Abstract
Agriculture accounts for a considerable amount of India's economic development, as it provides food for more than 1.2 billion people and total employment to about 54.6% (Census, 2011) of the population. The Indian government's initiatives such as investments in technology development, introduction of better crop varieties, intensive application of inputs, and emphasis on modern and effective agricultural practices, irrigation infrastructure, price support, and procurement have led to an increase in agricultural production. Agricultural credit and subsidies are also considered important supporting factors for agriculture growth. Food grain production covers the dominant part of the cropped area (65%) in Indian agriculture. India is the world's largest producer of millets and second-largest producer of wheat, rice, and pulses. The highest food grain production of 259.32 million tonnes was recorded in 2011–12. The cereals other than rice and wheat contributed 1kg perperson permonth in rural India and 0.8kgper person per month in urban India in 2011–12. The consumption of all food grains per person in the rural areas is projected to decline from 15.3kg permonth in 2000 to 13.8kgper month by 2050 and only slightly decrease from 11.8 to 11.6kg permonth in the urban areas. It has been estimated that due to rapid urbanization, per capita consumption of food grain in India will decrease from 14.4 to 12.7kgper month over the next 50 years. However, total food grain demand is projected to increase from 16.7 to 19.9kgper month over the next 50 years due to increased demand for feed grain. The total grain demand will increase from 201 million tonnes in 2000 to about 291 and 377 million tonnes by 2025 and 2050, respectively.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call