T

he term agriculture broadly means mans

management of the environment to produce food.
Agriculture is a major criterion all over the world.
Agriculture is very important because it provides
food and fodder to human beings and livestock. It is also a
source of raw material for many industries.

Agriculture is one of the most important areas in India.

From agricultural point of view India is a very important
country. India has all the necessary conditions required for
agriculture. Agriculture forms the backbone of Indian
economy. It plays a significant role in the overall socio-
economic fabric of India. It provides gainful employment to
nearly two-thirds of the countrys population and
contributes about 30% to the national income.

The Indian agriculture began by 9000BC as a result of early

cultivation of plants and the domestication of crops and
animals. In those times mainly wheat and rice were grown.

Today agriculture in India is very much developed. India

ranks second in farm output worldwide. Today varieties of
crops are grown in India and India is the leading producer
of many food crops. India is also one of worlds largest
producers of livestock and poultry meal, with one of the
fastest growth rates. Aquaculture and fishery are also
growing rapidly in India has a large and diverse agricultural
sector, accounting on average, for about 16% of GDP and
10% of export earnings.
Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on the monsoons. It
is one of the main features of Indian agriculture. Indias
vast relief, varying climate and soil conditions produces a
variety of crops. Almost every type of plant and crops are
grown in India. Although many types of crops are grown in
India but the food crops are the most important in India.

India has three main crop seasons. They are the kharif
season, the rabi season and the zayad season. In kharif
season mainly maize, jowar, and bajra are grown. In rabi
season wheat, barley, jowar, and gram are grown. These
crop seasons are influenced by the changing of the
different seasons.

Indian agriculture is developing considerably. This

development came in the late sixties when the green
revolution was started in India. It proved to be a turning
point in Indian agriculture. During the late 1960s several
measures were adopted which were aimed to transform the
agricultural sector and increase the food crop production.
Several strong steps were taken like the use of HYV seeds,
proper irrigation, land reforms, use of chemical fertilizers
etc. These efforts lead to a remarkable success in the
agricultural sector. This revolution was called green
revolution. It played a big role in the development of Indian
agriculture.

Indias agricultural development and achievements are

remarkable, but India has a lot of problems too. These
problems are proofing to be a great barrier in the further
development and sustainability of agriculture in India.
Today agricultural development has decreased and slowed
down as compared to 1950s and 1960s. There are so
many problems today in Indian agriculture. Like small
landholdings, low yield, erratic nature of rainfall etc.
Multiple trends have contributed to the current problems in
agriculture. The main factor for these problems is the
decreasing attention of the donor and the government
towards agriculture

Agricultures contribution to national GDP dropped from

70% in the 1950s to 17% in 2008. Today thousands of
farmer families are facing historical and newly emerging
challenges in agriculture that are impressively diverse and
complex.

All these problems are a serious threat to Indian

agriculture. These problems are giving severe
breakthroughs to Indian agriculture. These problems should
not be underestimated and government should find new
ways tom tackle these problems.

Indian government has taken some steps to tackle these

problems and to develop the agriculture in India. Many
schemes have been made to give growth to agriculture.
Many scientific researches are made to develop new
technologies. Some initiatives taken by the government are
construction of rural godowns, market research and
information network, strengthening of agricultural
marketing and grading and standardization. Some
initiatives have worked, but many schemes have not
worked and many schemes have not been implemented
properly. So its time to give a greater importance to
agriculture and government should take strong initiatives
develop Indian agriculture.

PROBLEMS IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE

As stated earlier Indias agricultural development is going
on but there are a lot of problems surrounding it. The main
problems of Indian agriculture are:-

Small and fragmented land holdings

This feature is common in Indian agriculture. Due to small
and fragmented landholdings a lot of time and money is
wasted. Small holdings are often overmanned resulting in
disguised unemployment and low productivity. Intensive
farming, increasing population and practice of dividing and
subdividing land for inheritance are some of the important
factors for small holdings. This is a serious problem. Steps
should be taken to do agriculture with a great extent and
with greater cooperation of people. This will lead to high
agricultural productivity and agricultural development.

Poor socio-economic condition of farmers

Poverty and illiteracy are the two main problems for Indian
farmers. Between poverty and illiteracy, illiteracy is the
main cause for the poor socio-economic conditions of
farmers. Due to lack of knowledge and awareness farmers
are using the same old agricultural methods. This is leading
to low productivity. Low productivity is then leading to the
problem of poverty among farmers. Due to poverty the
farmers are unable to buy the basic things for their
farming. This is also leading to low productivity. This is a
serious problem and we will have to eradicate it.

