Agriculture in India

Crop circles


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Dr. A. K. Biswas

Infrastructure e. g. transportation, storage, assured water supply etc. would certainly make lasting contribution. Indian agriculture is a victim of exorbitant costs of account of fertilizers, insecticides, farm labour, assured water/irrigation, too disproportionate dependence on unpredictable monsoons and crushing pressure of population, who as a result, contribute as well as harvest disproportionately too little. This situation is compounded by lack of opportunity to reduce the pressure of population by providing escape route which education alone can do. The rural educated would then move away from the traditional occupation to non-agricultural ones, contributing futher to national growth, propserity and happiness.

In the above backdrop, the small and marginal farmers in states like West Bengal would like to drop agriculture like a hot potato; and anybody with window on the rural India would perhaps know it intimately. They are compelled to work on farms for utter lack of alternative source of income to fall back. Education could provide that opportunity.

And here lies the challenge: The stand off between BHARAT versus INDIA begins there. The latter was alergic to any concept to provide a reasonable means to the former to prosper. The latter views the former as backward, illiterate, ignorant and primitive and therefore, unfit to march shoulder to shoulder with the articulate, modern and enlightened. Here the socio-cultural millieu come face starkly to face between the two. The idea of prosperity, happiness and growth of rural India, therefore, has to play a second fidle to the modern, urban and technologically empowered India.


What prime minister could do with financial sector that could not be done with farm sector. This is the reason why farm output is laggard in comparison with manufacturing or service sector or export. To grow the vote’s crop during every election is not that easy task for the government. Sharad Pawar, the agriculture minister of Indian government has to surrender before too many intra pressures and outside pressure . In fact, he is one of the few politicians who know farming and having know how to devise strategy not only to increase the farm output but also price for the farm products. Unfortunately he has to face tough stiff opposition on his home pitch. He has enemy in home state and in the country.
No government can do away with subsidies, boost the rainfall, and manage the ground water and creating adequate warehousing facilities. Despite the bad rainfall, poor ground water in Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar government could manage agricultural development by shifting from traditional crop to fruits and vegetables. Horticulture was his government’s mantra during his time. He encouraged sugarcane, mangoes, banana, orange, grapes, strawberries, and berries with a clear view to exploit the optimum potential in farms. Similar policies were adapted by many states like Punjab. What Punjab did for wheat farmers, Maharashtra did for sugar cane growers. Madhya Pradesh did for soybean. Kerala did for cashew and coco nuts growers.
What really lacking in Indian agriculture is price support. Although government does announce the support price, the old time method to lend farmers substantial support for sustenance, it did not prove beneficial to farmers. The indiscreet fertilizer subsidy damaged the farms and politics both. It happened the same way as it happened in case of foreign money flow, especially dirty money too flowing in Mumbai Stock Exchange. The intension of subsidy cant` is ignored. Helping the farmers is not entirely wrong. At least politically! What is acceptable in developed nations like USA, Australia, and Canada also is acceptable in developing nations you can describe it a level playing field for ten thousand year old industries.
Now contract farming, especially corporate sector’s entry in farm sector may change the scenario. Funding by private banks may also help the farm sector to increase its shares in GDP. India’s farm sector is facing difficulties from some of the world competitors. If India succeeds overcoming these difficulties, it may surge ahead in world farm products. Bharat Inc, India Inc etc is the coinage media mills produced for the arm chare readers; the readers who don’t know ABC of the ruler India. They do vote enemas and that too in favor of ruling party; however they discretely change their mandate.
-Ramesh Zawar


Our Country's big problem is our politics. Government pass the loans but that loans not reach the farmer. I hate Indian politician.


I agree with the sentiment expressed in the article (notwithstanding the unnecessary comparisons) that India should see ‘agriculture as a source of growth’. However, it is not a zero-sum game, I would qualify the statement as 'agriculture also as a …’.

However, the broad solution of consolidating land-holdings is not something I can agree with, since it does not take into account the existential elements of livelihood in India. The author compares the relative success of Brazil with India in consolidating land-holdings. Where he misses out is that Brazil has 6.5% of the world’s landmass and 2.8% of the world’s population resulting while India’s landmass is 2.3% of the world’s, while its population is 16.8% of the world’s. Thus, while Brazil has 0.44 persons per unit of land, India has 7.38 persons per unit of land. (Note: All data is circa 2001, however, population or landmass is unlikely to have changed dramatically since then.

Consolidating land-holding in such an environment will throw many millions of Indians out of a livelihood leading to cataclysmic changes that nobody can even imagine, simply because it has never happened before on this scale. India can ill afford this experiment. It may work, provided other landmass rich countries, such as, Australia, Brazil, USA, Russia (and not to Siberia please), are willing to take in Indian immigrants without asking any questions.

And, btw, as an aside, one more flaw in the article, a statistical one at that. “This year, for the first time in the country’s history, India’s factories may contribute more to GDP than its farms, forests and fisheries.”

