Agrarian Crisis in India

Indian agriculture is presently at the crossroads in more than one sense. The share of agriculture in the GDP has been shrinking and has reached about 15 per cent, while it continues to provide livelihood support to more than two-thirds of the rural population. The slowdown in performance of the sector in the recent years is a cause for concern in the overall agenda for food and income security. More than 80 per cent of the farmers, mostly with marginal and small holdings, depend on agriculture as the primary activity and are highly vulnerable to multiple risks. The escalating cost of production and unremunerative and often volatile output prices have raised questions of viability of farming as a livelihood activity.

Several factors have contributed to the imbalance, of which the low agricultural productivity and its stagnation are notable. Among the supply side factors, declining factor productivity, degradation of soil and water resources due to intensive agriculture, inequitable access to input and imperfection in output market are prominent. The problem of lack of appropriate technology especially for vast areas of dryland and rainfed farming, the persistence of inadequate infrastructure and declining public investment have brought to the fore the issue of sustainability of agriculture. These are the areas of main focus of the contributions in the book. Besides helping in understanding the present state of Indian agriculture, the contributions in the book are expected to help evolve appropriate policy approaches.