India has to enhance its infrastructure to reach its 2025 economic growth target of US$ 5 trillion (INR 410 trillion).
The use of agricultural crops for biofuel production, such as ethanol from corn or biodiesel from soybeans, creates additional demand for these crops beyond traditional food and feed uses.
Attractive Opportunities
Entry of foreign investors has been key to sustainable growth in the agriculture industry.
Trends indicate a sharp increase in on-the-go eating, pre-cooked ready-to-eat meals, and increasing consumption of organic foods. This has created a plethora of new chances for both domestic and foreign businesses to enter the rapidly expanding processed food market.
Policy Support
Under the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Scheme, 2.39 lakh traders and 1.74 crore farmers participate in an online, transparent, competitive bidding system.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) covered over 5.5 crore farmers and insured around 30 crore hectares of land, demonstrating its widespread reach and impact. It mitigates risks associated with crop production and encourages farmers to adopt modern agricultural practices.
Competitive Advantage
India enjoys a competitive edge in the food processing industry thanks to its abundance of natural resources. Its varied agroclimatic conditions provide a large and varied raw material base that is appropriate for the food processing industry.
About 55% of Indians rely on agriculture as their main source of income.
Quick Facts: Agriculture Sector of India
India’s agriculture sector has been witnessing robust growth with an average annual growth, rate of 4.6% over the last five years.
India’s 70% of rural households depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood.
Among the country’s total farmers, 82% of farmers are small and marginal.
Agriculture and allied activities will account for 17% of the country’s GSDP in 2023-2024.
World’s largest producer of sugar and second-largest exporter of sugar.
Largest producer of millet in the world, with an area of 15.5 million hectares under cultivation.
Ranked number one in terms of the presence of organic farmers around the country.
Total 59.1 lakh hectares area under organic farming.
India has the world’s largest area planted for rice, cotton, and wheat.
India is the largest producer of black tea, coconuts, turmeric, and ginger in the world.
World’s second-largest producer of tea, cashew nuts.
India is the second-largest largest producer of fruits and vegetables and accounts for 10% of the world’s fruit production.
Second-largest producer of rice and wheat.
Ranked first in the production of mango, bananas, and acid lime.
India is an agricultural powerhouse of the world and accounts for 7.5% of the world’s total agricultural production.
Foodgrain production in India touched 328.0 million metric tons (MMT) in 2022–23, marking a rise of 14.1 million tons compared to the previous year.
Agriculture exports reached Rs. 4.2 lakh crores in financial year 2023.
Rabbi crop area accounts for 720.7 hectares in 2022-2023, which is an increase of 3.2% as compared to the previous year.
India has a cold storage facility with a capacity of 374.3 lakh metric tons.
FDI in agriculture services stood at Rs. 38,240 crores between April 2000-December 2023
Agriculture Sector of India
Punjab and Haryana are prominent producers of wheat and rice in India.
Maharashtra as a whole produced over 20 lakh metric tonnes of grapes annually, making it a key player in the global grape market.
Gujarat is known for its cotton and groundnut production, with clusters in regions like Saurashtra and North Gujarat.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are known for their rice production.
Karnataka is the largest coffee producer in India, contributing over 70% of vthe country’s total coffee production.
Crops Production Overview in India
Production of Crops in India in (2022-2023)
Crops Productivity Overview in India
Total wheat produced in the country accounts for nearly 34% of the food grain production.
The production has witnessed a massive increase of over 16 times from 1950-51.
India is the second-largest rice-producing country with a share of 22% in the world.
India has also become a major global exporter of both premium, i.e., Basmati, and general quality grades of rice, with a supply of rice for more than 1.35 billion people in the country.
Megatrends Impacting the Indian Agriculture Sector
Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability
The increasing frequency of droughts and floods is affecting crop yields and farmer livelihoods.
Depletion of groundwater levels impacts irrigation and farming practices.
Changes in cropping patterns due to altered climatic conditions and water availability
Technological Advancements
Adoption of technologies like IoT, AI, and drones for precise farming techniques and improved productivity.
Development and use of genetically modified crops (GMOs) to enhance resistance to pests, diseases, and environmental stresses.
Platforms for market access, weather forecasting, and farm management enhancing efficiency and transparency.
Policy and Regulatory Changes
Implementation of policies like PM-KISAN, FPOs, and e-NAM to support smallholder farmers and improve market access.
