Agriculture, also called farming or husbandry, is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and

other life forms for food, fiber, biofuel, and other products used to sustain and enhance human

life.

Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby

farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development of

civilization.

The history of agriculture dates back thousands of years, and its development has been driven

and defined by greatly different climates, cultures, and technologies.

Until the Industrial Revolution, the vast majority of the human population labored in

agriculture. Pre-industrial agriculture was typically subsistence agriculture in which farmers

raised most of their crops for their own consumption instead of for trade.

Agriculture in India has a significant history. Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm

output. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry and fisheries accounted for 16.6 % of the GDP

in 2009, about 50 % of the total workforce. The economic contribution of agriculture to India's

GDP is steadily declining with the country's broad-based economic growth. Still, agriculture is

demographically the broadest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-

economic fabric of India.

Agriculture is the main sector of Indian economy which is amply powered by the following

points:-

1. Share in National Income: The contribution from agriculture has been continuously

falling from 55.1% in 1950-51 to 37.6% in 1981-82 & further to 18.5% in 2006-07. But

agriculture still continues to be the main sector because it provides livelihood to a

majority of the people.

2. Largest Employment Providing Sector: in 1951, 69.5% of the working population was

engaged in agriculture. This percentage fell to 66.9% in 1991 & to 56.7% in 2001.

However, with rapid increase in population the absolute number of people engaged in

agriculture has become exceedingly large.

3. Contribution to Capital formation: There is a general agreement on the importance of

Capital Formation in economic development. Unless the rate of Capital Formation

increases to a sufficient high degree, economic development cannot be achieved.

Agriculture can play a big role in pushing the Capital Formation in India. Rural sector

can transfer labor & capital to the industrial sector which can be effectively used to

increase the productivity in the latter.

4. Providing Raw Material to industries: Agriculture provides raw materials to various

industries of national importance. Sugar industry, Jute industry, Cotton textile industry,

Vanaspati industry are examples of some such industries which depend on agriculture for

their development.

5. Market for Industrial Products: Since more than two-thirds of the population of India

lives in rural areas, increased rural purchasing power is a valuable stimulus to industrial

development.

6. Importance in International Trade: Agriculture constitutes about 75% of the total

exports of the country. Such is the importance of agriculture as far as earnings of foreign

exchange are concerned.

Factors of production are the inputs to the production process. Finished goods are the

output.Input determines the quantity of output i.e. output depends upon input. Input is the

starting point and output is the end point of production process and such input-output

relationship is called a production function.

Every production is organised by combining land, labour, physical capital and human capital,

which are known as factors of production.

'Factors of production' may also refer specifically to the 'primary factors', which are stocks

including land, labor, and capital goods applied to production. Materials and energy are

considered secondary factors because they are obtained from land, labor and capital.

Agriculture or farming can be looked at as a system. The important inputs are seeds, fertilisers,

machinery and labour. Some of the operations involved are ploughing, sowing, irrigation,

weeding and harvesting. The outputsfrom the system include crops, wool, dairy and poultry

products.

The first factor is land, and other natural resources such as water, forests, minerals. The second

requirement is labour, i.e. people who will do the work. Some production activities require

highly educated workers to perform the necessary tasks. Other activities require workers who

can do manual work. Each worker is the labour necessary for production. The third requirement

is physical capital, i.e. the variety of inputs required at every stage during production.

Over 50 years since its independence, India has made immense progress towards food security.

Indian population has tripled, but food-grain production more than quadrupled: there has thus

been substantial increase in available food-grain per capita.

Prior to the mid-1960s India relied on imports and food aid to meet domestic requirements.

However, two years of severe drought in 1965 and 1966 convinced India to reform its

agricultural policy, and that India could not rely on foreign aid and foreign imports for food

security. India adopted significant policy reforms focused on the goal of foodgrain self-

sufficiency. This ushered in India's Green Revolution. It began with the decision to adopt

superior yielding, disease resistant wheat varieties in combination with better farming

knowledge to improve productivity. The Indian state of Punjab led India's green revolution and

earned itself the distinction of being the country's bread basket.

