Making agriculture more efficient for food security and sustainable growth

India’s agriculture sector plays a vital role at home and helps the country with its foreign policy objectives. Its arable land availability is among the largest globally, comparable to the US and surpassing China and Brazil, making India one of the largest producers of wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane and many other crops. At the same time, the country has seen inconsistent growth in agricultural output due to its vulnerability to extreme climate events.

With demand shifting from calories to nutrition, there is a need to repurpose some of the existing sown area under field crops for fruits and vegetables, given that India has a surplus of staples such as paddy and wheat. In future, this would require higher productivity for staples so overall production levels are unaffected. While India’s productivity for most staples is around the global average, it is far below that of China. Given that China’s average landholding is more than 30% lower than India’s, there is scope for yield enhancement as well as a critical need. India’s yields for maize and soybean fall below the global average and could be improved.

Indian yield improvements could be brought about by including weather-resilient and highyield crop varieties. In 2022, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change decided to exempt genetically edited (GE) products derived through site-directed nuclease 1 and 2 (SDN 1 and SDN 2) techniques from the purview of regulations governing genetically modified organisms or plants (GMOs). This move has paved the way for plants derived using these techniques to be on par with their conventionally bred counterparts and could transform the development and commercialization of products leveraging biotechnology.

There is a scientific distinction between GMOs and GE crops. The latter are created using a plant’s existing set of genes and do not involve genes from other organisms. This has helped GE crops gain more public acceptance than GMOs. Innovating GE crop techniques and using hybridized crop varieties could boost yields, improve drought resilience and reduce reliance on chemical input, benefiting farmers and consumers.

Governments worldwide are becoming more receptive to GE agricultural products. The global GE seed market is expected to expand with a compound annual growth rate of about 40% by 2030. Realizing the gains to be reaped with advanced agricultural technology, the Indian government unveiled 109 high-yield crop varieties in August 2024 and is encouraging farmers to use new seed varieties. However, factors such as global harmonization on the technology, regulatory requirements, trade barriers and environmental and ethical concerns must be considered, which may slow GE crop adoption in other countries. 

Digitalization is seen as the next revolution that will boost Indian farms’ productivity. Advanced practices such as precision farming, soil regeneration and digital crop monitoring will be instrumental in enhancing agronomics. Initiatives such as the Digital Agriculture Mission and Agri Stack will be pivotal in improving farmers’ socioeconomic status. Agri Stack in particular is expected to offer improved on-the-ground assessment of farms and crops, enabling better credit assessment at the farmer level and greater access to formal credit. As it stands, only about 60% of farmers in India have access to credit from banks.

Infrastructural reforms

New policies are required to address infrastructural issues from farm to fork. The following are three key areas for reform.

• Strong distribution and supply chain network: Essential infrastructure needs to extend right up to the farm gate. The Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology reported post-harvest losses of US$11 billion per year as of fiscal 2023. Improvement in farm gate infrastructure — everything from sorting and storage to distribution networks — is essential to reduce food waste.
• Value play to increase farm income: The government has been looking for ways to increase farm income. This could be achieved sustainably by increasing value realization for produce, which would be more beneficial than reducing costs or providing direct cash transfers to farmers. There is immense scope for enhancing the value of produce, given that India’s agricultural exports, currently at US$45 billion-US$48 billion, are targeted to reach US$100 billion by 2030. Branding and market linkages enabled India to become one of the largest exporters of rice, especially basmati rice, before export curbs; there is potential for other crops as well.
• Collective farming practices: Implementing collective farming reforms would be an effective way to share knowledge and resources as well as achieve economies of scale. Despite the launch of multiple government initiatives, irrigation remains a major challenge, with just 57% of agricultural land irrigated. Amid heat waves depleting water availability, new technologies such as drip irrigation could be adopted by groups and associations as marginal farmers would struggle to finance this kind of upgrade alone.

The agriculture sector’s vulnerability to the evolving climate scenario coupled with increasing demand for agricultural commodities may pose a challenge for India in the coming years. The Union Budget 2024–25 earmarked US$15.5 billion for boosting productivity and resilience in this fast-growing industry. Quicker adoption and spread of innovative measures such as GE crops and digitizing farming practices will be crucial in improving agricultural output and the economy. To boost agriculture performance, it is imperative to pursue strategic goals tied to the four Vs: Volatility, vulnerability, vital infrastructure and value.

• Address volatility in agricultural commodity prices: India must tackle seasonal variations and production fluctuations that cause price instability. 
• Mitigate crop vulnerability due to climate change: With the advent of digital farming and advances in biotechnology, crop yields can be increased.
• Implement vital infrastructure transformations: India must fortify its agricultural supply chain and address challenges related to basic needs such as near-farm infrastructure pertaining to sorting, grading and storage. Farm irrigation and food processing facilities are also critical areas for intervention.
• Maximize value realization for produce by diversifying the sown area under high-value crops and reducing input costs.