Agriculture in India: Issues in Technology Development and Transfer

Abstract

The Indian economy is mainly dependent on agriculture, which contributes 21percent of country’s capital GDP and 60 percent of employment potential. India made rapid strides in food production during last three decades culminating in self-sufficiency and surplus production. However, feeding the ever-increasing population through the next millennium remains an uphill task. The country will have to feed about 1.3 billion people by the year 2020 requiring 5-6 mt of additional feed grains every year. Besides, the problems of poverty and malnutrition have their own implication to national food security. Over 70 percent of Indian population, which is predominantly rural, does not have proper access to food and non-food commodities due to poor employment and infrastructure facilities. This reminds all those concerned with the country’s food security of the daunting task ahead in order to ensure access to food to the growing population. Rainfed agriculture occupies 67 percent of net sown area, contributing 44 percent of food grain production and supporting 40 percent of the population. Even after realization of full irrigation potential of the country, 50 percent of net sown area will continue as rainfed (CRIDA, 1997). At present 95 percent of area under coarse cereals, 91 percent under pulses. 80 percent under oilseeds, 65 percent under cotton and 53 percent under rice is rainfed (Government of India, 1994). Livestock forms an integral part of rainfed ecosystem and two out of every three animals are thriving in these regions. These areas are spread-out throughout the length and breadth of the country with semi-arid to sub-humid environments, shallow textured light soils to deep textured black and alluvial soils with varied effective crop growing periods from 90 to 180 days.