Why has Indian agriculture started a declining trend in food production?



Indian agriculture started declining trend in food production because of the following reasons:

(a) There is a gradual shift from cultivation of food crops to cultivation of fruits, vegetables, oil seeds, etc.

(b) More and more cultivable lands have been converted into factories, residential area, which has reduced the area under cultivation.

(c) The productivity of land has also started to decline due to various new diseases inspite of many insecticides that have been used to control these crop diseases.

(d) Use of fertilizers and pesticides once showed good results, now they are responsible for degrading soils.

(e) Periodic scarcity of water has led to reduction in area under irrigation.

We can overcome the above problems in the following ways:

(a) The food production can be increased by using new agricultural techniques which are environmentally sustainable.

(b) By using biotechnology as a supplementary tool to modify different crops genetically to increase the yield per hectare.

(c) Genetically modified crops are more resistant to insects, pests and diseases.

(d) Genetically modified crops require less water compared to other crops.