Will the Agricultural Industry Survive in India?

India is depending on agriculture, what makes u ask this question?

Better question would be "Will boom in Indian economy sustain without Agricultural Industry?" I am compelled to say no. We are traditionally an agrarian society and unless we integrate agriculture and farmers to the mainstream economy, we cannot grow perpetually. The condition of farmers in India is pathetic and some drastic measures are required. Maharashtra which boasts to be home of Finance and Trade Capital of India, Mumbai, had 1,447 farm suicides in 2006 alone, one of the highest in World. Agirculture accounts for 60% of workforce but only 20% of GDP. We need to understand that Sensex is not the true reflection of economy, its a distorted one. In order to improve the agriculture in our country we need to: 1. Stress on Last mile infra: Road, Water and Electricity to remote areas. Can only be done over a period of time, but with govt with tangent agendas, its difficult. 2. Explore private public partnership e.g. something like ITC Choupal initiative. These initiatives remove the middleman from the business fostering more transparency in market. 3. Stress on education It seems we are asking too much from the govt. There is an issue of political will and to a large extent administrative systems have become incorrigible. Youth has to take some responsibility in hands(not like RDB). We need participation of our current hot consumer class, my collegues in IT and BPO sector. One last thing govt can do is make NGOs more lucrative option for youngsters to pursue. "How can it done?" Can be the next question on Yahoo Answers.

I am no expert on India specifically, but what typically happens as developing countries grow is the agriculture industry uses more technology and less human labor. This happens because 1. More workers move to the city to find work as you describe, and 2. Trade brings technology transfers from abroad which increase productivity even as the number of people working in the agriculture industry declines. The US was once a heavily agrarian society but now very few people work on the farm even as food yields are as high as ever and the government even pays farmers not to grow sometimes to control the market price. Thus, fewer Indians will work on farms as better jobs become avaliable in the cities, but agricultural productivity will not collapse.

clean the ganges, everything will be alright, then clean other rivers, then things will improve, when all the rivers are cleaned you will get fresh idea about the FUTURE. First clean the dirt. Thank you

Please do not think that Indian Agriculture has not progressed and in bad shape. Farmers are doing exceedingly well in most of the years and in most parts of the country. Agricultural productivity has increased and so has the farmer's incomes. Bulk of the demand for goods and services for the industrial and services sectors emanated from rural and agricultural sector. The food processing industry is roaring. India is largely self sufficeint in food grains. That does not mean however that Indian agriculture cannot grow faster and increase its productivity substantially. It can and should, Unfortunately, we have very low availabilty of land per head (about 2.5 hectares) because of the huge population. So small land holdings act as a deterent to commercial scale farming and investments in technology.This is so because of the misleading idea of land to the tillers and the Govt. restrictions on agricultural land holdings. But more land is required for industry, infrastructure and residential purposes at the same time. This constraint would not be overcome easily by the Govt. initiative and efforts on which only the Indians have greatest faith and reliance. BUT circumstances will force the adoption of commercial farming sooner or later and new methods of overcoming the laws regarding ceiling on agricultural lands. Investment in lfarming and technological upgradation and economies of scale will take place, though in fits and starts because of political fights. If it does not take place, for a while India will have to import to make small farms unviable and then large scale farms will come up. Educated people are growing in rural areas and in agricultural families. It is not the intellect or skill for which agriculture is unable to progress. The landless labor is huge and would be fully absorbed in agriculture, rural construction, agroprocessing and rural retailing and services. The economic forces will ultimately break the barriers of political constraint to and exploitation of landless labor and pave the way for agricultureal industry where landless labor will get the same benefits as industrial labor. It is a question of time: maybe 10 years or 20 yeards.

IF IT IS ONLY AGRICULTURE IT WILL DEFINITELY SURVIVE BUT IF BECOMES A INDUSTRY IT WILL EVAPORATE IN SMOKE. THAT'S WHAT IS HAPPENING IN INDIA. NONE R BOTHERED ABOUT ANYTHING. LIKE A HERD OF CATTLE THINGS R MOVING ON THIER OWN UNDER POWER PRESSURE. NOONE IS BOTHERED WHERE WE R HEADING TO. ONLY WHEN SUNAMI OCCURS, TRAIN MISHAP HAPPENS, FLOODS COME, WAR ARISES WE TRY , I REPEAT WE TRY TO WAKE UP. IF IT IS NOT EFFECTING US THEN ALSO WE WE WON'T.

MY friend don’t worry, India is growing at a fast pace but there are many towns and little villages that depend on farming, yes it is true that many people are moving to cities to find better job, but there are people who still dwell of the land. And there are so many farming machinery companies in India trying to gain access into the farming community, from companies ranging from John Deere (U.S.A) and mahindra & mahindra selling their tractors and other machinery. Now with technology you do not need as many men to work the land, 1 man can do it all with these machines. O course you might be thinking, you need to be rich to buy these machinery, not really there is so much competition there in the farming industry that the prices are low, and people can take loans to buy them. When you see on TV or read articles about India and the glamorous life the people are having, and showing major tech hubs. But there are thousands of towns that rely on farming across India as their major income.