India has the second-largest arable land resources in the world. With 20 agri-climatic regions, all the 15 major climates in the world exist in India. The country also has 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 the global production of fruits and vegetables and is the largest producer of mango and banana.

The Agriculture and Allied industry sector has witnessed some major developments, investments and support from the Government in the recent past.

According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Indian food processing industry has cumulatively attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow of about US$ 25.47 billion between April 2000-March 2022.

India’s agricultural and processed food products exports stood at US$ 9,598 million in FY 2022-23 (April-July 2022), up by 30% YoY. As per First Advance Estimates for FY 2022-23 (Kharif only), total foodgrain production in the country is estimated at 149.92 million tonnes. Gross Value Added by the agriculture and allied sector is 18.8% in FY 2021-22 (until 31 January, 2022)

In the Union Budget 2022-23:

• Rs. 1.24 lakh crore (US$ 15.9 billion) has been allocated to Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare.
• Rs. 8,514 crore (US$ 1.1 billion) has been allocated to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education.

In July 2022, PM Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme was launched for providing financial, technical and business support for setting up/ upgradation of micro food processing enterprises in the country with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 crore (US$ 1.27 billion).

In October 2022, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated PM Kisan Samman Sammelan 2022 and released PM-KISAN Funds worth Rs. 16,000 crore (US$ 1.93 billion)

In August 2022, a Special Food Processing Fund of Rs. 2,000 crore (US$ 242.72 million) was set up with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to provide affordable credit for investments in setting up Mega Food Parks (MFP) as well as processing units in the MFPs.

In August 2022, Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare inaugurated four new facilities at the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), which has been rendering excellent services for more than 60 years under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

A network of 729 Krishi Vigyan Kendras has been established at the district level across the country to ensure that newer technologies such as improved variety seeds of crops, new breeds/ strains of livestock and fish, and improved production and protection technologies reach farmers.

Prime Minister of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-Kisan) Benefits under the PM Kisan plan have been delivered to about 11.78 crore farmers as of February 22 2022, and Rs. 1.82 lakh crore (US$ 23.97 bilion) have been released to qualified recipients across India in various payments.

Production of horticulture crops in India reached a record 331.05 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2020–21 (as per 3rd advance estimate), an increase of 10.5 million metric tonnes over FY20.

India has the largest livestock population of around 535.78 million, which translates to around 31% of the world population

The future outlook of the Agriculture & Allied Industry looks on track with pandemic easing out. India is expected to achieve the ambitious goal of doubling farm income by 2022. The agriculture sector in India is expected to generate better momentum in the next few years due to increased investment in agricultural infrastructure such as irrigation facilities, warehousing and cold storage. Furthermore, the growing use of genetically modified crops will likely improve the yield for Indian farmers. India is expected to be self-sufficient in pulses in the coming few years due to concerted effort of scientists to get early maturing varieties of pulses and the increase in minimum support price.