The initial increase in production was centred on the irrigated areas of the Indian states of

Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. With both the farmers and the government officials

focusing on farm productivity and knowledge transfer, India's total foodgrain production soared.

A hectare of Indian wheat farms that produced an average of 0.8 tonnes in 1948, produced 4.7

tonnes of wheat in 1975 from the same land. Such rapid growths in farm productivity enabled

India to become self-sufficient by the 1970s. It also empowered the smallholder farmers to seek

further means to increase food staples produced per hectare. By 2000, Indian farms were

adopting wheat varieties capable of yielding 6 tonnes of wheat per hectare.

With agricultural policy success in wheat, India's Green Revolution technology spread to rice.

However, since irrigation infrastructure was very poor, Indian farmer innovated with tube-wells,

to harvest ground water. When gains from the new technology reached their limits in the states

of initial adoption, the technology spread in the 1970s and 1980s to the states of eastern India —

Bihar and West Bengal. The lasting benefits of the improved seeds and new technology extended

principally to the irrigated areas which account for about one-third of the harvested crop area. In

the 1980s, Indian agriculture policy shifted to "evolution of a production pattern in line with the

demand pattern" leading to a shift in emphasis to other agricultural commodities like oilseed,

fruit and vegetables. Farmers began adopting improved methods and technologies in dairying,

fisheries and livestock, and meeting the diversified food needs of India's growing population. As

with Rice, the lasting benefits of improved seeds and improved farming technologies now

largely depends on whether India develops infrastructure such as irrigation network, flood

control systems, reliable electricity production capacity, all season rural and urban highways,

cold storage to prevent food spoilage, modern retail, and competitive buyers of produce from the

Indian farmer. This is increasingly the focus of Indian agriculture policy.

India's agricultural economy is undergoing structural changes. Between 1970 and 2011, the GDP

share of agriculture has fallen from 43 to 16 %. This isn't because of reduced importance of

agriculture, or a consequence of agricultural policy. This is largely because of the rapid

economic growth in services, industrial output, and non-agricultural sectors in India between

2000 to 2010.

Farming lands HYV Seeds

Pesticides Harvesting

Agriculture in India, largest crops by economic value

Economic value

Unit priceAverage yield,

India(2010)

World's most productive farms(2010)

Rank Produce(2009 prices, US$)

(US$ / kilogram)

(tonnes per hectare)

(tonnes per hectare)

Country

1 Rice $38.42 billion 0.27 3.3 10.8 Australia2 Buffalo milk $24.86 billion 0.4 1.7 1.9 Pakistan3 Cow milk $17.13 billion 0.31 1.2 10.3 Israel4 Wheat $12.14 billion 0.15 2.8 8.9 Netherlands5 Mangoes $9 billion 0.6 6.3 40.6 Cape Verde6 Sugar cane $8.92 billion 0.03 66 125 Peru7 Bananas $8.38 billion 0.28 37.8 59.3 Indonesia8 Cotton $8.13 billion 1.43 1.6 4.6 Israel

9Fresh Vegetables

$5.97 billion 0.19 13.4 76.8 USA

10 Potatoes $5.67 billion 0.15 19.9 44.3 USA11 Tomatoes $4.59 billion 0.37 19.3 524.9 Belgium12 Buffalo meat $4 billion 2.69 0.138 0.424 Thailand13 Soyabean $3.33 billion 0.26 1.1 3.7 Turkey14 Onions $3.17 billion 0.21 16.6 67.3 Ireland15 Chicken Meat $3.12 billion 0.64 10.6 20.2 Cyprus16 Chick peas $3.11 billion 0.4 0.9 2.8 China17 Okra $3.07 billion 0.35 7.6 23.9 Israel18 Cattle Meat $2.93 billion 0.83 13.8 24.7 Jordan19 Eggs $2.80 billion 2.7 0.1 0.42 Japan20 Beans $2.57 billion 0.42 1.1 5.5 Nicaragua

