Agriculture
Despite many setbacks, Indian agricultural scenario has surely undergone
many drastic changes and has achieved many milestones. The green revolution
(1967-1978) transformed India from a food deficient stage to a surplus food
market. In a span of 3 decades, India established itself as a net exporter
of food grains.
Interestingly, some developed countries, mainly Canada, which were facing
a scarcity in agricultural labour, were so impressed by the results of India's
Green Revolution that they showed interest in allowing farmers experienced in
the methods of the Green Revolution to their own country. Many farmers from Punjab
and Haryana states were then sent to Canada by GOI to settle there. That's why
today one can see thousands of Punjabi-speaking citizens in Canada.
Also in the Indian context, worth mentioning are the significant results
achieved in the fields of dairying and oil seeds through our white and yellow
revolutions respectively.
As of now, in terms of agricultural output, India is ranked second in
the world. India is also the largest producer in the world for milk,
cashew nuts, coconuts, tea, ginger, turmeric and black pepper. India also
boosts of the largest cattle population (193 million) in the whole world.
Our country is also the second largest producer of wheat, rice, sugar,
groundnut and inland fish. India is the third largest producer of tobacco.
India is home to 10 per cent of the world fruit production with first rank in
the production of fruits like banana and sapota.
Presently, Indian Agriculture is witnessing a phase of diversification. During
recent years, much awareness has been generated on shifting to high-yielding
varieties (HYV) of crops from conventional crops. This has enabled a successful
transition in Indian Agriculture from its stagnation to a growth path.
The competitive advantages that Indian agriculture can surely boost of are:
- Favorable Agro-climatic Zones
- Huge Irrigated lands
- Enough supply of Skilled, educated,
technical and scientific workforce suitable for this field.
At present, India boosts of 34 state agricultural universities, 3 deemed
agricultural universities and 3 central universities for agriculture.
These are actively involved in imparting education in various disciplines
of Agricultural Sciences both at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
These universities also conduct research programmes on various issues
concerning the agriculture industry.