economists acquired a place of pride among social scientists their country and also among their peers in other parts of the world. They have distinguished themselves by their contribution to the country's agricultural and rural development policies. Two factors have contributed to the growth of this discipline ; (a) a very reputed professionnal association I. e. the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics (b) the Government's willingness to involve agricultural economists in the policy-making process. Three distinct streams can be distinguished among agricultural economists : the scholar-administrators during colonial and post-colonial period, the economists specialized in agricultural economics and the agricultural scientists trained in the agricultural universities created in the 1950's. The Indian Society of Agricultural Economics has succeeded in providing a strong intellectual leadership, in keeping together disparate groups of scholars. The high quality of its journal, the Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, has spurred young professional to reach a level of proficiency which can be compared to the contributions in very good international journals.
