Agricultural Policy of India, Objectives, Components, Key Details

Agriculture Policy of India helps build the agricultural economy of India. Agriculture provides food security for people, raw material to industries and employment to the workforce. The policy serves as a strategic framework that boosts production, increases productivity and improves farmers’ incomes and ensures a sustainable rural development. It also helps build resilience, equitable and environmentally sustainable agricultural systems for the future. In this article, we are going to cover the agricultural policy in India, its objectives, components and historical contexts of the policy. 

Agricultural Policy of India

• The Agricultural Policy of India introduced by the Government of India helps design the vision of achieving: 
  • Increased foodgrain and crop production 
  • Improved farm productivity 
  • Higher profits for farmers 
  • Long- term sustainability of natural resources. 
• Agricultural policy of India manages the challenges like fragmented landholdings, resource mismanagement, lack of technology adoption, market inefficiencies and vulnerability to climate change. 
• The policy encourages the adoption of sustainable farming practices, efficient uses of resources, crop diversification, research and innovation and better market access. 
• Helps improve the livelihood security of small and marginal farmers, who form the majority of India’s farming community. 

Agricultural Policy of India Objectives

The Agricultural Policy of India has the following objectives: 

• Efficient use of HYV seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and modern irrigation systems to maximise output and increase the productivity of inputs. 
• Increases value added per hectare by improving farm income by raising productivity. 
• Protects marginal farmers by introducing land reforms, abolition of intermediaries and expansion of institutional credit support to empower poor farmers. 
• Modernise agriculture by adoption of modern technology, precision farming and mechanisation to improve efficiency. 
• Ensures environmental sustainability by preventing land degradation, soil erosion and groundwater depletion to provide long term productivity. 
• Promotes research and training by strengthening agricultural research, innovation and extension services to provide modernised technology to farmers. 
• Reduces bureaucratic hurdles to empower farmer cooperatives and self help groups by cutting red tape and ease processes. 

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Agricultural Policy of India Components

The major components of agricultural policy in India include: 

• Improves input productivity by improving the efficiency of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation projects. 
• Provides value addition and crop diversification to promote food processing, packaging and multi-crop projects. 
• Supports marginal farmers to provide subsidies, institutional credit and land reforms for equitable growth. 
• Modernises farming practices to introduce mechanisation, scientific irrigation, biotechnology and precision agriculture. 
• Environmental protection and soil health encourages organic farming, crop rotation, watershed management and sustainable resource use.  
• Agricultural research and extension services strengthen the research farmer linkage to improve knowledge transfer. 
• Removes bureaucratic bottlenecks by streamlining credit, subsidies and administrative procedures for smoother implementation. 

National Agricultural Policy, 2000

A landmark in India’s agricultural framework was the National Agricultural Policy (NAP) 2000, announced on 28 July 2000.

• Target: Achieve over 4% annual growth rate in agriculture.
• Focus: Efficient resource use, modern technology, private investment, price protection under WTO, and sustainable development.
• Rationale: Agriculture’s sluggish growth in the 1990s due to inadequate capital, poor infrastructure, and market restrictions.
• Vision: To make farming more competitive, sustainable, equitable, and remunerative.

National Agricultural Policy, 2000 Objectives

National Agricultural Policy 2000 has the following objectives: 

1. Achieve agricultural growth of over 4% per annum.
2. Ensure efficient use of natural resources like land, water, and biodiversity.
3. Promote equity and inclusivity uplifting small and marginal farmers.
4. Develop a demand-driven system, responsive to both domestic and export markets.
5. Ensure technologically and environmentally sustainable growth.
   

Agricultural Policy Price

• The Agricultural Price Policy safeguards both farmers and consumers.
• Through Minimum Support Prices (MSP), procurement policies, and subsidies, it ensures:
  • Farmers get remunerative prices,
  • Consumers get food at affordable rates, and
  • Agricultural markets remain stable and predictable.
    

It plays a critical role in food security, production stability, and reducing farmer distress caused by price fluctuations.