Agriculture in India

American University of Sharjah

Geography-201

Dr. Pia Anderson

Final Paper

on

Agriculture in India-Problem faced by farmers

By

Salman M. Abdullah

B00036013

Agriculture in India- Problems faced by farmers

India is a vast country with most of its land used for agricultural purposes. Agriculture has been the backbone of Indian economy. India’s geographical location and its physical environment support agriculture and its related activities. In addition, one can find various types of crops in India according to the season and availability of the fertile soil. Some areas that receive high rainfall throughout the year expertise in growing crops such as rice whereas, in areas that receive low-rainfall or seasonal rainfall crops such as maize and millets are grown. Agriculture is a primary activity where in most of the produce is consumed by the local population. Still one can find some proportion of small farmers that cultivate crops only for their own consumption. However, some of the cash crops and other agricultural produce such as tea, coffee, spices etc are exported to many countries all over the globe.

The activities involved in agriculture have now become a cultural activity for most of the people in rural areas. It can be observed through the lifestyle of Indian people that most of the festivities are related to agriculture. Holi, one of the biggest festivals in India also known as festival of colors, is celebrated for the coming of the spring. Thus, one can say that agriculture is an age-old economic activity

The prosperity of Indian agriculture is not the same now, as it has been after Independence. Although almost half of Indian workforce is employed in agriculture, the economic contribution to the GDP is declining. In 1950, agriculture contributed 53 percent of India’s GDP. In 2007-08, this has fallen to a shocking 17.8 percent only (Adeney & Wyatt, 2010).The more shocking fact is that the decline in agricultural contribution to...