Indian Agriculture Industry Analysis

India has the 10th-largest arable land resources in the world. With 20 agri-climatic regions, all 15 major climates in the world exist in India. The country also possesses 46 of the 60 soil types in the world. India is the largest producer of spices, pulses, milk, tea, cashew and jute; and the second largest producer of wheat, rice, fruits and vegetables, sugarcane, cotton and oilseeds. Further, India is second in global production of fruits and vegetables, and is the largest producer of mango and banana. During 2017-18 crop year, food grain production is estimated at record 284.83 million tonnes. In 2018-19, Government of India is targeting foodgrain production of 285.2 million tonnes. Production of horticulture crops is estimated at 306.82million tonnes (mt) in 2017-18 as per third advance estimates. India is among the 15 leading exporters of agricultural products in the world. Agricultural exports from India reached US$ 38.21 billion in FY18 and US$ 34.36 billion during Apr 2018-Feb 2019. Exports of ready to eat items from India reached US$ 689.80 million in FY18 and have reached US$ 545.21 million in FY19 (up to December 2018). The Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 was approved by Government of India in December 2018. The new policy aims to increase India’s agricultural exports to US$ 60 billion by 2022. India was the ninth largest exporter of agricultural products in 2017.

The Electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) was launched in April 2016 to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities by networking existing Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs). Up to May 2018, 9.87 million farmers, 109,725 traders were registered on the e- NAM platform. 585 mandis in India have been linked while 415 additional mandis will be linked in 2018- 19 and 2019-20. Cumulative trade on the platform reached Rs 41,855 crore (US$ 6.49 billion) by March 2018. The Budget 2019 has identified Agriculture Sector as one of the key drivers of the economy. Under the budget Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) scheme 40 lakh MT of storage capacity & 400 other marketing Infrastructure projects are targeted by 2019-20.

The Government of India has introduced several projects to assist the agriculture sector. They are Pradhanmantri Gram Sinchai Yojana: The scheme aims to irrigate the field of every farmer and improving water use efficiency to achieve the motto `Per Drop More Crop’. Overall the scheme ensures improved access to irrigation. Around 285 new irrigation projects will be undertaken in 2018 to provide irrigation for 18.8 million hectares of land. As per Union Budget 2019-20 the scheme has been allocated US$ 565.16 million.

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY): The scheme aims to motivate groups of farmers to take up organic farming.