Agriculture in India

Ancient India

Farming in the Indian subcontinent began in the Neolithic period. At Mehrgarh in Balochistan, in present-day Pakistan, people were growing barley and wheat and herding zebu cattle, sheep, and goats by about 7,000 BCE. Cotton fibres preserved in a copper bead from Mehrgarh, dated to the sixth millennium BCE, are among the earliest evidence of cotton use in the world. Farmers of the Indus Valley Civilisation (c.3300 BCE - 1300 BCE) grew wheat, barley, peas, lentils, chickpea, sesame, linseed, and cotton, with rice and millets in its eastern and southern regions. Ploughing patterns from the Bronze Age have been excavated at Kalibangan in Rajasthan—a field from about 2800 BCE with furrows in a criss-cross pattern—suggesting two crops grew together. Indians may have domesticated river buffalo 5000 years ago.

Farming also spread well beyond the north-west. Plant remains from Neolithic sites in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh show that from about 3,000 BCE farmers in the southern peninsula grew native pulses, mung bean and horse gram, and local millets. They later added wheat and barley from the northwest, and hyacinth bean, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet, all domesticated in Africa, from about 2,000 BCE. Rice was being cultivated in the middle Ganges plain by the third millennium BCE; claims of much earlier domestication, at sites such as Lahuradewa, are disputed.

Vedic literature provides some of the earliest written records of Indian agriculture. Rigveda hymns, for example, describe ploughing, fallowing, irrigation, fruit and vegetable cultivation. The main cereal in the Rigveda is barley (yava); rice (vrihi) appears in later Vedic texts such as the Atharvaveda, as farming spread east into the Ganges plain. A Sanskrit text, the Bhumivargaha, suggested to be 2500 years old, divides agricultural land into 12 categories: urvara (fertile), ushara (barren), maru (desert), aprahata (fallow), shadvala (grassy), pankikala (muddy), jalaprayah (watery), kachchaha (contiguous to water), sharkara (full of pebbles and pieces of limestone), sharkaravati (sandy), nadimatruka (watered from a river), and devamatruka (rainfed).

The Arthashastra, a treatise on statecraft attributed to Chanakya and compiled in its present form around the turn of the Common Era, describes a superintendent of agriculture (sitaadhyaksha) who managed crown lands. It also sets charges for using irrigation water and advises on which crops to sow according to rainfall. The Greek envoy Megasthenes, writing about 300 BCE, reported that India reaped two harvests a year and that cultivators, the largest class of the population, were left undisturbed even in wartime. Sugarcane was grown in India in antiquity; Greek writers described "reeds that produce honey without bees". Indians were the first to make crystalline sugar, a technique established in the Gupta period (4th-6th centuries CE), which later spread to Persia, the Arab world, and the Mediterranean. The Sanskrit word khanda (खण्ड), "piece", passed through Persian and Arabic gand into English as candy.

Medieval India

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Colonial period

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The Sugar and cotton plantations brought over a million Indian indentured labourers to the Caribbean, Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, and South Africa in the 19th and early 20th century.

Independent India and the Green Revolution

After independence, governments abolished intermediary landlords (zamindari system), set ceilings on landholdings, and invested in canals and dams.^{[citation needed]}

Before the mid-1960s, India relied on imports and food aid to meet domestic requirements. However, two years of severe drought in 1965 and 1966 convinced India to reform its agricultural policy and that it could not rely on foreign aid and imports for food security. The government adopted a package aimed at self-sufficiency in food grains: high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties developed from Norman Borlaug's work in Mexico; subsidised fertiliser and credit; public investment in irrigation and research; and guaranteed procurement prices through the Food Corporation of India (established in 1965). Punjab led India's Green Revolution and earned the distinction of being the country's breadbasket.

Scholars have attributed the Green Revolution's success to several factors, including a liberalised economic and policy environment and profitability for farmers. Remunerative prices, cheap credit and inputs, and assured government purchase made the new seeds more profitable than traditional varieties, and farmers adopted them within a few years. Farmers made much of the investment themselves, privately owned tube wells became India's largest source of irrigation, with millions of farmers buying pumps and selling water to their neighbours. Trade in fertilisers, pumps, and tractors also expanded.