Lack of proper knowledge and awareness in farmers

This is, in my opinion the biggest challenge for Indian

agriculture. This is a serious problem. Due to lack of
knowledge about agriculture the farmers suffer a lot. This
hampers the agricultural productivity also. There are many
other problems which arise due to lack of awareness and
knowledge in farmers. They are:-

a) Lack of proper use of manure and fertilizers

Farmers in India today are not properly using the fertilizers

and manures. They are essential for the retention of
fertility in soil. Many rural farmers have not the knowledge
about it. They stick to their own old farming methods. They
dont use manures and fertilizers this leads to low
productivity.

b) Pests and diseases

Today many types of pests and diseases are spreading

which are doing harm to crops and they are also destroying
the crops totally. This is leading to low productivity and
underdevelopment of crops. Biocides are helpful in saving
crops from various diseases. And pests but farmers dont
know anything about them. They are not using any type of
biocides. Another problem is that many farmers are using
them but they dont know the right usage of them. Some
give large amount of biocides to crops and some give very
little. This is a big problem and farmers should be educated
about it.

c) Traditional upbringing

This is one of the foremost problems prevailing in Indian

agriculture. Most of the Indian farmers do not like change.
They stick to their traditional ways of farming. They
produce food for their own need. They practice subsistence
farming. Due to this reason there is little development.
Commercial farming can improve the productivity and can
help in development but it is not practised on a large scale.
Farmers have today no idea about the numerous
advantages that they can get from commercial farming so
they should be educated about it so that agriculture could
prevail in India.

d) Use of technology is inadequate

Today adoption of modern agricultural practices and use of

technology is inadequate. Farmers are using the same old
techniques and machines for agriculture. The green
revolution contributed a lot in the introduction of modern
technology and techniques in agriculture but it did not
prevailed all over India. Today many farmers dont know
about the modern technology of farming so much. This is a
major problem. Many farmers know about it but they
dont have sufficient money to buy modern machines. So
both poverty and ignorance is responsible for it. So
government should take strong steps in this field and the
farmers should also use modern and appropriate
technology for their agriculture.

No proper management of irrigation

Today in India irrigation facilities are inadequate and there

is no effective system management. We know that Indian
depends a lot on rainfall which is very unreliable and
erratic. Therefore irrigation becomes a major way to give
water to crops. In many areas irrigation is done by wells,
tube wells etc. With this the major problem is the problem
of equity. Those who are better able to extract water take
away water disproportionally from groundwater acuifiers.
This creates a lot of problems. Irrigation is very necessary
for the crops, so there should be proper management of
irrigation.

The disastrous consequences of hazards

India faces both manmade and natural hazards. Common

natural are floods, drought, cyclones, landslides, forest
fires, avalanches etc. Manmade hazards are fire spurious
seed, harmful fertilizers, and pesticides and price
fluctuation. Both manmade and natural hazards are
harmful. They affect the agricultural production and create
a lot of devastation all around.

Excessive pressure on land

With increasing population and limited land, our agriculture

is mostly subsistence type. This creates a lot of pressure on
land, the land loses its fertility due to this reason the
productivity becomes lesser. It is a big problem and it
should be solved.

Impediments in domestic sales and exports

Domestic sales and exports are very important for

agricultural development. If good sales and exports do not
occur then the farmers economic condition gets
hampered. If the economic conditions op farmers get
hampered then the agricultural productivity also lowers.

The two major impediments for domestic sales and exports

are food safety risks and lack of infrastructure for
processing. Poor infrastructure, waste management, and
pest control reduces the food quality and safety and leads
to food wastage. Small scale industry reservation permits
processing of certain commodities only in the small scale
sector, restraining enterprises capacity make the needed
investment to meet domestic and international food
security and safety. Small farm size, lack of education and
credit constrains among farmer impede them from
undertaking needed investment in good storage, and
certificates to meet quality and safety requirements. This
problem should be solved as soon as possible.
 Lack of access to insurance and finance and exploitation
by moneylenders

Today the security of insurance among farmers is very rare.

This creates a risk among farmers. If the health of a farmer
becomes bad then his family has to borrow money from
people.