India’s agricultural sector continues to play a pivotal role in sustaining rural livelihoods, ensuring economic resilience, and safeguarding national food security. Agriculture and allied activities account for nearly one-fifth of the country’s gross value added at current prices, employ approximately 46.1 per cent of the workforce, and support close to 55 per cent of the population.
Over the past five years, the sector has achieved an average annual growth rate of around 4.4 per cent at constant prices, reflecting enhanced expansion supported by improved farm practices, technological integration, and more resilient production systems.
Unprecedented yield
In the agricultural year 2024-25, India recorded an unprecedented foodgrain output of 357.73 million metric tonnes (MMT), marking an increase of 25.43 MMT over the preceding year, reflecting sustained gains in productivity, improved input management, and strengthened institutional support to farmers.
The increase was primarily driven by higher production of rice, wheat, maize, and coarse cereals (including millets, designated as Shree Anna).
India holds a strong position in global agriculture, supported by diversified production systems and region-specific strengths across cereals, pulses, horticulture, and plantation crops
Horticulture has simultaneously emerged as a major driver of agricultural transformation and value addition. Total horticulture production reached 362.08 MT in 2024-25, indicating a structural shift towards high-value crops.
Agricultural exports, too, have grown steadily in recent years. The export earnings increased from $34.5 billion in FY20 to $51.1 billion in FY25, reflecting a CAGR of 8.2 per cent. In FY25, agri-food exports, including processed food products, amounted to $49.43 billion, accounting for about 11.2 per cent of total exports.
These trends underline the expanding role of processed and diversified agricultural products in strengthening export competitiveness while creating new opportunities across production, processing, and global market integration.
Cereal dominance
India holds a strong position in global agriculture, supported by diversified production systems and region-specific strengths across cereals, pulses, horticulture, and plantation crops. With the world’s second-largest agricultural land area, India is a global leader in farm output.
Rice and wheat: India ranks as the world’s second-largest producer of both rice and wheat, with output reaching 150.18 million tonnes of rice and 117.94 million tonnes of wheat during the agricultural year 2024-25.
Pulses and millets: India also leads globally in pulse production, recording an output of 25.68 million tonnes (2024-25), with Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan serving as the principal producing states. The country also ranks first worldwide in millet production, achieving approximately 18.59 million tonnes (2024-25), largely driven by Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
In terms of trade performance, rice exports reached $12.95 billion in 2024-2025, while exports of pulses and millets amounted to $855 million and $59.20 million, respectively.
Horticulture position
Fruits and vegetables: India is the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables, with output reaching 114.51 million tonnes of fruits and 219.67 million tonnes of vegetables in 2024-25.
Fruit production is primarily concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, while Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Gujarat lead vegetable output.
Exports of fruits and vegetables amounted to USD 1,818.56 million in 2024-25, reflecting the increasing contribution of high-value horticulture crops to India’s agricultural trade and in global market integration.
Dry onion: India also ranks first globally in dry onion production, contributing nearly 25 per cent of total world output, largely from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.
Sugarcane: In high-value cash crops, India is the second-largest producer of sugarcane, with output of 454.61 million tonnes (2024-25), mainly from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Top global rankings
Cotton: India ranks as the world’s second largest producer of cotton, with output estimated at approximately 5.05million tonnes in 2024-25.
Tea: India ranks second globally in tea production, with output reaching 1.203 million tonnes during April-December 2024-25. Production is concentrated in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.
Spices: India continues to lead the world as the leading producer, with total production reaching 12 million metric tonnes in 2023-24. Spices exports reached $4.52 billion in FY25.
Coconut: Globally, India tops in coconut production, with an annual output of approximately 21.3 billion nuts.
Coffee: India produces around 0.36 million tonnes of coffee annually, with nearly 70 per cent exported to 128 countries. Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu are the principal producing states.
Policy interventions
India’s agricultural policy framework combines financial support, productivity enhancement, and risk management measures to strengthen farmer welfare and sectoral resilience.
The Government has significantly enhanced budgetary allocations to the agriculture sector, underscoring a long-term policy commitment to strengthening farmers’ welfare and rural livelihoods, and over the years, reflecting a consistent commitment to farmers’ welfare.
The country’s agricultural development strategy has progressively shifted towards enhancing productivity through improved input-use efficiency, technological adoption, and the promotion of sustainable agronomic practices.
Mission-oriented interventions – National Food Security and Nutrition Mission, Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, and the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oilseeds and Oil Palm – along with targeted extension and institutional credit support, are driving this structural transformation toward higher productivity, reduced import dependence, and enhanced resilience within the agricultural sector.
Price and income support
The Minimum Support Price (MSP) has been announced for 22 mandated crops and fixed at least 1.5 times the cost of production, with upward revisions for the kharif and rabi marketing seasons 2026-27
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), over Rs.4.27 lakh crore has been disbursed in 22 instalments (as on March 17), providing direct income support to farmers.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PMKMY) has enrolled 24.95 lakh farmers as of February 2, 2026, extending social security coverage to small and marginal cultivators.
Apart from that, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), is a Central sector scheme offering annual financial assistance of Rs. 6,000 to each eligible farmer family. Also, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PMKMY) scheme aims to provide social security net for the small and marginal farmers by way of pension.
Strengthening cooperatives
Of the 67,930 primary agricultural credit societies (PACS) under computerisation, 54,150 have been onboarded onto Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms, with 43,658 operational.
A total of 18,183 new multipurpose cooperative societies were registered by March 2025. A decentralised grain storage programme is operational in 11 PACS, with 500 new godowns announced in 2024 to enhance local storage capacity.
Institutional reforms through the National Cooperation Policy and Tribhuvan Sahkari University aim to strengthen governance and capacity-building within the cooperative sector.
Collectively, these interventions consolidate income stability, institutional risk protection, and expand collective market access, thereby reinforcing the resilience and long-term sustainability of the country’s agricultural economy.