Definition. The scientific study of Agricultural Eco- nomics as a separate branch of Economics is of recent origin, though books on agriculture used to be written long beforehand and many important problems of agricultural economics have been given considerable thought and have been solved through organized effort. 1 All this literature is of a different nature which is not generally considered as agricultural economics in the modern conception of the term. However, even in the recent approaches to the subject there is no unanimity of thought, and the definitions given by various authors differ both in nature and scope. By way of example, a few of them are given below : ^/j. "Agricultural Economics is that branch of agri- cultural science which treats of the manner of regulating the relations of the different elements comprising the resources of the farmer whether it be the relations to each other or to human beings in order to secure the greatest degree of prosperity to the enterprise," (Jouzier)
1 , The beginning of the study of agricultural economics is generally traced back to the 9th decade of the last century or roughly towards the close of the 19th century. At the same time we are told that agriculture is the oldest occupation ; customs, traditions and even legislation regarding land system, taxation, exchange and international trade, irrigation, price administration and relief etc., have existed since the ancient times; economy of most of the countries of the world till the middle of the last century was founded almost exclusively on agriculture ; and the treatment of agrarian problems is seen in almost all the important treatises on politi- cal economy by classical writers. Thus, we find a considerable thought and effort being given to agrarian economy since long. Then how to reconcile these two apparently opposite ideas ? Really speaking, when it is said to be a recent study the implication is that the application of moderq