IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Cultivation of fallow and wasteland. It is important to bring under cultivation the extensive areas of land shown as cultivable waste for increasing agricultural production. Extensive areas of land require substantial investment for reclamation before it is made really cultivable. Some states have enacted laws for the reclamation of wasteland. Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan (Ajmer area) had provisions for this purpose. Under the provisions of such Acts, the state, Governments can declare any area as "reclamation area" and acquire it for reclamation and improvement. Some of the Acts also provide for the establishment of Land Development Boards. In Maharashtra, Boards have been established for the reclamation of khar and khojan land. In Madhya Pradesh, the Madhya Pradesh Reclamation of Land (Eradication of Kans) Act, 1948; Eradication Act; and Bhopal State Kans Eradication Act were enforced in Mahakaushal, Madhya Bharat and Bhopal regions, respectively for the reclamation of lands infested with kans by the Tractor Units for the Central Tractor Organisation so long as the Central Tractor Organization was engaged in this operation. The above Acts have since been repeated and the Madhya Pradesh Tractor dwara Tori Gai Bhoomian pur Asudhorslulka Adhiniam, 1972 has been introduced only for the recovery of these tractorization charges by way of betterment levy from the cultivators for whom the Central Tractor Organization worked till 1958. The East Punjab Agricultural Pests, Diseases and Noxious Weeds Act, 1949, was amended in 1951, and again in 1969. Under this Act, the cost of measures carried out shall be recoverable from each occupier of such area in such proportion as may be determined by the state Government on demand of such payment or it shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue.

The Bihar soil and Water Conservation and Land Davelopment Ordinance was promulgated in 1970 for the preparation and execution of soil and water-conservation plans, including the plan for land development allocation of damage by floods and drought, control of grazing for prevention of soil erosion, reclamation of waste land and protection of reservoirs against sedimentation. To promote agricultural production, the Kerala Land Development Act, 1964, and the Kerala Land Utilization Order, 1987, and the Kerala Irrigation Works (Execution by Joint Labour) Act, 1967, were brought forward. The Kerala Land Development Act, 1964 deals with the problems of the preparation and execution of land development and soil-improvement measures and the prevention of soil erosion and reclamation of wasteland. The Kerala Land Utilization Order, 1967, besides providing for the cultivation of specified crops by a land-holder, makes provisions to prevent land from being kept fallow. The Kerala Irrigation Works (Execution by Joint labour) Act, 1967, provided for works connected with irrigation, flood control, drainage, etc. to be done by joint effort. There is provision for directing the defaulting proposition, if any, to execute any portion of the work or to pay for any portion of the cost of work. The application of the Act is primarily to get cultivation in Kuttard and other Padasikhauram when dewatering can be done only as a joint effort. For the promotion of agricultural production, the Karnataka Government have given statistics in their work.

• The Insecticides Act, 1968 and the Insecticides Rules, 1971.
• The Kamataka Cotton Control Act, 1974, and Rules and Notifications thereunder.
• The Seeds Act, 1966 and the Seed.nules, 1968.
• The Kamataka Land Improvement Act, 1966 under the Karnataka Land Improvement Rules, 1962.
• The Land Utilization (Control Order, 1957) with the state Government's notification.
• The Kamataka Agricultural Pests and Diseases Act, 1968 and the Kamataka Agricultural Pests and Diseases Rules, 1971.

In 1969, the West Bengal Government enacted the West Bengal 'Utilization of Land for the Production of Food Crops Act, 1969, to provide for the requisitioning of land with a view to utilizing it better for the production of good crops in the state. In order to provide for the development of the state through the area-based development programme for increasing agricultural and allied production, the West Bengal Comprehensive Development Act, 1974 was enacted.

