Indian farmers cultivating ideas for better tomorrow

Agriculture has always been the centre of attention for political parties and academicians in India. The sector generates less than a fifth of gross value added yet provides livelihood to more than three-fifth of the population.

- Tushar K Mahanti

India has done well to increase its gross domestic product, to improve infrastructure or to develop a booming service sector since independence, but the real transformation has come in its flourishing agriculture that provides livelihood to three-fifths of its population. The devastating Bengal famine happened just four years before Independence laying bare the pitiable state of Indian agriculture.

And if analysts later claimed that it was largely a man-made famine, the fact remains that the country was suffering from a severe food shortage. Agriculture thus, was given prime importance with the beginning of the planning era and India has come a long way since then; from a food-deficit country it has become a food-surplus nation now.

India's foodgrains production rose more than six times in seven decades from 50.82 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 315.72 million tonnes in 2021-22. As per advanced estimates by the government, the total foodgrains production in 202223 would be a record 328 million tonnes, which is higher by nearly 30 million tonnes compared with the previous five years' (2017-18 to 2021-22) average production.

India is the world's second-largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, vegetables, fruit and cotton. India is also a leading producer of spices, fish, poultry, livestock and plantation crops. It is the world's largest producer of milk, pulses and jute.

The importance of agriculture was a testimony during Covid-19 days. While bumper stocks allowed the government to distribute foodgrains for free or at subsidised prices to distressed millions, higher farm sector growth helped the economy from falling down further. The World Bank in its 'Global Economic Prospect' report recognised the role of the farm sector in India and said that it was the only sector that displayed growth resilience as it had largely remained unscathed during the lockdown.