The initial increase in production centred on the irrigated areas of the states of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. A hectare of Indian wheat farm that produced an average of 0.8 tonnes in 1948 produced 4.7 tonnes of wheat in 1975 from the same land. Such rapid growth in farm productivity enabled India to become self-sufficient by the 1970s. By 2000, Indian farms were adopting wheat varieties that could yield 6 tonnes per hectare.

With agricultural policy success in wheat, new technologies spread to rice. When gains from the new technology reached their limits in the states of initial adoption, the technology spread in the 1970s and 1980s to the states of eastern India — Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal. The lasting benefits of improved seeds and new technology extended mainly to irrigated areas, which account for about one-third of the harvested crop area.

The New Policy on Seed Development of 1988 allowed private companies to import seed and to undertake plant breeding. The private seed industry grew rapidly, especially for hybrid maize, cotton and vegetables. Farmers in Gujarat began planting Bt cotton from unapproved seeds because the government did not approve them until 2002; within a decade Bt hybrids covered most of India's cotton-growing areas. A 2012 study found that Bt cotton raised yields by ~24% and farmers' profits by ~50% over conventional cotton.

In the 1980s, Indian agricultural policy shifted toward an "evolution of a production pattern in line with the demand pattern", emphasising other agricultural commodities like oilseeds, fruits, and vegetables.^{[citation needed]} Researchers attribute much of this diversification to market demand: as incomes and urbanisation rose, consumers spent more on milk, fruit, vegetables, eggs and meat, and farmers shifted to these higher-value crops, particularly near urban areas. Farmers began adopting improved methods and technologies in dairying, fisheries, and livestock to meet the diversified food needs of a growing population. Analysts argue that further gains depend less on new seeds than on rural roads, reliable power, cold storage, and more competitive markets for farm produce.

Critics have pointed to the Green Revolution's costs. Francine Frankel argued that its gains went disproportionately to larger farmers in irrigated regions and widened rural inequality. Later research links its heavy use of water, fertilisers and pesticides, encouraged by subsidies and procurement of rice and wheat, to falling groundwater levels, degraded soils, and a narrower range of crops.

India's agricultural economy is undergoing structural changes. Between 1970 and 2011, agriculture's share of GDP fell from 43% to 16%. The decline reflects faster growth in manufacturing and services rather than a fall in farm output; agriculture still employs 46% of the workforce in 2025-26. Agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan, a leading figure in the green revolution, was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna in 2024.

Definition of farmer

Indian farmers are people who grow crops as a profession. Various government estimates (Census, Agricultural Census, National Sample Survey assessments, and Periodic Labour Force Surveys) give a different number of farmers in the country ranging from 37 million to 118 million as per the different definitions. Some definitions take into account the number of holdings as compared to the number of farmers. Other definitions take into account possession of land, while others try to delink land ownership from the definition of a farmer. Other terms also used include 'cultivator'.

India's National Policy for Farmers 2007 defines farmer as:

For the purpose of this Policy, the term "FARMER" will refer to a person actively engaged in the economic and/or livelihood activity of growing crops and producing other primary agricultural commodities and will include all agricultural operational holders, cultivators, agricultural labourers, sharecroppers, tenants, poultry and livestock rearers, fishers, beekeepers, gardeners, pastoralists, non-corporate planters and planting labourers, as well as persons engaged in various farmingrelated occupations such as sericulture, vermiculture, and agro-forestry. The term will also include tribal families / persons engaged in shifting cultivation and in the collection, use and sale of timber and non-timber forest produce.

However this definition has not been adopted.

Output

As of 2011^[update], India had a large and diverse agricultural sector, accounting, on average, for about 16% of GDP and 10% of export earnings. India's arable land area of 159.7 million hectares (395 million acres) is the second largest in the world, after the United States. Its gross irrigated crop area of 82.6 million hectares (204 million acres) is the largest in the world. India is among the top three global producers of many crops, including wheat, rice, pulses, cotton, peanuts, fruits and vegetables. Worldwide, as of 2011^[update], India had the largest herds of buffalo and cattle, is the largest producer of milk and has one of the largest and fastest growing poultry industries.

