ABSTRACT
The inception of India’s “new agricultural strategy” from 1961 followed the visit of a team of experts from the Ford Foundation, whose report on “India’s Food Crisis” evidently greatly influenced government policies. Under the new strategy the Intensive Agricultural Development Programme (IADP) was started in 15 districts selected from the availability of irrigation and absence of acute tenurial problems. High-yielding cereal seed varieties already developed in Mexico and Taiwan, along with fertilizers, pesticides and credit to farmers, were made available at subsidized rates. The high-yielding varieties programme was subsequently extended to all 324 districts in the country.
