An Analysis of Performance and Challenges of Agricultural Sector in India

Abstract

Over the decades in spite of significant increase in agricultural output, India is facing challenges related to food security with growing population. Enhancing the agricultural productivity while conserving and sustaining the natural resources is another problem of Indian agriculture. Considering the ongoing problems, this study focuses to examine the performance of Indian agriculture and to find out challenges in the way of achieving sustainable development in agriculture. This study is based on secondary data collected mainly from the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India and the assessment years ranges from 2000-01 to 2020-21. The study found that the growth rates of agricultural products is not increasing significantly which is caused by either decline in yield rate or decline in area under cultivation or low cropping intensity. Moreover, study also reveals that the huge amount consumption of pesticides and fertilizers leads to environmental degradation which ultimately affects the sustainability of the agriculture. The study suggests that the government should give direct subsidies and grants towards adoption of sustainable technologies, establish appropriate standards and regulations for chemical inputs, and provide appropriate training and awareness programmes to farmers and consumers on sustainable agricultural practices and organic products.