Agriculture productivity in India, growth in average yields from 1970 to 2010

CropAverage YIELD, 1970-

1971Average YIELD, 1990-

1991Average YIELD, 2010–

2011kilogram per hectare kilogram per hectare kilogram per hectare

Rice 1123 1740 2240Wheat 1307 2281 2938Pulses 524 578 689Oilseeds 579 771 1325Sugarcane 48322 65395 68596Tea 1182 1652 1669Cotton 106 225 510

The Statistics Office of the Food and Agriculture Organisation reported that, per final

numbers for 2009, India had grown to become the world's largest producer of the following

agricultural produce:

Fresh Fruit Lemons and limes Buffalo milk - whole, fresh Castor oil seeds Sunflower seeds Sorghum Millet Spices Okra Jute Beeswax Bananas Mangoes, mangosteens, guavas Pulses

Indigenous Buffalo Meat

Fruit, tropical Ginger Chick peas Areca nuts Other Bastfibres Pigeon peas Papayas Chillies and peppers, dry Anise, badian, fennel, coriander Goat milk, whole, freshmeat

Per final numbers for 2009, India is the world's second largest producer of the following agricultural produce:

Wheat

Rice Vegetables, fresh Sugar cane Groundnuts, with shell Lentils Garlic Cauliflowers and broccoli Peas, green Sesame seed Cashew nuts, with shell Silk-worm cocoons, reelable Cow milk, whole, fresh Tea Potatoes Onions Cotton lint Cottonseed Eggplants (aubergines) Nutmeg, mace and cardamoms Indigenous Goat Meat Cabbages and other brassicas Pumpkins, squash and gourds

In 2009, India was the world's third largest producer of eggs, oranges, coconuts,

tomatoes, peas and beans.

In addition to growth in total output, agriculture in India has shown an increase in average

agricultural output per hectare in last 60 years. The table below presents average farm

productivity in India over three farming years for some crops. Improving road and power

generation infrastructure, knowledge gains and reforms has allowed India to increase farm

productivity between 40 % to 500 % over 40 years. India's recent accomplishments in crop

yields while being impressive, are still just 30 % to 60 % of the best crop yields achievable in the

farms of developed as well as other developing countries. Additionally, despite these gains in

farm productivity, losses after harvest due to poor infrastructure and unorganised retail cause

India to experience some of the highest food losses in the world.

Principal crops of India

According to the Indian Statistical Report, 2011, the following are the principal crops of India*.

Crop   Crop group   

State with the highest area

Area (in thousand

State with highest

Yield (in thousand

Second highest

under cultivation (till 2008-09)   

hectares)    production    tonnes)    yield   

Rice Cereals Uttar Pradesh 6034 West Bengal 15037 13097 (UP)

Jowar Cereals Maharashtra 4071 Maharashtra 3587 1629 (KN)

Bajra Cereals Rajasthan 5175 Rajasthan 4283 1302 (UP)

Maize Cereals Karnataka 5175 Andhra Pradesh

4152 3029 (KN)

Ragi Cereals Karnataka 841 Karnataka 1394 193 (UK) Small millets Cereals Madhya Pradesh 307 Uttarakhand 89 89 (MP)

Wheat Cereals Uttar Pradesh 9513 Uttar Pradesh 28554 15733 (PJ)

Barley Cereals Rajasthan 287 Rajasthan 878 276 (UP)

Gram Pulses Madhya Pradesh 2841 Madhya Pradesh

2786 981 (RJ)

Tur Pulses Maharashtra 1009 Maharashtra 605 315 (KN) Other Pulses Pulses Rajasthan 2394 Uttar Pradesh 1148 830 (RJ) Groundnut Oilseed Gujarat 1907 Gujarat 2661 1554 (AP) Sesamum Oilseed Rajasthan 521 Rajasthan 153 133 (WB) Rapeseed

and mustard Oilseed Rajasthan 2388 Rajasthan 3806 874 (UP)

Linseed Oilseed Madhya Pradesh 126 Madhya Pradesh

48 27 (UK)

Castor Oilseed Gujarat 434 Gujarat 852 159 (RJ)

Cotton Others Maharashtra 3107 Gujarat 8787 (000 bales)

4618 (GJ)

Jute Others West Bengal 596 West Bengal 8412 (000 bales)

1253 (BH)