As per the 2014 FAO world agriculture statistics India is the world's largest producer of many fresh fruits like banana, mango, guava, papaya, lemon and vegetables like chickpea, okra and milk, major spices like chili pepper, ginger, fibrous crops such as jute, staples such as millets and castor oil seed. India is the second largest producer of wheat and rice, the world's major food staples.

India is currently the world's second largest producer of several dry fruits, agriculture-based textile raw materials, roots and tuber crops, pulses, farmed fish, eggs, coconut, sugarcane and numerous vegetables. India is ranked under the world's five largest producers of over 80% of agricultural produce items, including many cash crops such as coffee and cotton, in 2010. India is one of the world's five largest producers of livestock and poultry meat, with one of the fastest growth rates, as of 2011^[update].

One report from 2008 claimed that India's population is growing faster than its ability to produce rice and wheat. While other recent studies claim that India can easily feed its growing population, plus produce wheat and rice for global exports, if it can reduce food staple spoilage/wastage, improve its infrastructure and raise its farm productivity like those achieved by other developing countries such as Brazil and China.

Major products and yields

The following table presents the 20 most important agricultural products in India, by economic value, in 2009. Included in the table is the average productivity of India's farms for each produce. For context and comparison, included is the average of the most productive farms in the world and name of country where the most productive farms existed in 2010. The table suggests India has large potential for further accomplishments from productivity increases, in increased agricultural output and agricultural incomes.

In 2019, as per Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT) data, India produces various agriculture products in following values:

In addition to growth in total output, agriculture in India has shown an increase in average agricultural output per hectare in last 60 years. The table below presents average farm productivity in India over three farming years for some crops. Improving road and power generation infrastructure, knowledge gains and reforms has allowed India to increase farm productivity between 40% and 500% over 40 years. India's recent accomplishments in crop yields while being impressive, are still just 30% to 60% of the best crop yields achievable in the farms of developed as well as other developing countries. Additionally, despite these gains in farm productivity, losses after harvest due to poor infrastructure and unorganised retail cause India to experience some of the highest food losses in the world.

World's largest producer

The Statistics Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization reported that, per final numbers for 2009, India had grown to become the world's largest producer of the following agricultural products:

Per final numbers for 2009, India is the world's second largest producer of the following agricultural products:

In 2009, India was the world's third largest producer of eggs, oranges, coconuts, tomatoes, peas and beans.

India and China are competing to establish the world record on rice yields. Yuan Longping of China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Centre set a world record for rice yield in 2010 at 19 tonnes per hectare in a demonstration plot. In 2011, this record was surpassed by an Indian farmer, Sumant Kumar, with 22.4 tonnes per hectare in Bihar, also in a demonstration plot. These farmers claim to have employed newly developed rice breeds and system of rice intensification (SRI), a recent innovation in farming. The claimed Chinese and Indian yields have yet to be demonstrated on 7 hectare farm lots and that these are reproducible over two consecutive years on the same farm.

Horticulture

The total production and economic value of horticultural produce, such as fruits, vegetables and nuts has doubled in India over the 10-year period from 2002 to 2012. In 2012, the production from horticulture exceeded grain output for the first time. The total horticulture produce reached 277.4 million metric tonnes in 2013, making India the second largest producer of horticultural products after China. Of this, India in 2013 produced 81 million tonnes of fruits, 162 million tonnes of vegetables, 5.7 million tonnes of spices, 17 million tonnes of nuts and plantation products (cashew, cacao, coconut, etc.), 1 million tonnes of aromatic horticulture produce and 1.7 million tonnes of flowers (7.6 billion cut flowers).

Horticultural productivity in India, 2013

Country	Area under fruits production (million hectares)	Average fruits yield (metric tonnes per hectare)	Area under vegetable production (million hectares)	Average vegetable yield (metric tonnes per hectare)
India	7.0	11.6	9.2	52.36
China	11.8	11.6	24.6	23.4
Spain	1.54	9.1	0.32	39.3
United States	1.14	23.3	1.1	32.5
World	57.3	11.3	60.0	19.7

During the 2013 fiscal year, India exported horticulture products worth ₹14,365 crore (US$1.5 billion), nearly double the value of its 2010 exports. Along with these farm-level gains, the losses between farm and consumer increased and are estimated to range between 51 and 82 million metric tonnes a year.

