Indian Agriculture

Agriculture plays a vital role in India’s economy. Over 58 per cent of the rural households depend on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood. Agriculture, along with fisheries and forestry, is one of the largest contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices and spice products. It ranks third in farm and agriculture outputs. Agricultural export constitutes 10 per cent of the country’s exports and is the fourth-largest exported principal commodity. The agro industry in India is divided into several sub segments such as canned, dairy, processed, frozen food to fisheries, meat, poultry, and food grains.

The Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for the development of the agriculture sector in India. It manages several other bodies, such as the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), to develop other allied agricultural sectors.

Market Size

Over the recent past, multiple factors have worked together to facilitate growth in the agriculture sector in India. These include growth in household income and consumption, expansion in the food processing sector and increase in agricultural exports. Rising private participation in Indian agriculture, growing organic farming and use of information technology are some of the key trends in the agriculture industry.

India is the largest producer of milk. It also has the largest bovine population. India is the largest importer of pulses also. India, the second-largest producer of sugar, accounts for 14 per cent of the global output. It is the sixth-largest exporter of sugar, accounting for 2.76 per cent of the global exports.

Investments

Several players have invested in the agricultural sector in India, mainly driven by the government’s initiatives and schemes.

According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the Indian agricultural services and agricultural machinery sectors have cumulatively attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflow.

Some major investments and developments in agriculture in the recent past are as follows:

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India’s leading tractor and utility vehicle manufacturer, announced its entry into pulses retailing under the brand ‘NuPro’. Going forward, the company plans to foray into e-retailing and sale of dairy products.

Fertilizer cooperative IFFCO launched a joint venture with Japanese firm Mitsubishi Corp for manufacturing agrochemicals in India.

Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is unquestionably the largest livelihood provider in India, more so in the vast rural areas. It also contributes a significant figure to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Sustainable agriculture, in terms of food security, rural employment, and environmentally sustainable technologies such as soil conservation, sustainable natural resource management and biodiversity protection, are essential for holistic rural development. Indian agriculture and allied activities have witnessed a green revolution, a white revolution, a yellow revolution and a blue revolution.

This section provides the information on agriculture produces; machineries, research etc. Detailed information on the government policies, schemes, agriculture loans, market prices, animal husbandry, fisheries, horticulture, loans & credit, sericulture etc. is also available.

Fertilizers & Pesticides

Department of Fertilizers seeks to ensure adequate and timely availability of fertilizers at affordable prices for maximizing agricultural production in the country. Detailed information related to various divisions of administrative and vigilance, fertilizer accounts, movement and PSU etc. is given. Details of fertilizers policy and rates of fertilizers are provided. Link of the Fertilizers Monitoring System is also given.

Seeds

National Seeds Corporation Limited (NSC) undertakes production of certified seeds of nearly 600 varieties of 60 crops through its registered seed growers. Information about products, services, quality certification, grower agreement, distributionship, etc. is given. Details related to central schemes, Beej Prabhandan and training programmes are provided.

Green Revolution:

It stands for a major technological breakthrough in India

based on

(i)            improved seeds of high yielding varieties,

(ii)          adequate and assured supply of water for irrigation, and

(iii)         increased and appropriate application of chemical fertilizers for increasing agricultural production.

White Revolution:

It stands for remarkable increase in milk production and establishment of a national milk grid, removing regional and seasonal imbalances.

Among the technological inputs are  

(i)            crossbreeding of indigenous cows with high milk yielding European breed;

(ii)          pasteurization of milk for keeping it for a longer  duration;

(iii)         collection of quality milk from members in rural areas; and

(iv)        refrigerated transport system which helps sending milk to far off metropolitan

                   centres both by road and rail.

Blue Revolution:

It refers to big rise in catching of fresh water and marine fish.

Yellow Revolution: It refers to remarkably steady and assured supply of poultry

Products.

Pink Revolution:

It refers to a considerable rise in the production of quantity

of apples particularly in the states of Himachal Pradesh and J&K.

 Rice:

Rice is the most important food crop of India. It is predominantly a Kharif

or summer crop. It covers about one third of total cultivated area of the country

and provides food to more than half of the Indian population. Maximum

population of India is of rice consumers.

Rice is grown in almost all the states of India. The main rice

producing states are Tamilnadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,

Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chhatisgarh, Punjab, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh,

Karnataka, Assam and Maharashtra. It is also grown in Haryana, Madhya

Pradesh, Kerala, G

Wheat:

Wheat is grown in  U.P., Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat, Maharashtra. U.P.,

Punjab and Haryana.

Commercial Crops

As mentioned in the beginning of the lesson, commercial crops are those crops which

are grown for sale either in raw form or semi processed form. In this section we

will learn more about selected cash crop i.e. sugarcane, cotton and jute; two

beverages- tea and coffee; three oil seeds i.e. groundnut, mustard and rapeseed

  

Plantation Crops

(i) Tea:

India is famous for its tea gardens. We must have heard about tea gardens

of Assam and Darjeeling in West Bengal. It is being said that tea plantation in

India was started by the Britishers in 1923 when wild tea plants were discovered

by them in the hilly and forest areas of Assam. Tea is made from tender sprouts

of tea plants by drying them.

 At present, India is the leading tea producing Country in the world. China and Sri Lanka are respectively second and third largest producers of tea.

2 Coffee

It is the indigenous crop of Ethiopia (Abyssinia Plateau). From Ethiopia, it was taken to

Yemen in 11 th Century. From Arabia, the seeds were brought by Baba Budan

in 17th Century and were raised in Baba Budan hills of Karnataka. But it was

British planters who took keen interest and large coffee estates were established

in the hills of Western Ghat.