Case Study Method:
As of 2011, 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 (394.6 million acres) is the second largest in the world, after the United States. Its gross irrigated crop area of 82.6 million hectares (215.6 million acres) is the largest in the world.
Table 1: State wise irrigation types, capacity and actual
| State | Total crop area (2011) (million hectares)[32] |
Groundwater irrigation equipped crop area (2011) (million hectares)[33] |
Canal irrigation equipped crop area (2011) (million hectares)[33] |
Total crop area actually irrigated (2011) (million hectares)[33] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | 14.3 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 4.9 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0.4 | 0.07 | 0.05 | |
| Assam | 3.0 | 0.13 | 0.1 | 0.22 |
| Bihar | 6.4 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 3.5 |
| Chhattisgarh | 5.1 | 0.17 | 0.74 | 0.85 |
| Goa | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |
| Gujarat | 9.9 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 3.2 |
| Haryana | 3.6 | 1.99 | 1.32 | 3.26 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 1.0 | 0.02 | 0.09 | 0.11 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 0.9 | 0.02 | 0.38 | 0.37 |
| Jharkhand | 3.2 | 0.11 | 0.13 | 0.24 |
| Karnataka | 12.2 | 1.43 | 1.33 | 2.38 |
| Kerala | 1.5 | 0.18 | 0.21 | 0.39 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 15.8 | 2.74 | 1.70 | 4.19 |
| Maharashtra | 19.8 | 3.12 | 1.03 | 3.36 |
| Manipur | 0.2 | 0.05 | 0.05 | |
| Meghalaya | 0.3 | 0.06 | 0.06 | |
| Mizoram | 0.1 | 0.01 | 0.01 | |
| Nagaland | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.07 | |
| Odisha | 4.9 | 0.17 | 1.07 | 1.24 |
| Punjab | 4.0 | 3.06 | 0.94 | 3.96 |
| Rajasthan | 21.1 | 3.98 | 1.52 | 5.12 |
| Sikkim | 0.1 | 0.01 | 0.01 | |
| Tamil Nadu | 6.5 | 1.61 | 1.43 | 2.66 |
| Tripura | 0.3 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.07 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 17.6 | 10.64 | 4.21 | 14.49 |
| Uttarakhand | 0.8 | 0.22 | 0.14 | 0.35 |
| West Bengal | 5.5 | 2.09 | 1.22 | 2.98 |
| All India | 159.6 | 39.43 | 22.48 | 58.13 |
Note: The all India total includes land area for Union Territories of India that is not shown in the above table.
Questions to infer from the above table:
- What percent of the arable land is still dependent on monsoons?
- Which state has the highest percentage of arable land under irrigation?
- Which state has the highest percentage of arable land dependent on monsoon?
Agriculture in India has shown an increase in average agricultural output per hectare in last 60 years. The table 2 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% to 500% over 40 years.[17]
India is among the top three global producers of many crops, including wheat, rice, pulses, cotton, peanuts, fruits and vegetables.
Table 2:
| Crop[17] | Average YIELD, 1970-1971 | Average YIELD, 1990-1991 | Average YIELD, 2010–2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| kilogram per hectare | kilogram per hectare | kilogram per hectare[66] | |
| Rice | 1123 | 1740 | 2240 |
| Wheat | 1307 | 2281 | 2938 |
| Pulses | 524 | 578 | 689 |
| Oilseeds | 579 | 771 | 1325 |
| Sugarcane | 48322 | 65395 | 68596 |
| Tea | 1182 | 1652 | 1669 |
| Cotton | 106 | 225 | 510 |