Fisheries and livestock

Aquaculture and catch fishery is among the fastest growing industries in India. Between 1990 and 2010, the Indian fish capture harvest doubled, while aquaculture harvest tripled. In 2008, India was the world's sixth largest producer of marine and freshwater capture fisheries and the second largest aquaculture farmed fish producer. India exported 600,000 metric tonnes of fish products to nearly half of the world's countries. Though the available nutritional standard is 100% of the requirement, India lags far behind in terms of quality protein intake at 20% which is to be tackled by making available protein rich food products such as eggs, meat, fish, chicken etc. at affordable prices

Trade

The total agriculture commodities export was US$3.50 billion in March–June 2020. India exported $38 billion worth of agricultural products in 2013, making it the seventh-largest agricultural exporter worldwide and the sixth largest net exporter. Most of its agriculture exports serve developing and least developed nations. Indian agricultural/horticultural and processed foods are exported to more than 120 countries, primarily to Japan, Southeast Asia, SAARC countries, the European Union and the United States.

Sugar industry

Most of the sugar production in India takes place at mills owned by local cooperative societies. The members of the society include all farmers, small and large, supplying sugarcane to the mill. Over the last fifty years, the local sugar mills have played a crucial part in encouraging political participation and as a stepping stone for aspiring politicians. This is particularly true in the state of Maharashtra where a large number of politicians belonging to the Congress party or NCP had ties to sugar cooperatives from their local area and has created a symbiotic relationship between the sugar factories and local politics. However, the policy of "profits for the company but losses to be borne by the government", has made a number of these operations inefficient.

Marketing

As with sugar, cooperatives play a significant part in the overall marketing of fruit and vegetables in India. Since the 1980s, the amount of produce handled by Cooperative societies has increased exponentially. Common fruit and vegetables marketed by the societies include bananas, mangoes, grapes, onions and many others.

Dairy industry

Dairy farming based on the Amul Pattern, with a single marketing cooperative, is India's largest self-sustaining industry and its largest rural employment provider. The widespread implementation of the Amul model has made India the world's largest milk producer. Here, small and marginal farmers owning small herds of milch cattle deliver milk twice daily to local community collection centers. The milk is subsequently processed by district unions and marketed nationally by state cooperative federations under the Amul brand, India's largest food brand. With the Anand pattern Approximately three-quarters of the price paid by the primarily urban consumers is returned directly to the millions of small dairy farmers who collectively own the cooperative and its brand.

Banking and rural credit

Cooperative banks play a great part in providing credit in rural parts of India. Just like the sugar cooperatives, these institutions serve as the power base for local politicians.

Infrastructure

India has very poor rural roads affecting timely supply of inputs and timely transfer of outputs from Indian farms. Irrigation systems are inadequate, leading to crop failures in some parts of the country because of lack of water. In other areas regional floods, poor seed quality and inefficient farming practices, lack of cold storage and harvest spoilage cause over 30% of farmer's produce going to waste, lack of organised retail and competing buyers thereby limiting Indian farmer's ability to sell the surplus and commercial crops.

The Indian farmer receives just 10% to 23% of the price the Indian consumer pays for exactly the same produce, the difference going to losses, inefficiencies and middlemen. Farmers in developed economies of Europe and the United States receive 64% to 81%.^{[citation needed]}

Farmer suicides

In 2012, the National Crime Records Bureau of India reported 13,754 farmer suicides. Farmer suicides account for 11.2% of all suicides in India. Activists and scholars have offered a number of conflicting reasons for farmer suicides, such as monsoon failure, high debt burdens, genetically modified crops, government policies, public mental health, personal issues and family problems.

According to an NCRB data, in 2022, India saw 11,290 suicides in the farming sector. This was a 3.75 per cent rise from the 10,881 suicides in 2021. In 2022, there were 5,207 farmers suicides compared to 5,318 in 2021. There were 6,083 suicides of farm labourers in 2022, as compared to 5,563 in 2021.

Marketing

Agromarketing is poorly developed in India.

Diversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purpose

Indian National Policy for Farmers of 2007 stated that "prime farmland must be conserved for agriculture except under exceptional circumstances, provided that the agencies that are provided with agricultural land for non-agricultural projects should compensate for treatment and full development of equivalent degraded or wastelands elsewhere". The policy suggested that, as far as possible, land with low farming yields or that was not farmable should be earmarked for non-agricultural purposes such as construction, industrial parks and other commercial development.

