4 SOCIAL SCIENTIST CONDITION OF AGRICULTURE The net sown area in Tamil Nadu is 62.81 lakh hectares, constituting about 48.3 per cent of the total geographical area. The area sown more than once a year represents 20 per cent of the net sown area. Of the gross cropped area, 76.2 per cent is under food crops. Vast tracts in the State are dependent on the vagaries of a poor and varying rainfall though according to official claims no less than 41.7 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated. Foodgrain production rose from 31.63 lakh tonnes in 1950-51 to 70.45 lakh tonnes in 1971-72. THE AN] NUAL AVERAGE I TABLE IADDUCTION 0] F IMPORTANT CROPS DURING DIFF ERENT PLAN I PERIODS Period Foodgrains (Thousand tonnes) Oilseeds '(Thousand tonnes) Sugarcane in Terms of gur (Thousaud tonnes) Cotton (Thousand bales) P 50-51 3168 817 330 226 1951-56 4088 812 295 276 1956-61 5050 1026 441 362 1961-66 5552 1056 711 351 1966-69 5327 901 1068 297 1970-71 7030 960 1148 358 Source : Towards a Greener Revolution, Report of the Task Force on Agriculture, 1972-1984, Vol I State Planning Commission, Tamil Nadu, p 3. This year the monsoons have let a still dependent Tamil Nadu down. Owing to a meagre South West monsoon, the fall in the production of foodgrains in the kharif season is estimated at 2.5 lakh tonnes. The North East monsoon failed between October and November 1972 and was followed by a cloudburst in early December. Cyclonic winds and floods caused extensive damage to agricultural production in the districts of Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur, Chingleput, North Arcot, South Arcot, Coimbatore and Salem and it is estimated that 220,000 acres of paddy, 50,000 acres of cotton, 12,000 acres ofsugarcane and 22,000 acres of other crops have been ruined. Agricultural production has certainly increased over the past two decades, although it has trailed behind the growth of population. A look at the growth rate of production of foodgrains shows that the main