Indian Agriculture

Agriculture in India is one of the most prominent sectors in its economy. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounted for 18.6% of the GDP in 2005 and employed 60% of the country's population. It accounts for 8.56% of India’s exports. About 43% of India's geographical area is used for agricultural activity. Despite a steady decline of its share in the GDP, agriculture is still the largest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic development of India. The monsoons play a critical role in the Indian sub-continent's agriculture in determining whether the harvest will be bountiful, average, or poor in any given year. The entire rainfall in the sub-continent is concentrated in the few monsoon months. Agriculture in India is constitutionally the responsibility of the states rather than the central government. The central government's role is in formulating policy and providing financial resources for agriculture. The government administers prices of essential commodities to protect farmer's interests. It also administers other commodities which are produced by government-controlled companies, like petroleum, coal, nitrogenous fertilizers, etc. Other than these, most agricultural commodity markets operate under the normal forces of demand and supply.

History of Indian agriculture

Evidence of the presence of wheat and some legumes in the 6th millennium BC have been found in the Indus Valley. Oranges were cultivated in the same millennium. The crops grown in the valley around 4000 BC were typically wheat, peas, sesame seed, barley, dates and mangoes. By 3500 BC cotton growing and cotton textiles were quite advanced in the valley. By 3000 BC farming of rice had started. Other monsoon crops of importance of the time was cane sugar. By 2500 BC, rice was an important component of the staple diet in Mohenjodaro near the Arabian Sea. The Indus Plain had rich alluvial deposits which came down the Indus River in annual floods. This helped sustain farming that formed basis of the Indus Valley Civilization at Harappa. The people built dams and drainage systems for the crops. By 2000 BC tea, bananas and apples were being cultivated in India. There was coconut trade with East Africa in 200 AD. By 500 AD, egg plants were being cultivated.

Green Revolution

Green Revolution in India

After independence, considering India's growing population, the government took steps to increase the food production. Yields per unit area of all crops have grown since 1950. The 1970s saw a huge increase in India's wheat production. This is known as the Indian Green Revolution. Reasons for the growth are the special emphasis placed on agriculture and steady improvements in irrigation, technology, application of modern agricultural practices and provision of agricultural credit and subsidies.

Operation Flood

Operation flood

Operation Flood was the name of a rural development programme started by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1970 with the objective of creating a nationwide milk grid. This movement followed the Indian green revolution and helped in alleviating poverty and famine levels from dangerous proportions in India during the era. It resulted in India becoming the largest producer of milk and milk products, so it is also called the White Revolution of India.

Production

India is ranked second in the world in terms of agricultural output. India is the largest producer in the world of milk, cashew nuts, coconuts, tea, ginger, turmeric and black pepper. It also has the world's largest cattle population (193 million). India ranks second worldwide in farm output. It is the second largest producer of wheat, rice, sugar, groundnut and inland fish. It is the third largest producer of tobacco. India accounts for 10 per cent of the world fruit production with first rank in the production of banana and sapota. Given below is a chart of trend of output of cereals and major foodgrains as publishedby the Department of Food and Public Distribution with figures in tonnes.

Year	Cereals	Rice	Wheat	Coarsegrains	Pulses
2001–02	199,480,000	93,340,000	72,770,000	33,370,000	13,370,000
2004–05	192,730,000	87,800,000	73,030,000	31,880,000	13,670,000

Despite high growth, international comparisons reveal that the average yield in India is generally 30% to 50% of the highest average yield in the world.

The low productivity in India is a result of the following factors:

• Illiteracy, general socio-economic backwardness, reforms and inadequate or inefficient finance and marketing services for farm produce.
• The average size of land holdings is very small (less than 20,000 m²) and are subject to fragmentation, due to land ceiling acts and in some cases, family disputes. Such small holdings are often over-manned, resulting in disguised unemployment and low productivity of labour.
• Adoption of modern agricultural practices and use of technology is inadequate, hampered by ignorance of such practices, high costs and impracticality in the case of small land holdings.
• Irrigation facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 53.6% of the land was irrigated in 2000–01, which result in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the Monsoon season. A good monsoon results in a robust growth for the economy as a whole, while a poor monsoon leads to a sluggish growth. Farm credit is regulated by NABARD, which is the statutory apex agent for rural development in the subcontinent.

