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 boasts 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.
