{"id":81676,"date":"2026-08-14T18:05:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T12:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=81676"},"modified":"2026-08-14T18:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T12:36:11","slug":"indian-agriculture-and-allied-sectors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/14-08-2026\/indian-agriculture-and-allied-sectors","title":{"rendered":"The New Era of Indian Agriculture and Allied Sectors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Agriculture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s agriculture and allied sectors are witnessing a significant transformation, marked by rising productivity, stronger farmer support systems, and greater resilience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Agriculture Sector in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Agriculture remains the backbone of India&#8217;s economy, providing livelihoods to approximately <strong>46.1 percent<\/strong> of the workforce.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Livestock and fisheries<\/strong> have maintained stable growth of<strong> 5-6 per cent <\/strong>strengthening rural incomes and supporting agricultural diversification.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The GVA of the <strong>Agriculture and Allied Sector<\/strong> is estimated to have increased to <strong>Rs.52.08 lakh crore in 2025-26.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Budget allocation<\/strong> for the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare increased to Rs.1,40,528.78 crore in 2026-27.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Agricultural exports <\/strong>rose to <strong>USD 51.1 billion (FY25)<\/strong>, with the share of processed food increasing to <strong>20.4%, <\/strong>signalling value-added growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"c9dcea\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #c9dcea;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"604\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-121.png\" alt=\"agriculture sector in india\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-81677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-121.png 604w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-121-300x144.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Major Challenges Faced by the Agricultural Sector<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Water scarcity &amp; irrigation:<\/strong> Agriculture in India is highly dependent on monsoon rain, which can lead to drought and erratic patterns of rainfall.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Major issues are access to irrigation facilities and water management especially in water scarce locations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Limited access to credit and finance: <\/strong>Small and marginal farmers often have problems in getting access to loans and financial services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Small land holdings:<\/strong> The average farmer is a small land holder resulting in fragmented and uneconomical farming techniques.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This hampers them to adopt new farming methods and technologies leading to low output.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Outdated farming practices:<\/strong> A large section of farmers in India still follow traditional and obsolete farming methods.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Market volatility &amp; price fluctuations:<\/strong> Farmers in India typically encounter price volatility due to lack of adequate market linkages, middlemen and price information.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Soil Degradation: <\/strong>Intensive chemical-based farming has degraded about 30 per cent of the entire land in India.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Excessive use of urea and pesticides<\/strong> and reduction in organic matter have led to nitrogen imbalance, harming soil fertility and ecosystem services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rising Input Costs: <\/strong>The Green Revolution paradigm is reaching the point of diminishing returns, with rising input costs outpacing gains and leading to indebtedness and farmer suicides.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Impacts of Climate Change: <\/strong>Agriculture production and food security are under threat from rising temperatures, irregular rainfall, floods, droughts and extreme weather events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"c9d3d6\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"910\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-122.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-81678\" style=\"--dominant-color: #c9d3d6; width:476px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-122.png 620w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-122-204x300.png 204w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Diversification: <\/strong>Encourage the shift from cereal-based agriculture to horticulture, dairy, livestock, fisheries, sericulture, beekeeping and agro-forestry to raise farm revenues and minimise dependence on a few crops.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Expand the usage of micro-irrigation systems <\/strong>using drip and sprinkler technologies for improved water-use efficiency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Empower Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) <\/strong>and cooperatives and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to enhance aggregation, bargaining power, access to credit and market linkages.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promote food processing, <\/strong>cold-chain networks, warehousing and logistics so as to reduce post-harvest losses and boost farmers\u2019 participation in consumer prices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Support start-ups, <\/strong>agri-tech breakthroughs and data-driven farming solutions that boost production, efficiency and market access.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2298435&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>PIB<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India\u2019s agriculture and allied sectors are witnessing a significant transformation, marked by rising productivity, stronger farmer support systems, and greater resilience. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Agriculture Sector in India <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Agriculture remains the backbone of India&#8217;s economy, providing livelihoods to approximately 46.1 percent of the workforce.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Livestock and fisheries have maintained stable growth of 5-6 per cent strengthening rural incomes and supporting agricultural diversification.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/14-08-2026\/indian-agriculture-and-allied-sectors\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81676"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81680,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81676\/revisions\/81680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}