India's Agriculture Sector

Agriculture, together with its associated sectors, is without a doubt the most important source of income in India, particularly in the vast rural areas. It also makes a substantial contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Friendly agriculture is critical for comprehensive rural development in terms of food security, rural employment, and ecologically sustainable technologies such as soil conservation, sustainable natural resource management, and biodiversity protection. There has been a green revolution, a white revolution, a yellow revolution, and a blue revolution in Indian agriculture and associated enterprises.

Agriculture in India

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Agriculture has been practised in India since the Indus Valley Civilization. In terms of agriculture output, India stands second in the world. Agriculture employed more than half of the Indian labour force in 2018 and generated 1718% of the country's GDP.Agriculture and associated industries such as animal husbandry, forestry, and fisheries accounted for 15.4 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) in 2016 and would employ around 41.49 percent of the workforce in 2020. India has the world's largest net cropped area, followed by the United States and China. Agriculture's economic contribution to India's GDP is continuously falling in tandem with the country's broad-based economic growth. Nonetheless, agriculture is India's most populous economic sector and plays an important part in the country's overall socioeconomic fabric.In March-June 2020, total agricultural commodity exports were $3.50 billion USD. In 2013, India exported $38 billion in agricultural products, making it the world's seventh largest agricultural exporter and sixth largest net exporter.More than 120 nations import Indian agricultural/horticultural and processed goods, notably from Japan, Southeast Asia, SAARC countries, the European Union, and the United States.

Types of Agriculture

• Intensive Agriculture : This is an approach to maximise the production of the land by putting out all effort feasible. It takes a significant amount of cash as well as a significant amount of human labour, yet more than one crop may be grown every year.

• Extensive Agriculture : Extensive farming refers to methods that require a small quantity of inputs, such as human labour, technology like tractors, and investment.

• Subsistence farming : Subsistence farming is a type of farming that is designed to meet the needs of a family or small group. Subsistence crops are plants that are cultivated primarily to suit the requirements of the community, with very little surplus for trade.

• Dry farming : This is commonly defined as crop cultivation without irrigation during a dry season, typically in an area that receives at least 20 inches (50 cm) of annual rainfall, and relies on moisture retained in the soil from the rainy season.

• Wet farming : This refers to farming when water is accessible all year, both from rainfall and irrigation.

• Aquaponics : This type of farming is a resilient agricultural technique that promotes health and nutrition. It's a sustainable way to cultivate both fish and veggies.

• Terrace Agriculture : This is a popular agricultural method in mountain locations that involves the construction of terraces. Terraces are horizontal man-made areas formed on the slopes of hills and mountains for agricultural planting.

• Shifting Agriculture : This type of farming practise that protects soil fertility through plot (field) rotation, as opposed to crop rotation. Shifting agriculture involves clearing and cultivating a parcel of land for a brief period of time before abandoning it and allowing it to restore to its natural vegetation while the farmer moves on to another plot.

• Commercial Agriculture : This is a cropping system in which crops and livestock are cultivated in order to sell the goods on the market and profit.

• Plantation Agriculture : This is a type of commercial farming in which a single crop is produced year round. This form of farming necessitates a significant amount of labour and cash.

India's agricultural exports in 2020-21 increased by 17.37 percent as compared to exports in 2019-20.

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In India, the agriculture industry has expanded rapidly during the last two years. The industry, which employs the most people in the country, accounted for a sizable 18.8 percent of the country's Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2021-22, growing at a rate of 3.6 percent in 2020-21 and 3.9 percent in 2021-22.

According to the Fourth Advance Estimates for 2020-21, overall food grain output in the country is expected to reach a new high of 308.65 MT. Rice, wheat, and coarse grain output have grown at compound annual growth rates (CAGR) of 2.7, 2.9, and 4.8 percent, respectively, over the last six years, from 2015-16 to 2020-21. During the same time period, the CAGR for pulses, oilseeds, and cotton was 7.9, 6.1, and 2.8 percent, respectively. Cereals accounted for about 49% of all products with $10,000 million, while fresh fruits and vegetables accounted for 6% with $1342 million in 2020-21.

India is a significant producer of oilseeds. Since 2016-17, India's oilseed production has consistently grown. From 2015-16 to 2020-21, India's oilseed output increased by over 43 percent. India is expected to sustain a 2.6 percent per year increase in per capita vegetable oil consumption, reaching 14 kg/capita by 2030, necessitating a 3.4 percent per year increase in imports.The sugar and sugarcane sector in India is the country's second largest Agro-based industry, after only cotton. In sugar season 2020-21, around 70 LMT of sugar was exported, compared to 59.60 LMT of sugar shipped in sugar season 2019-20.Furthermore, contracts for around 30 LMT of sugar export have already been made for the sugar season 2021-22.

Export Statistics in respect of products handled by EP (Agri) Division, for the past five years

Table source : commerce.gov.in

source : Invest India , Wikipedia ,Britanica