The Agricultural Sector in India

How it stands

population depends on agriculture

of GDP and 11% exports come from this sector

60%

14%

million is the arable land in India which is second largest globally

159.7

million hectare is the irrigated area 88

Scope of improvement

of net sown area is rainfed

million hectare cultivable land is fallow

60%

25

DECLINING TREND

Number of farmer suicides in 2012

decline in number of farmers between 1991 and 2011.

13.754

15 mn

of land holdings are below 1 hectare

63 %

Food grain production rose from 102 mn tonnes in 1973 to 247.6 mn tonnes in 2012-13

But planned budget for agriculture declined from 14.9% in 1951 to 5.2 % by 2002

the.

Major initiatives & their outcomesLand reforms meant for equitable

distribution of land remained confined to paper

Green revolution introduced to increase production but it came with harmful practices and the yields could not be

sustained

Minimum support price to encourage farmers resulted in monocropping and

centralised grain markets

THE GREEN REVOLUTION

• Introduction of high yielding varieties (HYV) of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and expansion of irrigation

• High input cost leads to farm indebtness and farmer suicides

• Depletion of soil fertility and water pollution due to chemical farming

• Ground water depletion due to rise in number of borewells

Source: State of Indian Agriculture 2011-12 report

 THE WAY FORWARD

Increase public

investment

Ensure better

price to farmers

Reduce input costs

Promotion of climate resilient

crop varieties

 THE WAY FORWARD

Local storage and

distribution of food grains

Improvement of soil and

water quality

Multiple sources on a single farm,

like beekeeping, poultry etc

REDUCE INPUT COSTS

Hiring of implements

through local farmers’

cooperatives

Organic manure, and mulching of crop waste

and weeds in the field

Linkage between

formal and farmer-saved seed systems

REQUIRED CHANGES IN POLICY

• Ban on acquisition of farm land for non-agricultural purposes

Decentralisation of grain

procurement and

distribution

Assured income

support to farmers

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