India’s agricultural progress and development since independence have been the result of the relentless efforts of its farmers, combined with the vision and support of successive governments over the past 75 years. Such achievements would not have been possible without the close cooperation and coordination between the two. At the time of independence, India faced a severe grain shortage and had to rely on imports to feed its population, despite nearly 90 percent of the population being engaged in agriculture in 1947. Industrial development was limited as well, with only a few manufacturing companies such as Tata, Birla, and Dalmia operating in the country.
Since then, from Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru’s first government to the present day, Indian administrations have prioritized agriculture, enabling the country to transform from a grain-deficient nation into a major grain exporter.
Chaudhary Charan Singh, one of India’s greatest farmer leaders, dreamed of improving farmers’ incomes through increased agricultural productivity while also providing their children access to modern education. Thanks to decades of sustained effort, India has now become the world’s leading rice producer, surpassing China. In 2024-25, India produced over 150 million tons of rice, compared to China’s 145.2 million tons. This success extends beyond rice, as India has also emerged as a global leader in milk and dairy production.
Last year, it produced 248 million tons of dairy products. This alone suggests that various Indian governments have consistently encouraged progress in the agricultural sector. This trend did slow down somewhat between 1991 and 1996, following the economic liberalization initiated in 1991, but subsequent governments made renewed efforts to revitalize the agricultural sector. Public investment in agriculture decreased significantly from 1991 to 1996 because the then-ruling Narasimha Rao government was entirely focused on industrialization and promoting the private sector. During this period, there was also a qualitative decline in capital formation in the rural and agricultural sectors. Despite this, agricultural production continued to increase during this time. India has made tireless efforts from the very beginning to achieve self-reliance in the agricultural sector, and the National Seeds Corporation was established with the objective of increasing farmers’ production.
The sole aim of establishing the corporation was to enable farmers to utilize modern scientific discoveries to the fullest extent in their fields, thereby increasing their yields and income. A minimum support price system was also introduced for this purpose. All these initiatives were made possible through government intervention. Previous Indian governments have worked tirelessly towards this goal, and this work continues unabated during the tenure of the current Modi government. To illustrate the priority given to increasing farmers’ income, it is noteworthy that Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan recently made 184 varieties of seeds for 25 crops available to farmers at a National Seeds Corporation event, aiming to increase their yields in diverse areas. These include 122 varieties of various grains, 24 of cotton, 13 of oilseeds, six of pulses, and six of sugarcane.
Cultivating these crops will increase yields, resulting in higher incomes for farmers. Indeed, India’s current position in the global agricultural sector is due to the unwavering dedication of various Prime Ministers. The late Lal Bahadur Shastri was particularly keen on increasing milk production, while in the field of food grain production, he initiated the Green Revolution in India. During his short 18-month tenure in 1964-65, Shastri focused most of his efforts on the agricultural sector. In 1965, during the war with Pakistan, when the US stopped providing food aid to India under PL-480, he made it a matter of national pride and self-reliance.
Simultaneously, he made tireless efforts to increase milk production. In 1965, Shastri initiated this effort in the Kheda district of Gujarat, holding meetings with farmers until two in the morning. He concluded that this work could be done under the leadership of agricultural scientist Dr. Verghese Kurien, and subsequently established the National Dairy Development Board. The impact of this milk revolution, which began in Gujarat, is that India has now become the world’s leading producer of milk. However, during the Modi era, an experiment was also conducted in the Beed district of Maharashtra to increase farmers’ incomes. This region experienced a drought in 2015-16, and the farmers’ soybean and cotton crops were ruined. Since then, under the umbrella of the NGO Krishikul, farmers have diversified their farming practices, shifting from traditional crops to fruit production, resulting in a significant increase in their income over the past ten years. Therefore, the success of agricultural development in India is due to the equal roles played by both the government and the farmers.
