Sir,
The people-both young and old should understand the value of agriculture in their daily life. Agricultural literacy is important as the financial literacy. Every literate person knows that India is at second rank in the population production in the world. But how many Indians know that agriculture is the largest private sector enterprise in India? How many people know that India ranks second in agricultural production in the world? Indian agricultural sector provides more employment to the people without reservation and Government intervention. During 2000 and 2015, the Indian population increased by 25 per cent. The average meat consumption in the world is 42 kg/person/year whereas in India meat consumption is only 4 Kg/person/year. The top three foods in terms of value and volume in India are vegetables, milk and rice respectively. Agriculture contributes about 14 per cent to India’s economic output, despite nearly half of country’s population being involved in farm related activities. India’s global share in services and industrial sector is pretty dismal. But our country ranks high in agricultural sector. India’s foreign exchange earnings from international trade of agricultural products are higher than services and industrial trade. India is the largest producer of milk and second largest producer of food grains as also fruits and vegetables and even sugarcane. Indian food economy is different from the world. Our small farms are producing a variety of agricultural, horticultural and livestock products. The aggregate agricultural output/ha/year in India is higher than countries like the USA that practice large scale, industrialized and capital-intensive farming. Our agriculture is diverse and much more resilient than generally recognised. India grows and uses a large variety of crops under each category. It has become socially fashionable to look down upon and belittle our agriculture.
Yours etc….
Dr.Banarsi Lal
Jammu
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