World Bank Group2015-02-092015-02-092014-05-21https://hdl.handle.net/10986/21419In the past 50 years, Indian agriculture has undergone a major transformation, from dependence on food aid to becoming a consistent net food exporter. The gradual reforms in the agricultural sector (following the broader macro-reforms of the early 1990s) spurred some unprecedented innovations and changes in the food sector driven by private investment. These impressive achievements must now be viewed in light of the policy and investment imperatives that lie ahead. Agricultural growth has improved in recent years (averaging about 3.5 percent since 2004-05), but at a long-term trend rate of growth of 3 percent, agriculture has underperformed relative to its potential. The pockets of post-reform dynamism that have emerged evidently have not reached a sufficiently large scale to influence the sector's performance. For the vast population that still derives a living directly or indirectly from agriculture, achieving "faster, more inclusive, and sustainable growth', the objectives at the heart of the Twelfth five year plan, depends critically on simultaneous efforts to improve agriculture's performance and develop new sources of employment for the disproportionately large share of the labor force still on the farm. The scope of this study is broad in the sense that it marshals considerable empirical evidence and analyses to address those issues. Yet the scope is restricted in the sense that the study does not address all of the issues. A wealth of knowledge exists (and continuing analytical work proceeds) on other major strategic issues, water and irrigation management, food grain management, and public expenditures on agriculture, for example, and the findings of this study must be seen in that context. The lack of sufficient quality data, and often the lack of access to such data, also prevents some issues from being explored in greater depth. Finally, some important issues require more focused and dedicated analysis, such as food safety and quality standards, agricultural trade, and food price increases. This relationship between longer-term strategic issues and contemporary concerns, such as water resource management and food prices, are highlighted in this study through the prism of productivity, but they too require further analysis to fully address the underlying issues.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO INFORMATIONACTUAL YIELDSADAPTIVE RESEARCHAGRICULTURAL AREASAGRICULTURAL COMMODITIESAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTAGRICULTURAL DIVERSIFICATIONAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICSAGRICULTURAL EDUCATIONAGRICULTURAL EXTENSIONAGRICULTURAL GROWTHAGRICULTURAL INCENTIVESAGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONAGRICULTURAL INVESTMENTSAGRICULTURAL ISSUESAGRICULTURAL MARKETAGRICULTURAL MARKETINGAGRICULTURAL MARKETSAGRICULTURAL OUTPUTAGRICULTURAL POLICYAGRICULTURAL POPULATIONAGRICULTURAL PRODUCEAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYAGRICULTURAL PROGRAMSAGRICULTURAL RESEARCHAGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONAGRICULTURAL SECTORAGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGYAGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTAGRICULTURAL TRADEAGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITIESAGRICULTURAL VALUEAGRICULTUREAGRICULTURE ORGANIZATIONAGROPROCESSINGALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCYANIMAL BREEDINGANIMAL HEALTHANIMALSAPPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGYARTIFICIAL INSEMINATIONASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANKAVERAGE YIELDSBARRIERS TO ENTRYCAPITAL FORMATIONCASH CROPSCATTLECEREAL CROPSCEREAL TRADECEREAL YIELDSCEREALSCERTIFIED PRODUCTSCLIMATE CHANGECOMMODITIESCOMMODITY PRICESCOMPETITIVENESSCONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALECONTRACT FARMINGCOTTONCOTTON SECTORCROPCROP PRODUCTIONCROP TYPECROP YIELDSCROPSCULTIVATION TECHNIQUESDAIRYDAIRY INDUSTRYDAIRY SURPLUSDECISION MAKINGDEREGULATIONDEVELOPMENT RESEARCHDIMINISHING RETURNSDISEASESDISTORTED INCENTIVESDIVIDENDSDOMESTIC MARKETSECOLOGICAL CONDITIONSECONOMIC RESEARCHECONOMICSEMISSIONSEMPIRICAL ANALYSISEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTSENVIRONMENTAL ISSUESETHICSEXPORTEXPORT MARKETSEXPORTSEXTENSION SERVICESFAOFARMFARM DIVERSIFICATIONFARM EMPLOYMENTFARM EQUIPMENTFARM INCOMEFARM INCOMESFARM POPULATIONFARM PRICESFARM SIZEFARMERSFARMINGFARMSFEEDFOOD GRAINSFOOD POLICY RESEARCHFOOD PRICESFOOD PRODUCTIONFOOD PRODUCTSFOOD SAFETYFOOD SECURITYFRUITSGATESGDPGINI COEFFICIENTGOVERNMENT EXPENDITURESGRAINGREEN REVOLUTIONGREENHOUSE GASGREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONSGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATIONGROWTH RATEHARVESTHORTICULTURAL CROPSHOUSEHOLDSICRISATIFPRIIMPORTSINDIAN COUNCIL FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCHINEFFICIENCYINPUT USEINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTEIRRIGATIONLABOR COSTSLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETSLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLAND PRODUCTIVITYLAND USELIVESTOCKLIVESTOCK FARMINGLIVESTOCK FARMING SYSTEMSLIVESTOCK PRODUCTSLIVESTOCK SECTORLIVESTOCK SUPPORTLIVESTOCK SYSTEMSMAIZEMARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMSMEATMEAT INDUSTRYMILKMILK PRODUCTIONMILK YIELDMUTTONNATIONAL RESEARCHNATURAL RESOURCE BASENATURAL RESOURCESNUTRIENT USEOILSEEDSPESTSPOLICY DECISIONSPOLICY ENVIRONMENTPOLICY INSTRUMENTSPOLICY MAKERSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPORKPOTENTIAL YIELDSPOULTRYPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRICE INCREASESPRIVATE GOODSPRODUCE MARKETSPRODUCER INCENTIVESPRODUCERSPRODUCTION SYSTEMPRODUCTIVE RESOURCESPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC GOODSQUALITY STANDARDSRAW MATERIALREAL WAGESRESEARCH ORGANIZATIONSRESOURCE MANAGEMENTRESOURCE USERICERICE RESEARCHRURAL DEVELOPMENTRURAL EMPLOYMENTRURAL ROADSSEEDSSILOSSMALL RUMINANTSSOIL EROSIONSOILSSOYBEANSSTRUCTURAL CHANGESUGARCANESUSTAINABLE GROWTHSUSTAINABLE WATERTECHNOLOGICAL CHANGETECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESSTERMS OF TRADETOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTHTRADE POLICYTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSUNITED NATIONSURBANIZATIONVALUE ADDEDVEGETABLESVOLUMEWAGESWATERSHEDWEATHER PATTERNSWHEATWHEAT RESEARCHWHEAT YIELDSWHOLESALE PRICE INDEX10.1596/21419