The Economic Survey tabled in the Parliament on January 31, 2025, unequivocally stated that increased climate variability poses significant challenges to the agriculture sector. In such a scenario, farmers diversifying their cropping patterns and income streams would be better poised to tackle the rising uncertainties.
Regardless of challenges, the agriculture sector of the country has witnessed continued growth, registering an annual growth averaging five per cent between FY 17 to FY 23 with Q2 of 2024-25 recording a growth rate of 3.5 per cent which was above Q1’s two per cent.
The survey stated that crop yields in the country are lower when compared to other leading producers highlighting the need for improving productivity.
However, the allied sectors of agriculture have been performing well with the fisheries sector registering a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 13.67 per cent followed by the livestock sector at 12.99 per cent between 2015-2023 financial years while the horticulture sector emerging as a performing industry leading in grapes export in 2023-24.
At the state level, Andhra Pradesh was the best performer in terms of CAGR followed by Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Focusing on promoting diversification of crop production by farmers, the government has increased the MSP nutri-cereals, pulses and oilseeds.
The FY 25 saw impressive increases in the MSP of arhar (59 per cent), bajra (77 per cent) masur (89 per cent) and rapeseed (98 per cent) above the weighted average cost of production.
Moreover, in order to mitigate the impacts of climate change on agriculture, ICAR has increased research in climate-resilient seeds with 2177 of these varieties being released since 2014.
Recognising the issue of nutrient imbalance in Indian soils and loss of organic content, the government is also incentivising states on balanced use of fertilisers and reduction of chemical fertiliser subsidy through the PM-PRANAM scheme.
On the other hand, Centre has released 21968.75 crores to state governments between FY 16-FY 25 for effective implementation of the PDMC (Per Drop More Crop) Scheme to promote water use efficiency.
Consequently, area under micro-irrigation schemes increased to approximately 8,000 hectares between 2015-2023. Continuing the push towards organic farming, mobilisation under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana 14.99 lakh hectares and 25.30 lakh farmers and Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (173,000 hectares and 219,000 lakh farmers) also increased with the National Mission for Natural Farming also being approved.
However, dedicated and continued efforts are needed in this direction at a pan-India scale.
Aside from progress against initiatives targeting resource efficiency in agricultural production, schemes operational for farmer welfare also witnessed improvement with a total of 7.75 crore Kisan Credit Cards accounts being operational as of March, 2024.
Additionally, free food grain distribution through the PMGKAY and improving accessibility and efficiency of the PDS under the ONORC programme also continues. Moreover, the share of credit flow to small and marginal farmers stood at 14.4 lakh crore in FY 24 witnessing a major growth as compared to FY 15 (3.46 lakh crore).
Similarly, farm mechanisation and agriculture extension schemes have witnessed progress with 138 new Custom Hiring Centres being established in FY 24 and under the Sub-mission on Agricultural Mechanization and 4.49 million farmers availing the benefits of the Sub-mission on Agricultural Extension in 2024.
Efforts towards attaining efficiency in agricultural marketing and price recovery also accelerated with around 1.78 crore farmers and 262,000 traders having registered themselves on the e-NAM portal by October, 2024.
The SAMPADA Yojana launched to address the challenges related to processing infrastructure and post-harvest losses also completed a total of 1,079 projects as of October 31, 2024.
Modernisation of food storage units for improving storage infrastructure particularly in remote and hilly areas of the country is also being focused upon by the government.
Furthermore, the FME scheme launched to provide assistance to micro food processing industries has had loans with a cumulative of 8.63 thousand crores sanctioned against 108,580 applicants in addition to training 672 master trainers and 1,120 district level trainers.
Overall, the Economic Survey for the Agriculture and Allied sectors highlights that government interventions have not been solely focused on increasing crop productivity but improving farmer livelihood as well as increasing resilience of farming systems against climate variability and increased incidence of extreme weather events and improving sustainability along the entire food value chain.
Furthermore, the survey acknowledged that dedicated policy measures and market mechanisms are needed for nudging farmers to diversify their farmlands which in-turn would help in soil restoration and resource conservation.