Mesta Others Andhra Pradesh 62 Andhra Pradesh

544 (000 bales)

137 (BH)

Sugarcane Others Maharashtra 761 Uttar Pradesh 109048 60648 (MH)

India has very poor rural roads affecting timely supply of inputs and timely transfer of

outputs from Indian farms, inadequate irrigation systems, crop failures in some parts of the

country because of lack of water while in other parts because of regional floods, poor seed

quality and inefficient farming practices in certain parts of India, lack of cold storage and harvest

spoilage causing over 30 % of farmer's produce going to waste, lack of organised retail and

competing buyers thereby limiting Indian farmer's ability to sell the surplus and commercial

crops. The Indian farmer receives just 10 to 23 % of the price the Indian consumer pays for

exactly the same produce, the difference going to losses, inefficiencies and middlemen traders.

Farmers in developed economies of Europe and the United States, in contrast, receive 64 to 81 %

of the price the local consumer pays for exactly the same produce in their supermarkets.

Even though, India has shown remarkable progress in recent years and has attained self-

sufficiency in food staples, the productivity of Indian farms for the same crop is very low

compared to farms in Brazil, the United States, France and other nations. Indian wheat farms, for

example, produce about a third of wheat per hectare per year in contrast with wheat farms in

France. Similarly, at 44 million hectares, India had the largest farm area under rice production in

2009; yet, the rice farm productivity in India was less than half the rice farm productivity in

China.

Indian farms are not poor performing for every crop. For some, Indian farms post the

best yields. For example, some of India's regions consistently posts some of the highest yields

for sugarcane, cassava and tea crops every year.

Crop yields for some farms within India are within 90 % of the best achieved yields by

farms in developed countries such as the United States and in European Union. No single state

of India is best in every crop. Indian states such as Tamil Nadu achieve highest yields in rice and

sugarcane, Haryana enjoys the highest yields in wheat and coarse grains, Karnataka does well in

cotton, Bihar does well in pulses, while other states do well in horticulture, aquaculture, flower

and fruit plantations.

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

The average size of land holdings is very small (less than 2 hectares) and is 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. Some reports claim smallholder farming may not be cause of poor

productivity, since the productivity is higher in China and many developing economies

even though China smallholder farmers constitute over 97 % of its farming population.

Chinese smallholder farmer is able to rent his land to larger farmers, China's organised

retail and extensive Chinese highways are able to provide the incentive and infrastructure

necessary to its farmers for sharp increases in farm productivity.

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.

According to the World Bank, Indian Branch: Priorities for Agriculture and Rural

Development", India's large agricultural subsidies are hampering productivity-enhancing

investment. Overregulation of agriculture has increased costs, price risks and uncertainty.

Government intervenes in labour, land, and credit markets. India has inadequate

infrastructure and services. World Bank also says that the allocation of water is

inefficient, unsustainable and inequitable. The irrigation infrastructure is

deteriorating.The overuse of water is currently being covered by over pumping aquifers,

but as these are falling by foot of groundwater each year, this is a limited resource.

Illiteracy, general socio-economic backwardness, slow progress in implementing land

reforms and inadequate or inefficient finance and marketing services for farm produce.

.

Several organisations have taken steps to promote awarness in agriculture

Various measures taken by the central and state governments from time to time, some of

them are:

1. To begin with government took lead in providing various facilities on its own. In course of

time different types of activities were entrusted to specific public agencies.

2. The government abolished the zamindari system. It was followed with the consolidation of

small holdings to make them economically viable.

3. Another important input was the widespread use of radio and television for acquainting

farmers in new and improved techniques of cultivation.

4. The crop insurance was another step to protect the farmers against losses caused by crop

failure on account of natural calamities like drought, flood, hailstorm, cyclone, fire, diseases etc.

5. Easy availability of capital or investment input through a well-knit network of rural banking

and small scale cooperative societies with low interest rates were other facilities provided to the

farmers for modernisation of agriculture.

6. Special weather bulletins for farmers were introduced on radio and television.

7. The government announced minimum support price for various crops removing the elements

of uncertainty. It ensures minimum price for the crop grown by the farmers.