World Grain - February 2005 - 16

countryfocus

Focus on India
India's agriculture sector holds great
potential but must overcome infrastructure,
marketing and processing issues
by Mario Sequeira

India is one of the world's top food grain producers. Not
counting the European Union, it is second to China in wheat
and rice production and fourth, behind the United States,
China and Brazil in coarse grains production.
Yet, its impressive position in world production notwithstanding, India's potential to
increase agricultural output is
huge. Obstacles that are hindering growth include a low mechanization rate, low crop yields
compared to other top producers
and not enough investment.
Indeed, the agricultural industry as a whole, taking into
account post-farm operations, has the vast potential
to become more efﬁcient,
competitive and proﬁtable.
Certain issues, such as the poor rural infrastructure, including roads, storage and handling, inefﬁcient marketing and
the under-developed processing sector must be addressed
before India's agriculture can move forward.
Indian agriculture is made up of predominantly small
farms handed down by tradition. The most recent count in
the 1995-96 census indicated there were 115.5 million holdings. Of these, 60% were less than a hectare and 1% were
10ha or larger.
The agricultural sector employs 60% of the country's labor force and contributes 25% to gross domestic product.
Agricultural performance has been driven by government
policy that advocates strong ﬁnancial support, control and

Data (1,000 tonnes)
Production
Wheat
72,060
Rice
83,000

Consumption
71,980
82,400

2004-05 marketing year (July-June)
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture and reports

Exports
1,500
1,600

Imports
20
0

Key Facts
Capital: New Delhi
Demography: Population 1.065 billion, 1.44% growth
rate (2004 estimates); English is widely spoken; Hindi is the
national language and there are 15 other ofﬁcial languages;
Hindu (81.3%), Muslim (12%), Christian (2.3%) and Sikh
(1.9%) are main religions.
Geography: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and
the Bay of Bengal, between Myanmar and Pakistan. Upland
plain in south, ﬂat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts
in west, Himalayas in north. Climate varies from tropical in
the south, west and east to temperate in the north.
Government: Federal Republic. Chief of State is President
Abdul Kalam; head of government is Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh.
Ofﬁcial agricultural agencies: Ministry of Agriculture
and Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public
Distribution under Minister Sharad Pawar.
Economy: Mix of traditional and modern industries. About
60% of the work force is employed in agriculture, made up
predominantly of small traditional farms. The urban work
force is well-educated. India has developed a modern services
sector, which accounts for 50% of the GDP compared to
25% by agriculture. The government is aiming to repeat GDP
growth of 8% in 2004-05 that was achieved in 2003-04.
GDP per capita: U.S.$2,900 (purchasing power parity);
8.1% growth rate; 3.8% inﬂation; 9.5% unemployment (all
2004 estimates).
Currency: Indian rupee. February 1, 2005 exchange rate:
43.71 per U.S. dollar.
Exports: U.S.$57.24 billion f.o.b. (2004 estimate), clothing,
gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather
goods and agricultural products.
Imports: U.S.$74.15 billion f.o.b.(2003 estimate), crude oil,
machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals.
Major crops/agricultural products: rice, wheat, oilseed,
cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane.
Wheat: Production in the past ﬁve years averaged 71 million
tonnes, ranging from a high of 76.3 million tonnes in 1999-2000
to 65.1 million tonnes in 2002-03. Stocks in the government pool
as on October 1 2004 were 16 million tonnes.
Rice: Rice production in the past ﬁve years averaged 85.5
million tonnes, ranging from a high of 93 million tonnes in
2001-02 to a low of 72.65 million tonnes in 2002-03. Exports
averaged 3.5 million tonnes during the same period, with a
high of 6.3 million tonnes in 2001-02 and a low of 1.4 million
tonnes in 1999-2000. There were 6 million tonnes of stocks
in the government pool as on October 1, 2004.
Transportation: Highways and roads, 3,383,344 km,
1,603,691 paved (2002 estimates); railroads, 108,706 km,
86, 526 km 1.676m broad gauge (2004 estimates); Chennai,
Cochin, Kandla, Kolkata, Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam are
major ports.
Internet: Country code, *.in; 86,871 service providers;
18.481 million users, (2003 estimates).
February 2005 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - February 2005

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