The Future of Indian Agriculture

This is a book on the future of Indian agriculture. The future emerges from the present and the present is embedded in the past. This chapter is a very brief summary of the past and the structure of the present. The future is not in the stars, even in a country deeply committed to the inevitability of 'predictable karmic outcomes'. The future is in our hands. But it can be outlined in a framework of if then perspectives. The inherited present gives us the options. We can with wisdom chose from these options or let events dominate us. This book attempts to outline these alternatives. A brief description of the past and present, relevant for the discussion of the futures in this book will be contained in this chapter.

The future role of agriculture will depend on the demand for agricultural products. These depend on population and income growth and redistribution policies. Agricultural demand has been diversifying during the period of faster growth from the decade of the Eighties of the last century (Y.K.Alagh, 1989/95, 2003, 2005b, V.S.Vyas, 2002, M.Alagh and Y.K.Alagh, 2003, M.Alagh, 2007), with non cereals, like fruits and vegetables sugar, cotton and edible oils growing much faster than cereals. Non crop based agricultural demand like dairying and poultry, fish and forest products has been growing even faster. There is now a view that the country has reached an inflection point of US $3000 per capita in purchasing parity terms when demand grows even faster (FAO, 2008). The next chapter describes these prospects.

**Contents and Sample Pages**