Test: Rural Development - 1

Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of land-intensive natural resources such as agriculture and forestry.

Agricultural diversification is an important mechanism for economic growth. It depends, however, on there being opportunities for diversification and on farmers’ responsiveness to those opportunities. Agricultural diversification can be facilitated by technological breaks-through, by changes in consumer demand or in government policy or in trade arrangements, and by development of irrigation, roads, and other infrastructures. 

Tamil Nadu Women in Agriculture (TANWA) is a project initiated in Tamil Nadu to train women in latest agricultural techniques. It induces women to actively participate in raising agricultural productivity and family income.

The definition of horticulture is the art or practice of gardening and cultivating plants and trees. When you grow lilac bushes and orchids, this is an example of horticulture.

A significant increase in horticulture production is called Golden Revolution in India. In India, the period between 1991-2003 is termed as 'Golden Revolution'. This period witnessed a tremendous increase in the productivity in horticulture. As a result, during this period, there was a huge increase in the production of various fruits, vegetables, spices and other horticulture products.  

Operation Flood was started by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1966s. The objective of this programme was to create a nationwide milk grid. The result was that India became the largest producer of Milk and Milk Products.

Operation flood is called White Revolution of India.

White Revolution followed the Green Revolution and both these revolutions contributed to a large extent to alleviate poverty from India. Gujarat-based co-operation “Anand Milk Union Limited” (Amul) was the engine behind the success of the programme.

Amul was founded by Tribhuvandas Patel and Verghese Kurien was the chairman of NDDB. Dr. Verghese Kurien, who was then 33, gave the professional management skills and necessary thrust to the cooperative, and is considered the architect of Operation Flood.

His work has been recognized by the award of a Padma Bhushan, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, the Carnegie-Wateler World Peace Prize, and the World Food Prize

Operation Flood is the program behind "the white revolution." It created a national milk grid linking producers throughout India with consumers in over 700 towns and cities, it transformed India from a milk-deficient nation into the world's largest milk producer.