Amartya Sen offered a counter viewpoint, stating that "prohibiting the use of agricultural land for commercial and industrial development is ultimately self-defeating". He stated that agricultural land may be better suited for non-agriculture purposes if industrial production could generate many times more than the value of the product produced by agriculture. Sen suggested India needed to bring productive industry everywhere, wherever there are advantages of production, market needs and the locational preferences of managers, engineers, technical experts as well as unskilled labour because of education, healthcare and other infrastructure. He stated that instead of government controlling land allocation based on soil characteristics, the market economy should determine productive allocation of land.

Health risk from excessive use of pesticides and fertilisers

Pesticides and fertilizers used in Indian agriculture have helped increase crop productivity, but their unregulated and excessive use has caused different ecosystem and fatal health problems. Several studies published between 2011 and 2020 attribute 45 different types of cancers afflicting rural farm workers in India to pesticide usage. The chemicals have been shown to cause DNA damage, hormone disruption, and lead to a weakened immune system. Occupational exposure to pesticides has been identified as a major trigger of the development of cancer. The principal classes of pesticides investigated in relation to their role in intoxication and cancer were insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Punjab, a state in India, utilises the highest amount of chemical fertilizers in the country. Many of the pesticides sprayed on the state's crops are classified as class I by the World Health Organization because of their acute toxicity and are banned in places around the world, including Europe.

Historical initiatives

The Green Revolution's shift to new farming methods, such as irrigation and synthetic fertilizers, led to negative effects on the environment. The rise of commercial farms to support the Indian population, coupled with demands from other countries, resulted in mass deforestation. Excess water from irrigation systems collects toxic chemicals from pesticides, leading to runoff into streams that kills wildlife and pollutes freshwater sources. These and other effects have prompted concerns about the sustainability of non-organic farming, thereby raising awareness about the importance of adopting more sustainable organic farming practices.

One leader of this development was Sir Albert Howard. He was an English botanist who helped advance organic agricultural developments through numerous publications on sustainable organic farming methods in India. He raised awareness about the adverse effects of non-organic farming on the environment and helped educate the Indian population about the benefits of organic farming. His work and contributions to the field of organic agriculture led him to be known as the founder of the organic farming movement.

Recent initiatives

With the recent concerns about non-organic farming practices and their possibly adverse health effects, there has been a noticeable increase in demand for organic food in India. As more people notice the negative effects of non-organic farming on sustainability, it contributes to grow the organic farming movement. The Government of India is also playing an active role in promoting organic agriculture, as its various initiatives, like Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and zero-budget natural farming, are making organic farming more accessible and sustainable. Most initiatives now focus on how organic agriculture can lead to improvements in the country's sustainability.

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) was launched in 2015 by the Narendra Modi regime to promote organic farming, under which farmers form organic farming clusters of 50 or more farmers with a minimum total area of 20 hectares (50 acres) to share organic methods using traditional sustainable methods, costs, and marketing, etc. It initially aimed to have 10,000 clusters by 2018 with at least 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) under organic farming. It also aimed for the government to cover certification costs while promoting the use of traditional resources in organic farming. The government provides ₹49,000 per hectare (₹20,000 per acre) or US$701.8 per hectare (US$284.01 per acre) benefit over three years.

Other techniques of organic farming like zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) have been implemented by many small-scale farmers in Wayanad, Kerala. In this process they implement more natural and ecological methods of farming that decrease or completely cease use of pesticides and damaging chemicals. This alleviates damage caused by chemical overuse and mono cropping which is depleting the formerly fertile forest-land in the area.

One specific initiative is increasing the availability of organic farming in Tamil Nadu. The Government of Tamil Nadu has been publishing resources for farmers in the state to reduce their dependence on chemical fertilizers like Diammonium Phosphate and Urea. One specific resource outlines the creation of micro-compositing centres, also known as decentralised compositing centres. These are centres all around Tamil Nadu that turn people's trash into compost and cleaning supplies.

