Future Agriculture—“Viksit Bharat”

Book excerpt: Indian agriculture has set new milestones in its progress. Since independence, major strides have been made in production of food grains, not only due to increase in area but also due to technology. As a result, the food grains production increased from 50.82 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 328.85 million tonnes in 2023-24. The phenomenal growth in agricultural production since independence has been triggered by higher input use, particularly purchased inputs as well as technology induced productivity enhancement, massive extension efforts, improved farm practices and, above all, ingenuity and hard work of Indian farmers since the Green Revolution Period in late 1960s. However, several challenges – some old and some new – remain. Growth of the agriculture sector has led to the unsustainable use of natural resources like land, water and bio diversity, spread of insects and pests, indiscriminate use of agro chemicals and adverse impact on ecology and environment. There is a need to create an enabling environment for this transition, through appropriate policies and institutions, an enabling regulatory environment, development of frontier technologies, as well as public and private investments in agriculture and agri-business. This will enable agriculture to play a key role in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat, inclusive development, green growth and gainful employment during Amrit Kaal (NITI Ayog, 2023). This book is an attempt to present the present situation, strategies to be adopted during the Amrut Kaal to make country Atma Nirbhar Bharat by 2047 having focus on agriculture and allied sectors. The final papers come out from the eminent experts are briefly summarized here.