Empowering agriculture by delivering future-ready farming solutions
Which sector was considered the base for building the great nation, we call India? Which sector continues to employ the majority of the workforce in the country?
It is the Agricultural sector. Right from the First Five Year Plan, agriculture and irrigation were two of the primary points of focus for building what we now boast of as the fifth largest economy in the world. Even as the country is celebrating its 75 years of Independence, it is the sector that continues to employ more than 40% of its workforce. As per the NITI Ayog, Indian agriculture accounts for 18.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and nearly 40% of the total rural Net Domestic Product (NDP) during 2020. Most significant was that even when the economy was feeling the heat due to the uncertainties caused by the pandemic, the agriculture sector of India witnessed a progressing growth. Which was a 4.3% rate in the 4th quarter of FY21.
If everything is going so well, which persisting issues still affect the agriculture sector?
What bottlenecks are causing hindrance in achieving the dream of doubling the income of Indian farmers?
If we refer to the Ministry of Agriculture GOI data in this context, the factors related to low productivity and high average cost in Indian agriculture include a seed replacement rate of 31.6% for Wheat, 21.7% for Gram, and 63% for Rapeseed/mustard. The gap in NPK use as compared to optimum % with the gap for Nitrogen is 3.31%, Phosphorous 19.14%, and Potash 51.09%. Apart from this, the decreasing average size of farmland holding is also a significant factor affecting the sector, with a mere average of 1.08 hectares recorded in 2015-16.