Sorry sir, for your information industry’s contribution to India’s GDP (26%) was higher than agriculture’s (20%) contribution in 2005 itself. Industry overtook agriculture, sometime earlier though!


thats a fact and it is more than sufficient to widen the gap between bharat and india.i live in indore and at deswas a nearby place i came across ITC E-choupaal and had a mind blowing experience there.the working is so updated n farmer friendly, farmers get allthe informations like which seed to sow, what kind of fertilisers to be used,what is the fair price for the harvest etc.
i believe if the govt at central or at the state level collaborate with private firms like itc etc a lot significant can be achieved.


While in many places the consolidation of agriculture, making it more "efficient," can serve as as a a powerful economic engine (as in Brazil, where agriculture is the primary means of netting foreign capital), it's a process that must be undertaken with caution.

While consolidation of the agricultural sector can lead to more labor and minds building industries elsewhere in an economy there are plenty of inherent dangers that few seem to take into account, such as when these changes happen too fast and other economic sectors can't absorb the surplus labor (e.g. many countries in Latin America), or the environmental risks, whereby consolidation necessitates mechanization and we see related increases in (and dependencies on) fossil fuels, not to mention huge inputs of fertilizer that deplete the topsoil and necessitate more and more water.

While the industrial agriculture system has certain benefits, I personally am of the belief that it should be moved away from to a certain extent, and the fact that a country as large as India can presently feed itself should not be written off as some unimportant achievement. It's easy to get caught up in present economic dogma, but food security is as fundamental as you get.


It seems that ineffective agricultural extension programmes or dissemination of technology and knowledge among poor and marginal farmer is the biggest challenge for Indian agriculture. Without reducing the subsidy India should pay attention to two things : i)farmer education / extension and ii)development of storage infrastructure.


I do agree that the point the writer has tried to make is just scratching the surface. there are dependencies that may be even more important. removing subsidies does not take the problem away, logic says it will worsen. even though majority is rural, most of them are also hovering around the poverty line. Microfinance is only one way of bringing services to the rural sector.

Environment and red tape also play a large role in agricultural growth. Environmental concerns and handling have not been discussed here at all. Every success story from a farmer usually reeks of the problems they faced from the system (includes politicians and policies). The policy might be huge but the end result is what counts.


Indian problem is not only Monsoons, inefficient supply chain but rather a will to correct or work on them. India desperately needs free liquid commodity markets (open to agriculture products) to get free private investment and as a result product and process innovations. Price discovery is the key.


One of the biggest problems is the fragmentation of land making agriculture at time unviable. It would be better if the forms can be consolidated and larger farms can be greated


The difference between China and India happened actually more before China's reform in agriculture.

During socialim era, China farmers constructed most majority of China's agricultural infrastructure, such as irrigation system, and agriculture research. Even today, or 30 years after the so-called reform, >85% of China's agricultural infrastructures was done before the reform. Hybride rice is still the top pride China's agricultural research after more than 30 years and is contributing a lot to China's agriculture production.

Due to the wonderful agricultural infrastructures that were done before the reform, China's agriculture production is guaranteed no matter bad or good weather.

Another big reason is that education for the farmers before the reform, not after. China's literature rate increased from 20% to 80% in the 30 years before the reform. This allowed China's farmers more easy to accept new technology.

In the 30 years before the reform, China's grain production increased from 160 million tons a year to more than 300 million tons. Today, China's top annual production is about 500 million tons, which is way better than India.

India's record grain production is only 250 million tons. Last year, India only harvest 210 million tons, you cannot imagine that food is shared by 1.1 billion population.

For your comparison, China had 900 million population when China could produce 300 million food before the reform.

Today's India is only comparable to N. Korea in agriculture.


I think this is the half way done article as it shows the one side of the coin.
Mr. writer let me remind you that India has offered the world's largest Agriculture insurance policy which is yet to be traced and applied by most of the African, Asian,Latin American Nations.

When it come in terms of subsidies if India reduce the subsidies it will merely kill the poor farmer , may be from west's point of view reducing subsidies is the option ,But from indian point of view it is not indeed .

The major challenge India encounters is from uncertain monsoon , when it comes in terms of creating the Dams on the rivers ,India can not do that freely as most of the India rivers flow from several neighbouring nations so India has to respect the international laws and agreements as well .India is not like China which is keep on building dams on the river which flow from China to India .



Your well written article amuses me. It would be useful to find out and publish the commercialisable research carried out by various research organisations involved in agriculture and their IMPACT.

Apart from funding from various Governmental Organiosations, World Bank etc, Domestic & Overseas Organisations contribute to Research Funding.

Immediate, short, medium & long term ready solutions are available in areas of concerns expressed in your article without having to adopt GMO's, Tissue Culture Technologies but how can you shake up and wake to bring in the changes in the SYSTEMS. If your prestigeous news paper has time and inclination please organise an event of Agri Reporters in Delhi any day between 2nd to 5th April 2010 in Delhi
and send me a mail on, you will not be wanting.


good but understating the problems

water, water, water is a huge problem for india and will only increase, just mentioning it doesn't reflect the size of the problem

land degradation, rising seas and temperatures will also become huge challanges for indian agriculture and their population is still increasing as well the rich eat more meat, dependence on the international market is not something I recommend

they should stop subsidising water hungry crops today as well as fuel and electricity for waterpumps, start huge efficiancy and water conservation projects and reform fertilizer subsidies and promote water and temperature resistant crops.....

not much of this is happening........ the problems seem to accelerate instead....



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