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 2018-19* crop year, food grain production is estimated at record 284.95 million tonnes. In 2019-20, Government of India is targeting food grain production of 291.10** million tonnes. Production of horticulture crops in India is estimated at record 310.7 million metric tonne (MMT) in 2018-19 as per final estimates. India has the largest livestock population of around 535.78 million which translates to around 31 per cent of world population. Gross irrigated area under food grains is estimated to have grown to 64.8 million hectares in FY19.

Tractor sales in the country stood at 804,000 units in 2019 while 80,475 units were exported.

India is among the 15 leading exporters of agricultural products in the world. Agricultural exports from India reached US$ 38.54 billion in FY19 and in FY20 (till November 2019) US$ 22.69 billion. Exports of ready to eat items from India reached Rs 4,766.14 crore (US$ 681.95 million) in FY19 from Rs 4,821.71 crore (US$ 689.80 million) in FY18. India's exports of processed food were Rs 31,111.90 crore (US$ 4.45 billion) in 2018-19. 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 Rs 4,19,340 crore (US$ 60 billion) by 2022. Government aims to raise the fishery export from India to Rs 1 lakh crore (US$ 14.31 billion) by 2024-25. Milk production in country stood at 187.7 million tonnes in 2018-19 registering a growth of 6.5 per cent. Milk processing capacity is expected to double from 53.5 million MT to 108 million MT by 2025. The dairy sector witnessed a growth rate of 6.4 per cent annually in the last four years against the global growth rate 1.7 per cent. Foreign direct investments (FDI) in India's food processing sector is stood at US$ 628.24 million in 2018-19.

Growth in Gross Value Added (GVA) by agriculture and allied sectors grew at 2.1 per cent in Q2 2019-20.  Private final consumption expenditure (at constant prices) is estimated at Rs 40.01 lakh crore (US$ 572.59 billion) in H1 2019-20 as against Rs 38.44 lakh crore (US$ 550 billion) in H1 2018-19.

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 June 2019, 16.4 million farmers, 124,000 traders were registered on the e-NAM platform. 585 mandis in India have been linked while 22,000 additional mandis will be linked in 2021-22.

The Government of India has introduced several projects to assist the agriculture sector. They are Pradhan Mantri 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 Rs 3,949.90 crore (US$ 565.16 million).

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY): The scheme aims to motivate groups of farmers to take up organic farming and as per the revised estimate for 2018-19, government had allocated Rs 77,752 crore (US$ 11.12 billion).

As per Union Budget 2020-21, allocation of Rs 2.83 lakh crore (US$ 40.06 billion) was made for the Ministry of Agriculture. Ministry of Food Processing has been allocated Rs 1,233 crore (US$ 176.42 million). PM-KUSUM scheme was expanded to provide 20 lakh farmers for setting up stand-alone solar pumps and further help another 15 lakh farmers solarise their grid-connected pump sets.

Note: *as per final estimates, ***- as per first advance estimates