In the last few decades several farmers have committed suicide especially in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala. Combating this has become a major challenge for these governments. Some of the causes for the deaths include indebtedness of small and marginal farmers and repeated crop failure

Agriculture in the Indian states

About 70% population of the India is directly dependent on agriculture, also agriculture is the main component for most of the state economies in India. Historically, the Punjab region (the five rivers region) has been one of the most fertile regions on earth. The region is ideal for wheat-growing. Punjab is called the "Granary of India" or "India's bread-basket". It produces 60% of India's wheat, and 40% of India's rice. The south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are also major producers of rice, Andhra Pradesh being India's second biggest producer of rice. These states are mostly irrigated by the rivers Krishna, Godavari and Cauvery. Haryana is self-sufficient in food production and the second largest contributor to India's central pool of food grains. Haryana contributed significantly to the Green Revolution in India in the 1970s. The National Dairy Research Institute at Karnal, and the Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes at Hisar are instrumental in development of new breeds of cattle and propagation of these breeds through embryo transfer technology. The Murrah breed of water buffalo from Haryana is world-famous for its milk production. The high-altitude states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are ideal for production of apples. Arunachal Pradesh also has a large number of fruit orchards. Tea is the other produce of the high altitude regions of Assam, West Bengal (Darjeeling), Tripura, Tamil Nadu (Ooty), Himachal Pradesh and Kerala. Assam produces some of the finest and most expensive teas in the world (see Assam tea). However Assam tea is grown at elevations near sea level, giving it a malty sweetness and an earthy flavor, as opposed to the more floral aroma of highland (e.g., Darjeeling, Taiwanese) In the north-eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, shifting cultivation known locally as jhum, was practised by the tribal groups, but that has come to be less practised. In mountainous states like Sikkim, farming is done on terraced slopes. The state has the highest production and largest cultivated area of cardamom in India. Karnataka is the largest producer of coffee in India and accounts for 59% of the country’s coffee production. It is grown mostly in the lower slopes of the Western Ghats in Kodagu district. Karnataka is also the largest producer of sandalwood based products like perfumes. Sandalwood comes from the dense forested areas of southern Karnataka. The state is also the largest producer of raw silk and Mysore silk saris are famous. The other state manufacturing silk is Tamil Nadu. Rajasthan is among the largest producers of edible oils in India and the second largest producer of oilseeds. The state is also the biggest wool-producing state in India.

Cardamom plantation, India

Kerala produces 96% of national output of pepper. It is also the largest producer of spices which include cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Kerala is also the largest producer of natural rubber in India (91%). The other state producing rubber is Tripura.' 30 percent of Mizoram is covered with wild bamboo forests, and accounts for 40 percent of India's 80-million-ton annual bamboo crop. There has been an economic shift towards agriculture for some states like Bihar after the mineral rich areas were carved out to form the new state of Jharkhand.

Research

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) established in 1905, was responsible for the research leading to the "Green revolution" of the 1970s. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is the apex body in agriculture and related allied fields, including research and education. The Union Minister of Agriculture is the President of the ICAR. The Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute develops new techniques for the design of agricultural experiments, analyses data in agriculture, and specializes in statistical techniques for animal and plant breeding. India is now trying to adopt organic farming, but as per the survey conducted in the year 2006-2007, the total production and the total requirement of organic manures and biofertilizers in India was estimated approximately to be 12.2 million tonnes and 15.7 million tonnes respectively. Hence, the research is now focussing towards minimizing the gap between the supply and the demand of organic manures and biofertilizers. Prof. M.S. Swaminathan is known as "Father of the Green Revolution" and heads the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. He is known for his advocacy of environmentally sustainable agriculture and sustainable food security.