Evidence of the presence of wheat and some legumes in the 6th millennium BC have been found in

the Indus Valley. Oranges were cultivated in the same millennium. The crops grown in the valley
around 4000 BC were typically wheat, peas, sesame seed, barley, dates and mangoes. By 3500 BC
cotton growing and cotton textiles were quite advanced in the valley. By 3000 BC farming of rice had
started. Other monsoon crops of importance of the time was cane sugar. By 2500 BC, rice was an
important component of the staple diet in Mohenjodaro near the Arabian Sea. The Indus Plain had
rich alluvial deposits which came down the Indus River in annual floods. This helped sustain farming
that formed basis of the Indus Valley Civilization at Harappa. The people built dams and drainage
systems for the crops.
By 2000 BC tea, bananas and apples were being cultivated in India. There was coconut trade with
East Africa in 200 BC. 
By 500 AC, egg plants were being cultivated.
After independence, considering India's growing population, the government took steps to increase
the food production. Yields per unit area of all crops have grown since 1950. The 1970s saw a huge
increase in India's wheat production. This is known as the Green Revolution in the country. Reasons
for the growth are the special emphasis placed on agriculture and steady improvements in irrigation,
technology, application of modern agricultural practices and provision of agricultural credit and
subsidies. Operation Flood was the name of a rural development programme started by the National
Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1970 with the objective of creating a nationwide milk grid. This
movement followed the and helped in alleviating poverty and famine levels from dangerous
proportions in India during the era. It resulted in India becoming the largest producer of milk and milk
products, so it is also called the White Revolution of India. India is the largest producer in the world of
milk, cashew nuts, coconuts, tea, ginger, turmeric and black pepper. It also has the world's largest
cattle population (193 million). India ranks second worldwide in farm output. It is the second largest
producer of wheat, rice, sugar, groundnut and inland fish. It is the third largest producer of tobacco.
India accounts for 10 per cent of the world fruit production with first rank in the production of banana
and sapota. Despite high growth, international comparisons reveal that the average yield in India is
generally 30% to 50% of the highest average yield in the world.The low productivity in India is a result
of the following factors:
Illiteracy, general socio-economic backwardness, reforms and inadequate or inefficient finance and
marketing services for farm produce. The average size of land holdings is very small (less than
20,000 m²) and are subject to fragmentation, due to land ceiling acts and in some cases, family
disputes. Such small holdings are often over-manned, resulting in disguised unemployment and low
productivity of labour. 
Adoption of modern agricultural practices and use of technology is inadequate, hampered by
ignorance of such practices, high costs and impracticality in the case of small land holdings. Irrigation
facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 53.6% of the land was irrigated in 2000–01,
[4] which result in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the Monsoon season. A good
monsoon results in a robust growth for the economy as a whole, while a poor monsoon leads to a
sluggish growth.[5] Farm credit is regulated by NABARD, which is the statutory apex agent for rural
development in the subcontinent. 
In the last few decades several farmers have committed suicide especially in the states of Andhra
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala. Combating this has become a major challenge for
these governments. Some of the causes for the deaths include indebtedness of small and marginal
farmers and repeated crop failures.

Agriculture (about 55% of the land is arable) makes up some 25% of the gross domestic product
(GDP) and employs almost 70% of the Indian people. Vast quantities of rice are grown wherever the
land is level and water plentiful; other crops are wheat, pulses, sugarcane, jowar (sorghum), bajra (a
cereal), and corn. Cotton, tobacco, oilseeds, and jute are the principal nonfood crops. There are large
tea plantations in Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. The opium poppy is also grown, both
for the legal pharmaceutical market and the illegal drug trade; cannabis is produced as well.
Fragmentation of holdings, outmoded methods of crop production, and delays in acceptance of
newer, high-yielding grains were characteristic of Indian agriculture in the past, but since the Green
Revolution of the 1970s, significant progress has been made in these areas. Improved irrigation, the
introduction of chemical fertilizers, and the use of high-yield strains of rice and wheat have led to
record harvests, and India became an net exporter of grain in the early 1980s. The subsistence-level
existence of village India, ever threatened by drought, flood, famine, and disease, has been
somewhat alleviated by government agricultural modernization efforts, but although India's gross food
output has been generally sufficient for the the needs of its enormous population, government price
supports and an inadequate distribution system still threaten many impoverished Indians with hunger
and starvation. An estimated 40% of the population is too poor to afford adequate nourishment
regularly. India has perhaps more cattle per capita than any other country, but their economic value is
severely limited by the Hindu prohibition against their slaughter. Goats and sheep are raised in the
arid regions of the west and northwest. Water buffalo are raised and there is a large fish catch.
India is predominantly an agrarian country with nearly three fourths of the people dependent on
agriculture or rural economy. The most outstanding achievement of Indian agriculture since
independence is the phenomenal growth of foodgrains output. During the last three decades, Indian
agriculture has experienced a revolutionary breakthrough in foodgrain production leading the country
from deficit and import arena to the positive situation of self-sufficiency and buffer stocks. The
foodgrain production in the country increased from 50.8 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 152.37 million
tonnes in 1983-84,

BOOK

But the growth of Indian agriculture still continues to be linlked with the vagaries of nature. Some of
the states in the country have come across the unprecedented draught of the century for the fourth
successive year which has caused tremendous hardship to the people as also loss of production of
foodgrains in those states.