Changes in trade agreements affect the export-import dynamics and pricing of agricultural commodities.
Rationalization of subsidies and incentives to promote sustainable farming practices and efficient resource use
Changing Demographics and Urbanization
Conversion of agricultural land for industrial and residential purposes impacts farming practices and food security.
The rising urban middle class is driving demand for diverse agricultural products and processed foods.
A decline in the rural labour force is affecting farm labour availability and agricultural productivity.
A shift towards healthier diets influences crop choices and production methods.
Prominent Investments
in
Agriculture Sector
Investment Between Jan − Dec 2023
According to IBEF, NBCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NABARD and the National Cooperative Development Cooperation (NCDC) to construct 1,469 grain storage units, the world’s largest grain storage plan in the cooperative sector.
Rallis India, owned by Tata, introduced the NAYAZINC fertilizer (NAYAZINC™ aspires to replace Zinc sulfate and with 16 percent zinc, it provides optimum zinc nutrition to the plants).
NITI Aayog and IFPRI signed a Statement of Intent to strengthen policy frameworks for rural development and agricultural transformation.
Deals to export 5,00,000 tons of new season basmati rice to Europe and the Middle East were signed by India.
President of India launched the Fourth Krishi Road map of Bihar.
Coal India, GAIL India, and RCF invest in Odisha fertilizer joint venture. Joint investment of Rs 3,095 crore aimed at enhancing domestic fertilizer production.
Government set up a special fund called the Food Processing Fund (FPF) of approximately Rs. 2,120 crores in the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for extending affordable credit to designated food parks and food processing enterprises in the designated food parks.
Investment Between Jan − Dec 2022
Government of India planned to launch Kisan Drones for crop assessment, digitization of land records, and spraying of insecticides and nutrients.
Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi released PM-KISAN Funds worth Rs. 16,000 crores.
Private investment in agriculture increases to 9.1% in 2022-23.
Computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with an investment of Rs. 2,516 crores initiated.
To enhance the productivity of extra-long staple cotton, Government adopts a cluster-based and value chain approach through Public Private Partnerships (PPP). This means collaboration between farmers, the state, and industry for input supplies, extension services, and market linkages.
The umbrella scheme Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) ensures Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers for various Kharif and Rabi crops while also keeping a robust procurement mechanism in place.
Agriculture Sector in India: Trends to Watch out for
Artificial Intelligence
Farmers can be proactive by having continuous experience with their field conditions because of the integration of simulated intelligence in horticulture. Through the provision of predictive experiences for assessing agricultural output, costs, and climate information, simulated intelligence aids farmers in making well-informed decisions. Farmers can get ideas and information from Chabot’s. Artificial intelligence and ML calculations robotize oddity and sickness acknowledgment in plants and animals.
Connectivity Technologies
Brilliant cultivating is absurd without availability advancements like 5G, LPWAN, and satellite-empowered correspondence. 5G allows sensors, robots, and Internet of Things devices to communicate at very fast speeds. This enables farmers to filter the data even more precisely over time and take the appropriate action. Network advancements facilitate other advancements, such as the Internet of Things, which finally cooperate to frame related farming.
Controlled Agriculture Environment (CEA)
Unpredictable and extreme weather conditions consistently affect traditional farming techniques. Controlled climate agriculture surpasses this. Plants in CEA are subjected to regulated levels of temperature, light, moisture, and fertilizers. To be more precise, there are many growing environments, including nurseries, indoor cultivation, and vertical cultivation.
Agricultural Biotechnology
Plant diseases and rodents waste a huge amount of harvest production. However, the nature of harvests and domesticated animals is altered by the application of biotechnology in agribusiness. Plant reproduction, hybridization, hereditary design, and tissue culture are logical processes that aid in the identification of superior traits in plants. The genome-altering CRISPR-Cas9 technology allows for high objective particularity with improved speed and accuracy.
Agricultural Robotics
One of the main problems farmers face is a deficiency of work, which is enhanced due to huge field tasks. New businesses are creating agrarian robots to help farmers with tasks like gathering fruit, planting, reaping, relocating, cultivating, showering, and weeding. Farmers are progressively depending on robots to mechanize dreary errands in the field. For gathering, they dispatch intelligent farming equipment such as autonomous and semi-independent work trucks.
