Agriculture
Indian agriculture after independence[edit | edit source]
Despite some stagnation during the later modern era the independent Republic
of India was able to develop a comprehensive agricultural programme.
flower harvesting in India. This is a cash crop in Central Gujarat, India. In the years
since its independence, India has made immense progress towards
food security. Indian population has tripled, and food-grain production more than
quadrupled. There has been a substantial increase in available food-grain per capita.
Before the mid-1960s, India relied on imports and food aid to meet domestic requirements. However, two years of severe drought in 1965 and 1966 convinced India to reform its agricultural policy and that it could not rely on foreign aid and imports for food security. India adopted significant policy reforms focused on the goal of food grain self-sufficiency. This ushered in India's Green Revolution. It began with the decision to adopt superior yielding, disease resistant wheat varieties in combination with better farming knowledge to improve productivity. The state of Punjab led India's green revolution and earned the distinction of being the country's breadbasket.
Irrigation[edit | edit source]
Indian irrigation infrastructure includes a network of major and minor canals from rivers, groundwater well-based systems, tanks, and other rainwater harvesting projects for agricultural activities. Of these, the groundwater system is the largest. Of the 160 million hectares of cultivated land in India, about 39 million hectare can be irrigated by groundwater wells and an additional 22 million hectares by irrigation canals. In 2010, only about 35% of agricultural land in India was reliably irrigated. About 2/3rd cultivated land in India is dependent on monsoons. The improvements in irrigation infrastructure in the last 50 years have helped India improve food security, reduce dependence on monsoons, improve agricultural productivity and create rural job opportunities. Dams used for irrigation projects have helped provide drinking water to a growing rural population, control flood and prevent drought-related damage to agriculture. However, free electricity and attractive minimum support price for water intensive crops such as sugarcane and rice have encouraged ground water mining leading to groundwater depletion and poor water quality. A news report in 2019 states that more than 60% of the water available for farming in India is consumed by rice and sugar, two crops that occupy 24% of the cultivable area.
Horticulture[edit | edit source]
The total production and economic value of horticultural produce, such as fruits, vegetables and nuts has doubled in India over the 10-year period from 2002 to 2012. In 2012, the production from horticulture exceeded grain output for the first time. The total horticulture produce reached 277.4 million metric tonnes in 2013, making India the second largest producer of horticultural products after China. Of this, India in 2013 produced 81 million tonnes of fruits, 162 million tonnes of vegetables, 5.7 million tonnes of spices, 17 million tonnes of nuts and plantation products (cashew, cacao, coconut, etc.), 1 million tonnes of aromatic horticulture produce and 1.7 million tonnes of flowers (7.6 billion cut flowers).
| Country | Area under fruits production
(million hectares) |
Average Fruits Yield
(Metric tonnes per hectare) |
Area under vegetable production
(million hectares) |
Average Vegetable Yield
(Metric tonnes per hectare) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 7.0 | 11.6 | 9.2 | 52.36 |
| China | 11.8 | 11.6 | 24.6 | 23.4 |
| Spain | 1.54 | 9.1 | 0.32 | 39.3 |
| United States | 1.14 | 23.3 | 1.1 | 32.5 |
| World | 57.3 | 11.3 | 60.0 | 19.7 |
During the 2013 fiscal year, India exported horticulture products worth ₹14,365 crore (US$2.0 billion), nearly double the value of its 2010 exports. Along with these farm-level gains, the losses between farm and consumer increased and are estimated to range between 51 and 82 million metric tonnes a year.