An Overview of Indian Agriculture with Focus on Challenges and Opportunities in North East

Abstract

Present day Indian agriculture is mainly based on small and marginal land holdings with high level of dependency on monsoon rains. Since farming is full of uncertainties at every stage, operating such small or marginal land holdings is not at all a profitable venture for farmers and thus the share of agriculture in Indian economy has progressively declined to less than 15%. Population is expanding at an alarming rate and by 2050 it is estimated that India will be home to 1.7 billion people. This population explosion will bring with it increased food and water demand along with urbanization. To feed the mouth of teeming billions in the upcoming years, it is essential to maintain equilibrium in food production and its consumption rates. However, the degrading soil quality of major growing areas of India is a matter of serious concern and if the supply will depend only on yield growth, India will face significant deficit in its agriculture production in the forthcoming years. Increase in area and productivity of crops, diversification towards high value crops as well as uplifting the backwardness in agriculture development are the need of the hour. One such agriculturally underexploited region is the North Eastern Region (NER) of India which is endowed with rich organic soils, plenty of water and favourable climate. Even though the agricultural potential of the region has not been unlocked due to the lack of appropriate technologies/planning, difficult topography, established markets, transport facilities and many more. Thus uplifting the level of agriculture in NER will surely help in reducing the demand-supply gap which would arise in near future and will help in elevating the rural farm incomes (main occupation of livelihood) thereby improving the socio-economic development in the region.