Constraints and Opportunities for Agricultural and Rural Development in Different Agro-Ecological Regions

Agricultural and rural development in India are currently facing a new set of challenges. The linkages of primary sector development with poverty eradication, sustainable use of natural resources and international trade have become more pronounced. The close ties of agriculture with nature subjects it to the problems of droughts, floods, cyclones and pests and disease infestations which call for measures and policies to mitigate their adverse effects. Declining soil and land fertility, growing dependence on chemical fertilizers and the excessive use of pesticides, all of which aggravate the problem of environmental degradation, have raised questions about the sustainability of the very technologies which have become the basis of intensive farming. Developments taking place in the regime of international agricultural trade have also led to diversification of commodities within the country and raised questions about the competitiveness of Indian agriculture vis-?-vis world agriculture. The time has now come when the country must try to break the productivity barriers attained so far, tackle the concerns raised in respect of conservation of production environments and take advantage of the opportunities posed by developments in international trade relations, within the overall context of ensuring the food security of the people of the country. Re-thinking is also necessary in the context of the ongoing of domestic economic and financial reforms whose influence will permeate to the agricultural sector as well.