An example of an existing centre is Chennai Composting Center. This is a Micro Composting Center that repurposes one ton of trash and turns it into organic compost every day for large suppliers and farms around Chennai. By repurposing trash into compost to reduce fertilizer use in the area, Chennai Composting Center is creating a more sustainable agricultural community.

Along with progression with organic farming methods, new technologies in the form of moisture sensors and artificial intelligence are also being implemented in the Indian farming sector. Farmers are using moisture sensors to ensure that different crops have the exact amount of water that they need, which ensures that farmers can maximise crop yield. Along with this, artificial intelligence techniques are being implemented in food processing plants across India. AI provides more efficient ways to produce, harvest, and sell crops products as well as an emphasis on checking defective crops and improving the potential for healthy crop production. This further helps maximise crop yield as Rayda Ayed describes in her research on the effects of artificial intelligence in India.

Organic farming practices are currently having a positive effect on India's environment and will further improve the country's sustainability if continued. Specifically, it has a direct link to improving the economic sustainability of non-commercial farmers. Organic farmers can sell products on a small scale at a higher price than non-organic products. This enables them to increase their earnings on food sales and achieve greater economic sustainability. Further, organic farming is also creating more jobs in rural areas, as organic farms require more labour compared to non-organic ones.

This applies to two specific fertilizers used in India, Urea and Diammonium Phosphate (DAP). Urea is the most imported fertiliser in India, and it has many adverse health effects on those who use it. When these fertilizers come into contact with uncovered skin, they can cause irritation and, if left untreated, lead to skin damage. Diammonium Phosphate also causes similar effects when it comes into contact with uncovered skin and eyes. Skin irritation comes from these fertilizers releasing compounds such as ammonia and nitrogen oxides, which are harmful to both the human body and the soil they are applied to.

Regarding the environment, Urea, Diammonium Phosphate, and other fertilizers in India increase atmospheric nitrogen levels and strip soil of its nutrients. When these fertilizers are spread along farms, they react with water and release ammonia, which increases the amount of nitrogen in the air, and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This causes air and soil pollution, with adverse long-term effects. The continued use of these fertilizers is damaging India's environment.

In terms of environmental sustainability, organic farms do not use any artificial pesticides or fertilizers. This means that there is no toxic runoff or other environmentally damaging effects from organic farms. Avoiding these dangerous chemicals also leads to a healthier environment for farmers, as they do not have to deal with any threatening chemicals.

Current status

Due to the Green Revolution, a large majority of farmland in India is not organic. Most Indian farmland is concentrated in large commercial farms that prioritise high yields and maximum economic gain. Organic farmland occupies around 2% of all farmland in India, which is most commonly divided into many small subsistence farms. Despite this, India still holds the ninth most organic farmland in the world.

There are several reasons why only a few large-scale organic farms exist in India. Organic farming requires more land, materials, and labour to achieve the same production levels as non-organic farms, so large-scale organic farming is highly inefficient. Organic agriculture is more expensive and time-consuming compared to conventional farming practices, which further explains the lack of large organic farms.

Organic agriculture has fed India for centuries and it is again a growing sector in India. Organic production offers clean and green production methods without the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides and it achieves a premium price in the market place. India has 650,000 organic producers, which is more than any other country. India also has 4 million hectares of land certified as organic wildculture, which is third in the world (after Finland and Zambia). As non-availability of edible biomass is impeding the growth of animal husbandry in India, organic production of protein-rich cattle, fish, and poultry feed using biogas/methane/natural gas by cultivating Methylococcus capsulatus bacteria with a tiny land and water footprint is a solution for ensuring adequate protein-rich food to the population.

The future of organic agriculture

Organic farming has a combination of positive and negative outlooks in India. On the positive side, organic farming's high levels of sustainability offer it a promising future. Organic farms contribute to safer and healthier lives for both farmers and consumers due to their lack of dangerous chemicals, making the industry's projected outlook long-lasting and promising.

On the other hand, organic farms have some adverse effects. For example, organic farms have lower yields compared to non-organic farms. Compensating for this issue results in organic farmers cultivating more land to produce similar amounts of crops. This leads to deforestation, which is not sustainable. The ideal form of agriculture in India calls for a combination of both organic and non-organic farming techniques to maximise yields while promoting economic and environmental sustainability.