Indian Agriculture Industry Analysis

India has the 10th-largest arable land resource 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. During 2019-20* crop year, food grain production was estimated to reach a record 295.67 million tonnes (MT). In 2020-21, Government of India is targeting food grain production of 298 MT.

Production of horticulture crops in India was estimated at a record 320.48 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY20 (as per second advance estimates). India has the largest livestock population of around 535.78 million, which translates to around 31 per cent of the world population. Milk production in the country is expected to increase to 208 MT in FY21 from 198 MT in FY20, registering a growth of 10 per cent y-o-y.

India is among the 15 leading exporters of agricultural products in the world. Agricultural export from India reached US$ 38.54 billion in FY19 and US$ 32.16 billion in FY20 (till February 2020). Export 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 export of processed food was Rs 31,111.90 crore (US$ 4.45 billion) in FY19. The Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 aimed to increase India’s agricultural export to Rs 4,19,340 crore (US$ 60 billion) by 2022. Government aims to raise fishery export from India to Rs 1 lakh crore (US$ 14.31 billion) by 2024-25.

According to Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Indian food processing industry attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow of about US$ 9.98 billion between April 2000 and March 2020.

Gross Value Added by agriculture, forestry, and fishing was estimated at Rs 19.48 lakh crore (US$ 276.37 billion) in FY20(PE). Growth in Gross Value Added (GVA) by agriculture and allied sectors grew 4 per cent y-o-y in FY20.

The Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), launched in April 2016 to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities by networking existing Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs), had 16.6 million farmers and 131,000 traders registered on its platform until May 2020. Over 1,000 mandis in India are already linked to e-NAM and 22,000 additional mandis are expected to be linked by 2021-22.

The Government of India has introduced several projects to assist the agriculture sector. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchai Yojana (PMGSY) aims to irrigate the field of every farmer and improve water use efficiency to achieve the motto, `Per Drop More Crop’. Overall, the scheme ensures improved access to irrigation. In the Union Budget 2019-20, the scheme was allocated Rs 3,949.90 crore (US$ 565.16 million). As per Union Budget 2020-21, Rs 2.83 lakh crore (US$ 40.06 billion) has been allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rs 1,233 crore (US$ 176.42 million) has been allocated to the Ministry of Food Processing. PM-KUSUM scheme was expanded to provide 20 lakh farmers for setting up stand-alone solar pumps and help another 15 lakh farmers to solarise their grid-connected pump sets.

In May 2020, the Government announced the launch of animal husbandry infrastructure development fund of Rs 15,000 crore (US$ 2.13 billion).

Note: *- as per 3rd advance estimate