A support price, often referred to as the Minimum Support Price (MSP), is a form of market intervention by the government. It guarantees a minimum price at which the government is prepared to purchase agricultural produce from farmers, ensuring they receive a fair return even during periods of market surplus.

Mercantilism was an economic theory prevalent in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century that emphasized the accumulation of wealth, specifically gold and silver, through a positive balance of trade. Consequently, mercantilists were strongly opposed to free trade, as they believed in strict government regulation, high tariffs on imports, and the promotion of exports to ensure that national wealth remained within the country's borders.

Peasant farming is characterized by the farmer being the owner-operator of the land. Unlike tenant farming or large-scale estate systems, the individual farmer manages the production process and retains ownership of the land and the agricultural output produced on it.

The Ryotwari system was a land revenue system introduced by the British in India, where the government collected revenue directly from the cultivators (ryots). It was first implemented in the Madras Presidency, which corresponds to modern-day Tamil Nadu, by Thomas Munro and Alexander Read in the early 19th century as an alternative to the Zamindari system.

The small size of land holdings in India is primarily driven by socio-economic and demographic factors. The decline of the joint family system and inheritance laws lead to the subdivision of land among heirs, while population growth increases the number of people dependent on a fixed amount of land. Diminishing marginal returns is an economic principle describing production efficiency, not a structural cause of land fragmentation.

The Mahalwari system, a land revenue arrangement in British India, was formally introduced under the administration of Lord William Bentinck in 1833. It involved the settlement of revenue with the entire village community or 'mahal' rather than individual cultivators.

The Permanent Settlement, commonly known as the Zamindari system, was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793. This land revenue system fixed the land tax in perpetuity, making the Zamindars the owners of the land and responsible for collecting revenue from the cultivators and paying a fixed amount to the British East India Company.

The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Zamindari system, was introduced in Bengal in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis. This system recognized the Zamindars as the owners of the land, provided they paid a fixed amount of revenue to the British government. It significantly altered the agrarian structure and land tenure systems in colonial India, impacting agricultural productivity and rural social dynamics for decades.

The Mahalwari system was a land revenue arrangement introduced in the early 19th century. Under the administration of Lord William Bentinck, this system was implemented primarily in the North-Western Provinces, specifically covering regions like Agra and Oudh, where the village community as a whole was held responsible for the payment of land revenue.

Kerala and West Bengal are historically cited for their significant and relatively successful land reform programs, which focused on land redistribution and tenancy rights. These reforms were pivotal in changing the agrarian structure and improving social equity in these specific regions.