest and institutionally most complex agricultural research systems in the world. The green revolution contributed to the Indian economy by providing food selfsufficiency and improved rural welfare. One of the highlights of the green revolution era was that the life sciences were augmented with emerging social sciences in the nation to bring about a phenomenal change in the agriculture and allied sectors.