What are the major factors responsible for making rice-wheat system a success? In spite of this success how has this system become bane in India?
Approach · directive: “what / how”
What it asks · Explain why the rice-wheat system succeeded (technology, assured water, price and procurement support) and how it now harms water, soil, air and crop diversity.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Explain the major factors that made the rice-wheat system a success
- Explain how the system has become a bane for India
Open with · The rice-wheat system of the Indo-Gangetic plains, led by Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, made India self-sufficient in foodgrains.
Cover
- Technology: high-yielding dwarf varieties of wheat and rice, with fertilisers, pesticides and mechanisation, raised yields sharply.
- Water and land: assured irrigation from canals and tubewells on fertile alluvial plains; rice in kharif and wheat in rabi fit the climate and the crop calendar.
- Policy support: assured MSP and procurement by FCI, subsidised power, fertiliser and credit, plus research and extension through ICAR and agricultural universities.
- Bane, water: paddy is water-hungry; free or cheap power for tubewells has depleted groundwater in Punjab and Haryana.
- Bane, soil and inputs: nutrient imbalance from heavy urea use, falling soil organic matter, salinity and waterlogging, and slowing yield growth.
- Bane, air and climate: burning of paddy stubble in October-November adds to north-Indian air pollution; flooded paddy emits methane.
- Bane, economy: monoculture crowds out pulses, oilseeds and millets, piles up grain stocks, and locks farmers into MSP dependence.
Close with · The system fed the nation; keeping it sustainable now needs crop diversification, efficient water use, direct-seeded rice and straw management, and reformed incentives.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 301 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
The rice-wheat system of the Indo-Gangetic plains, led by Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, turned India from a food-deficit importer into a foodgrain-surplus nation; the same system now strains its water, soil, air and farm economy.
Factors behind the success
- Technology: high-yielding dwarf varieties of wheat and rice that respond to fertiliser, with pesticides and mechanisation, raised yields sharply.
- Agro-ecology: fertile alluvial soils and assured irrigation from canals and tubewells; kharif rice followed by rabi wheat fits the climate and the crop calendar.
- Price and procurement: assured MSP and open-ended procurement by the FCI gave a guaranteed buyer at a guaranteed price for both crops.
- Input support: subsidised power, fertiliser and credit lowered costs, while ICAR and the agricultural universities supplied research and extension.
- Farmers: enterprising cultivators adopted the package quickly, and the two crops fitted well into a mechanised annual cycle.
How it became a bane
- Water: paddy is water-hungry, and free or cheap power for tubewells has pulled groundwater down to critical depths in Punjab and Haryana.
- Soil: heavy urea use has skewed the nutrient balance, organic matter has fallen, salinity and waterlogging affect canal commands, and yield growth has slowed.
- Air and climate: burning of paddy stubble in October-November thickens north India's winter smog, and flooded paddies emit methane.
- Economy: monoculture crowds out pulses, oilseeds and millets, grain stocks pile up beyond need, and farmers stay locked into MSP dependence at a rising fiscal cost.
- Biodiversity and health: loss of crop and varietal diversity, pest build-up and pesticide residues.
Way forward
- Crop diversification backed by MSP and procurement for pulses, oilseeds and millets; direct-seeded rice and shorter-duration varieties; in-situ straw management; and reformed power and fertiliser incentives.
The system fed the nation; keeping it sustainable now means rewarding water saved and crops diversified rather than grain alone.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.