Agri-Food System of India – Problems and Prospects

Why in News?

As India embarks on its transformative journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047, no challenge is more fundamental than reimagining how we produce, process, trade, and consume food.

What are agri-food systems?

• Agri-food systems – It is a complex network encompassing all activities from agricultural production (crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry) to consumption and disposal, including storage, processing, transportation, distribution, and marketing.
• Components – The components of agrifood systems are production, processing, distribution, consumption, disposal/reusing.

• Global economic value – The global agrifood system has significant direct economic value from agricultural output, which was approximately $4.8 trillion in 2024-2025.
• Beyond this, the system's reach extends much further, encompassing storage, processing, transportation, and retail, making it a foundational economic sector.
• Hidden costs – The value is complicated by $10-$12 trillion in annual hidden costs, mainly from unhealthy diets leading to diseases, that are not accounted for in traditional economic analyses.

What are the scenarios in India?

• Total value – The Indian food processing market is anticipated to reach $535 billion by 2025.
• The gross value of output from agriculture and allied sectors was ₹29.49 lakh crore in 2023-24, with continued growth anticipated.
• Hidden costs – A $1.3 trillion hidden cost associated with these systems, driven largely by unhealthy diets.
• Total production of agro – foods
  • Food grains – 354 million tonnes
  • Horticulture – 367 million tonnes  
  • Milk production – 239.30 million tonnes
• Exports – $51.91 billion in exports
• Challenges – Significant nutritional deficiencies persist particularly among children under 5 years and women of reproductive age.
• This paradox of being food secure while remaining nutritionally vulnerable illustrates why incremental reforms are insufficient.

What are the legacy of green revolution?

• Focus on rice and wheat – For over five decades, India’s agricultural policy has been optimised for maximum yields and price stabilisation through public procurement of rice and wheat.
• Associated challenges – While achieving food security, this approach created today’s challenges
  • Soil degradation in one-third of agricultural land,
  • Water stress in more than half the country’s districts,
  • Critically low soil organic carbon levels, and increasing market risks for farmers.
• Climate change further exacerbates these challenges.
• Despite surplus production, nutritional deficiencies persist across all income groups.
• Government initiatives – Schemes such as the
  • Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)
  • Pradhan Mantri Dhan-Dhanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY)
  • National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF)

• These policies , are in the right direction and intend to optimise resource use and prioritise livelihoods and sustainable agriculture,however, there is a long way to go

 Why there is a need for agri-food system framework?

• Increased non-farm employments – The average non-farm sector income is more than twice that of farming, high yield gaps, and a food surplus in most commodities.
• India needs a complete transformation from production-focused agriculture to comprehensive agrifood systems.
• Offers a shift – The agrifood systems framework offers a paradigm shift away from single-metric optimisation.
• Provides optimization – Instead of maximising only yields, it seeks to optimise simultaneously across three critical dimensions:
  • Economic viability for farmers,
  • Human health outcomes, and
  • Environmental sustainability.
• Recognises our food systems – This approach recognises that our food system encompasses the entire journey from farm to plate, not just production.

What are the triple challenge of 2047?

• Triple challenges
  • Guaranteeing food security – By 2047, India must feed 1.6 billion people
  • Ensuring adequate nutrition, not just calories.
  • Simultaneously reversing decades of environmental degradation and build resilience against escalating climate risks.
• Restructuring – This triple challenge demands fundamental restructuring.
  • Economic optimization – It means creating market-driven production systems that respond to consumer demand for diverse, nutritious, and sustainable foods rather than just staple grains.
  • Health optimization – It involves transitioning from “eating enough” to “eating well”—promoting nutritious commodities like millets, legumes, fruits, vegetables, fish, and dairy that provide essential nutrients.
  • Environmental optimization – It requires regenerative practices that improve soil health, conserve water, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining productivity.

What can be the pillars of transformation?

• Research Reorientation – Programmes prioritising nutritional quality and regenerative systems alongside yield, and resource use efficiency
• Research optimising resource use, across entire watersheds and landscapes, and inclusive value chain innovations promoting inclusion and circularity within food systems.

• The future lies in research that treats farms as part of larger ecosystems, rather than isolated production units.
• Digital innovations — Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), the Internet of Things (IoT), and real-time integrated data dashboards can accelerate research outcomes and power efficient decision-making.
• Policy Repurposing – Agriculture subsidies should be repurposed from unsustainable practices toward sustainable practices, climate-resilient infrastructure, and market-driven incentives.
• Policy reforms are needed to attract increased private investments into agricultural supply chains.
• True cost accounting for heavily subsidised energy and water resources will help correct distorted production decisions.
• Eco-labelling and green credit systems – It can create market incentives for sustainable practices, making environmental stewardship economically attractive.
• The farmers must be compensated for the societal ecosystem services generated by agriculture.
• Institutional Innovations – The transformation requires new institutional arrangements that navigate complexity and foster collaboration.
• Farmer-producer organisations/companies (FPOs/FPCs) and women’s SHGs (self-help groups), besides cooperatives, can become the vehicle of agricultural transformation.
• Improving collaboration – Aligning FPOs/FPCs with agri-tech start-ups and anchoring them to the National Agricultural Research and Extension System (NARES) could be a game-changer in nurturing innovations.
• Encouraging entrepreneurship – Agri-tech start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs who face inconsistent markets and high transaction costs need greater policy incentives like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and NARES’s support for domain knowledge.
• Setting up of regional task forces – We need district-level and state-level task forces for agri-food systems that bring together farmers, researchers, extension, policymakers, processors, retailers, and consumers to coordinate local food systems.
• Awarness creation – To mainstream the agri-food systems approach in planning and action, there would be a need to create sustained awareness of systems thinking and strengthen capacity across scales and ensure enabling governance.
• Cross-sectoral Convergence – Food system transformation requires unprecedented coordination across government departments.
• From agriculture and water resources to power, rural development, food processing, fertilisers, environment and climate change, and nutrition sectors coordination is essential.
• This convergence extends beyond government to include private sector actors, civil society organisations, and research institutions.
• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) could play the role of a catalyst in encouraging this cross-coordination.

What are the Implementation Imperatives?

• Helps in policy making – This data-driven approach enables evidence-based policymaking and helps navigate trade-offs between objectives.
• Offers immediate benefits – It includes reduced transportation costs, improved food freshness, and enhanced community resilience and nutrition.
• Strengthens local food systems – Contextualised innovations and business models can strengthen local food systems, improve nutrition, and create employment opportunities across rural areas.
• Reduces income disparity – It addresses the income disparity where non-farm income is 2.5 times higher than farm income.
• Creates employment – It can create millions of jobs across the food value chain while preserving natural resources for future generations.
• Promotes waste to health – This approach transforms agricultural residues into valuable resources—biofuels, compost, or other products—creating additional income streams while reducing environmental pollution.
• Creates a cycle of sustainability – Combined with good agricultural practices and robust food safety standards, this creates a virtuous cycle of sustainability and profitability.
• Future prospects – A successful agri-food systems transformation can position India as a global leader in sustainable food production while ensuring nutritional security for all citizens.

What lies ahead?

• As we work toward Viksit Bharat 2047, how we transform our food system will largely determine whether we achieve our vision of a developed, prosperous, and sustainable India.
• The choice is clear that continue with incremental changes or embrace a comprehensive transformation that our future demands.
• The time for systems thinking in agriculture is now and India’s agri-food revolution awaits

Reference

Down To Earth| Agri Food System