The volumes of the PROJECT OF HISTORY OF INDIAN SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE (PHISPC) aim at discovering the main aspects of India’s heritage and present them in an interrelated way. These volumes, in spite of their unitary look, recognize the difference between the areas of material civilization and those of ideational culture. The Project is not being executed by a single group of thinkers and writers who are methodologically uniform or ideologically identical in their commitments. In fact, contributions are made by different scholars with different ideological persuasions and methodological approaches. The Project is marked by what may be called ‘methodological pluralism’. In spite of its primary historical character, this Project, both in its conceptualization and execution, has been shaped by many scholars drawn from different disciplines. It is for the first time that an endeavour of such a unique and comprehensive character has been undertaken to study critically a major world civilization like India.
The history of agriculture in the present volume (V Part II) is concerned with the development of agriculture in various aspects in Medieval and Modern India. It has been divided in two sections: Section I on Agriculture in Medieval and Modern India up to 1947 and Section II on Agriculture in Post Independence India from 1947 up to the present.
Each section focuses on technology, Regional Study, Revenue administration and Produces, Peasant Study, Institutional aspect, Horticulture, Religion/Folklore, Music, Science in Agriculture, Dairy Farming, Policy Reforms, Forestry and Environment.
The Section-II (post-Independence India) of the Volume V Part II, has nineteen chapters on regional study of Rajasthan (1), Jain agricultural practices (2), Agriculture in Folklore/Music of Himachal Pradesh (3), Agriculture produces – Mango, Tea and Coffee (4, 5), I.C.A.R. ‘s contributors (6), Soil Science in relation to Agriculture (7), Plant Protection Techniques (8), Gender and agriculture (9, 10), History of Dairy Co-operatives (11) and techniques and development of Dairy products (12), Agriculture in five Year Plans (13) and Agriculture and Policy Reforms (14), Indian Agricultural structure and Sustainable Development (15), Agricultural Economics and Plight of the Poor (16), Eco-designing for Biodiversity Conservation (17), History of forestry (18) and Agrarian Impact on Environment in contemporary India (19).
Each chapter has been given thorough analysis on the basis of original sources including unofficial sources by experts. The volume is a lucid summation of existing knowledge on agriculture in medieval and modern India up to 1947 with research orientation while the Section II has a critical appraisal of post Independence Indian Agriculture up to the present. For a complete vision and understanding of the subject vis-a-vis policy/reforms/science/technology etc. both sections are essential continuity. The volume in both sections are unique in the sense that every chapter has been authored by experts who have utilized official as well as unofficial sources for a critical analysis of the development of Indian Agriculture against the back drop of ecology, technology, folklore/music and human aspect and civilization aspects.

About the Author

D.P. CHATTOPADHYAYA, M.A., LL.B., Ph.D. (Calcutta and London School of Economics), D. Litt. (Honoris Causa), studied and researched on law, philosophy and history and taught at various Universities in India, Asia, Europe and USA from 1954 to 1994. Founder-Chairman of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (1981-1990) and President-cum-Chairman of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (1984-1991), Chattopadhyaya is currently the Project Director of the multidisciplinary ninety-six volume Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture (PHISPC) and Chairman of the Centre for Studies in Civilizations (CSC). Among his 37 publications, authored 19 and edited or co-edited 18, are Individuals and Societies (1967); Individuals and Worlds (1976); Sri Aurobindo and Karl Marx (1988); Anthropology and Historiography of Science (1990); Induction, Probability and Skepticism (1991); Sociology, Ideology and Utopia (1997); Societies, Cultures and Ideologies (2000); Interdisciplinary Studies in Science, Society, Value and Civilizational Dialogue (2002); Philosophy of Science, Phenomenology and Other Essays (2003); Philosophical Consciousness and Scientific Knowledge: Conceptual Linkages and Civilizational Background (2004); Self, Society and Science: Theoretical and Historical Perspectives (2004); Religion, Philosophy and Science (2006); Aesthetic Theories and Forms in Indian Tradition (2008) and Love, Life and Death (2010). He has also held high public offices, namely, of Union cabinet minister and state governor. He is a Life Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a Member of the International Institute of Philosophy, Paris. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan in 2009 by the Government of India. V.C. SRIVASTAVA, M.A. Sahitya Ratna, D. Phil., formerly Director of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla and Manindra Chandra Nandi Professor and Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He was also a Deputy Coordinator of its UGC Special Assistance Programme. His publications include Hellonistic Sabhyata; Sun-Worship in Ancient India; The Samba Purana (Tr. In Hindi); The Samba Purana (English Tr.); Prehistoric Afghanistan: A Source Book; Protohistoric Afghanistan: A Source Book; Historical Probings in Afghanistan; Revision in Paurnic Sun-cult. He was the editor of prestigious Indological journal viz. Bharati. He was UGC Professor Emeritus at University of Allahabad and also a member of Sashtri Indo-Canadian Institute. He was a member of General Assembly, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi. He has been Visiting Professor at Kabul University and member of UNESCO sponsored Centre of Kusan Studies at Kabul and a Visiting Fellow at several European, Asian Universities. At present he is ICHR’s Senior Research Fellow.