UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 27)

QUESTION 2

How has Indian agriculture developed despite having few ‘factors of production’? Discuss.

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

QUESTION 1: What is rat hole mining? Discuss the environmental and safety concerns associated with rat hole mining.

Introduction:

— Rat hole mining is a method of extracting coal from narrow, horizontal seams, prevalent in Meghalaya.

— The term “rat hole” refers to the narrow pits dug into the ground, typically just large enough for one person to descend and extract coal.

— Miners descend into the pits using ropes or bamboo ladders to reach the coal seams. The coal is then extracted manually with primitive tools such as pickaxes, shovels, and baskets.

Body:

— In the other type of rat-hole mining, known as box-cutting, a rectangular opening ranging from 10 to 100 sqm is made, and a vertical pit 100 to 400 feet deep is dug through it. Once the coal seam is discovered, horizontal rat-hole-sized tunnels are dug through which workers can extract the coal.

Environmental and safety concerns

— The mining poses significant safety and environmental hazards, the mines are typically unregulated, lacking safety measures such as proper ventilation, structural support, or safety gear for the workers.

— The mining process can cause land degradation, deforestation, and water pollution.

— This mining method has been heavily criticised for its hazardous working conditions, environmental damage, and numerous accidents that resulted in injuries and fatalities.

— The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned the practice in 2014, and retained the ban in 2015.

Recent Example

— The Silkyara-Barkot tunnel under construction on the Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, where 41 workers have been trapped since November 12.

— However, because large metal fragments are impeding the machine’s drilling and breaking the auger, the rescuers are now planning to drill through the remaining few metres using the rat-hole mining technique.

(Source: What is rat-hole mining, being done to rescue trapped Uttarkashi tunnel workers by Avaneesh Mishra, Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: ‘In building Himalayan tunnels, support and monitoring key’, say experts by Abhinaya Harigovind)

Points to Ponder

What led to the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse?

National Green Tribunal

Related Previous Year Questions

Comment on the National Wetland Conservation Programme initiated by the Government of India and name a few India’s wetlands of international importance included in the Ramsar Sites. (2023)

Explain the causes and effects of coastal erosion in India. What are the available coastal management techniques for combating the hazard? (2022)

QUESTION 2: How has Indian agriculture developed despite having few ‘factors of production’? Discuss

Introduction:

— In agriculture, there are four “factors of production”: Land, water, labour and energy.

— These factors or inputs are used by farmers to produce crops. The quantity of inputs used determines the amount of output produced by them at a given level of technology.

Body:

Land

— The quality of agricultural land is determined by soil fertility and water availability. The most fertile soils are found in the Indo-Gangetic plains and the eastern coast’s Kaveri, Krishna, Godavari, and Mahanadi deltas, followed by the black cotton soils of the Deccan, Malwa, and Saurashtra plateaus.

Water

— Water availability is determined by rainfall as well as access to irrigation from rivers, lakes, tanks, and ponds. The great ancient civilisations arose primarily in river valleys that could support thriving agriculture.

Labour and Energy

— The more farm hands and bullocks there were to work the land in traditional agriculture, the more produce was harvested. Bullocks were the primary source of energy in farms prior to the introduction of tractors, threshers, harvester combines, and electric/diesel engine-driven tubewells. They ploughed the fields and treaded the crops to separate the grain from the chaff, as well as powered the Persian wheels, which drew water from wells for irrigation.

Conclusion:

— There are four “factors of technology” in agriculture, just like there are four “factors of production.” Technology-related factors make it possible to use production-related factors more effectively. In addition to better utilising water resources and substituting mechanical and electrical power for animal and human labour, they lead to higher yields, or more produce from the same acre of land or number of labourers.

— The four “factors of technology” are genetics, crop nutrition, crop protection and agronomic interventions.

(Source: Producing more from less: How Indian agriculture has grown with limited ‘factors of production’ by Harish Damodaran)

Points to Ponder

Factors of technology

Related Previous Year Questions

What are the present challenges before crop diversification? How do emerging technologies provide an opportunity for crop diversification? (2021)

Discuss the role of land reforms in agricultural development Identify the factors that were responsible for the success of land reforms in India. (2016)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 26)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 25)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 25)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 26)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 26)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 25)

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