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Agriculture in India is perhaps the most important sector of country’s economy. Not long ago, two thirds of the work force in India was dependent on agriculture. Agriculture was the dominant force in Indian economy surpassing the contributions of manufacturing and service industry. However, things changed with the emergence of service sector in last two decades. Now, we don’t rely so much on agriculture and a large percentage of Indian workforces have shifted to service industry yet agriculture accounts for almost 15% of India's GDP. No less than 40 % of India's geographical area is used for agricultural activity. Agriculture in India has played a major role in socio-economic development of the country since independence. The contribution of agriculture to the GDP of India has definitely decreased yet we can never underestimate its involvement in India’s emergence as a global power.
Since the time India attained freedom in 1947, central government put special emphasis on agriculture and manufacturing. India made rapid developments in the field of agriculture. To think of it, India as a nation was dependent on food imports but the situation changed drastically with green revolution. Not only India slowly gained self-sufficiency in grain production but also started to export it to other nations. That tells a lot about growth witnessed by Indian agriculture. States like Punjab and Haryana are still flooded with agricultural riches.
The growth and development of Indian agriculture had repercussions on several layers. For one, it helped us in handling crises of food shortage encountered during few decades back. It also brought political stability and food security. Green Revolution completely changed the landscape of Indian agriculture. India started to use high-yielding variety of seeds, water management, pesticides and cropping practices, better techniques evolved through agricultural research, and plant protection through careful use of fertilizers. The end result was multifold jump in the production of wheat and rice.
India has definitely become one of the largest agricultural producers in the world; however there are certain issues that need to be addressed. Problems like monsoon, structural weaknesses of the agriculture sector, high usage of fertilizers etc are some of the major problems. But going by the way, government is taking steps to strengthen the Indian agriculture sector; we are definitely due for even better times.
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