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 285.01 million tonnes. In 2018-19, Government of India is targeting food grain production of 283.37*** million tonnes. Production of horticulture crops in India is estimated at record 313.9 million metric tonne (MMT) in 2018-19 as per third advance estimates. India has the largest livestock population of around 305 million with around 31 per cent of world population.

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 August 2019) US$ 14.37 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. 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.

Growth in Gross Value Added (GVA) by agriculture and allied sectors grew at 2 per cent in Q1 2019-20. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing’ sector grew by 2.0 per cent in Q1 2019-20 as compared to growth of 5.1 per cent in Q1 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 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 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).

As per the Ministry of Agriculture, during 2019-20, Rs 1.50 crore (US$ 0.13 million) has been allocated to state of Andaman and Nicobar as a central share for implementation of per drop more crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).

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).

Note: *as per final estimates, ***- as per 3rd advance estimates