From a nation dependent on food imports to feed its population, India today is not only self-sufficient in grain production but also has a substantial reserve. The progress made by agriculture in the last four decades has been one of the biggest success stories of free India. Agriculture and allied activities constitute the single largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product, almost 33 percent of it. Agriculture is the means of livelihood of about two-thirds of the workforce in the country.
This increase in agricultural production has been brought about by bringing additional area under cultivation, extension of irrigation facilities, the use of improved high-yielding variety of seeds, better techniques evolved through agricultural research, water management, and plant protection through judicious use of fertilizers, pesticides and cropping practices.
Indian agriculture is undergoing through transition. On the one hand farmers in Vidarbha and other areas are committing suicides due to heavy indebtedness. Agriculture has become a big investment oriented business. Essential food articles like pulses, vegetables, rice, wheat and sugar are highly priced and there is great shortage of these articles in the market. On another plane there is a ongoing raging debate on transgenic, and genetically transformed seeds, and the role of multinational corporations in Indian agriculture. This book covers these aspects of Indian agriculture very well. |