Use of improved seeds and manures. The West Bengal State had improvingly enacted legislation for promoting the use of improved seeds and for regulating the quality of seeds that are used. It suggested to use only improved varieties of seeds stored by authorized agents. A legislation on similar lines is in operation in Act, 1974 also aims at 1969. Crops, grass crops and comprehensive seed certification of improved varieties and the enforcement of seed-control programme of all seeds sold through the commercial channel for sowing purposes. Under Section 3 of the Act, the Central government has constituted a Central Seeds Committee to advise the central aud State government on matters arising from the administration of this Act and to carry out other functions associated to it by or under the Act. This Committee is assisted by the various subcommittees at the Central level and a State sub-committee at a state level in the discharge of its functions. The seeds Act of 1966 was further amended in 1972 by the Seeds (Amendment) Act, 1972 to bring jute seed within the purview of the Act and also to provide for the establishment of a central Seeds Certification Board to advise the Central Government and the State Governments on all matters relating to seed Certification. Since the inception of the Act, the Central Government bulbs, rhizomes, roots, edible oilseeds and seeds. In consultation with the Central Seeds Committee have notified in the official gazette under Section 5 of the Act, 322 varieties of more than 50 Crops by the end of June 1975 for various regions of the country and have prescribed the minimum limits of germination and purity of seeds of notified kinds and varieties. Legislative measures to rectify the various malpractices in marketing such as the mixing of different varieties of cotton and the mixing of foreign substances in cotton were taken up as early as 1329. The legislation has undergone several changes over the century and has become more comprehensive. The Cotton Transport Act was passed by the Government of India in 1923 and it empowered the state governments to restrict the import of inferior cotton with seed and cotton waste into the areas growing, superior cotton and to maintain the quality and the reputation of the latter. The Act covers the major cotton-growing states, such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and the main cotton-growing areas,within the states are declared as protected . Cotton Ginning and Pressing Factories Act, 1925 was complementary to the Cotton Transport Act. To prevent malpractices, the 1925, Act makes it obligatory on the part of the ginning and pressing factories to maintain a record of cotton ginned in the factories. The Act, however, did not provide for the licensing of cotton ginning and pressing factories.

The governments of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have amended the Central Acts applicable to their states, making the licensing of ginning and pressing factories obligatory. Similarly, suitable measures have been taken by almost all the cotton-growing states. In actual practice, the Cotton Transport Act and the Cotton Ginning and Pressing Factories Act were aimed more at maintaining the purity of cotton seeds in the cultivators field. Therefore, the supplementary legislation was found necessary. The governments of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka have passed the Cotton Control Act which specifies the types of cotton to be grown in controlled areas and prohibited the cultivation of any other variety or varieties of cotton or the mixing of one variety with another or trading in prohibited areas, so controlled. In Punjab, the same objective was achieved through the Punjab Improvement of Seeds and Seedlings Act. In Andhra Pradesh, the object of Cotton Control Act was secured by notifying the orders under the Hyderabad Cotton Control and Transport Act. To protect a very large number of illiterate farmers against the malpractices of the trades in fertilizers, it was considered essential by the Government of India to regulate the trade in fertilizers and to enforce quality control.

The Central government promulgated in May 1957 a fertilizers (Control) Order, 1957, under Clause 111 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The law envisaged the statutory control of the prices of three fertilizers, namely ammonium sulphate, urea and calcium ammonium nitrate; provided for the registration of dealers in fertilizers; and for restrictions on the specifications of fertilizers in relation to the maximum and minimum of various important constituents. Under the provisions of the fertilizers (Control) Order, 1957, powers for fixing the prices of fertilizers vest with the Government of India and the State Governments have been authorized to fix the price at which the fertilizers mixture may be sold by a manufacturer or a dealer. The Central Government also promulgated the fertilizers Movement Control Order, 1973, in May 1973 under Clause IV of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, to ensure the equitable distribution of fertilizers in various states and to stop the unauthorized inter-state movement of fertilizers. This Order prohibits the inter-state movement of fertilizers, except by manufacturers listed in the schedule to the Order, by the Food Corporation of India, central housing Corporation, State Warehousing Corporation or in accordance with the authority of the Central Government or the states.

Apart from these positions, most of the states, namely, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat,Assam, Haryana, Punjab, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh have amended their Municipal Acts making obligatory on the part of the Municipal committees to adopt competing as a method of refuse disposal.