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Indian agriculture has been taking a special place in the lifestyle of the Indians. Moreover, with the passing decades, Indian architecture has earned multi-functional success in generating employment, food, livelihood, nutritional and ecological security. Agriculture and associated activities of Indian agriculture contribute about 30% to the gross domestic product of India.
Arable land area in India is about 168 million hectares and this country ranks second only to the U.S. in regards to agricultural activities. A well-developed agricultural research system, a significant area of almost 60 million hectares under irrigation and an increasing productivity in major crops has enabled Indian agriculture to become a globally competitive participant. The United Nations guess that with guaranteed irrigation, India`s food grains output can increase almost six times within five years. Indian Agriculture by its complete size and quantum of the activity can control the global markets directly and indirectly. Majority of rural population in India still depend on agriculture for their living and over 600 million farmers are involved in the agriculture related activities.
India agriculture has the advantage of 52% of cultivable land and a plethora of climatic conditions. India enjoys sunshine round the year it is the world`s best country to grow crops throughout the year. Due to urbanization and rapid growth in the metropolis there is increased demand in the food supply. Too many layers of middlemen, weak supply chain, lack of proper training for the farmers and the presence of some of the factors leadings to wastage and inefficiencies in food supply chain was checked by using IT and collaborations though "Farm to Fork Strategy".
The history of Indian agriculture dates back to ten thousand years. Indian agriculture began during 9000 BCE as a result of early cultivation of plants, and domestication of crops and animals. The Middle Ages in India saw irrigation channels that reached a new level of sophistication in India. Land and water management systems were developed with an objective of providing uniform growth. Today, India ranks second in the whole world as an agricultural country. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounts for almost 16.6% of the GDP in 2007. The Indian agricultural sector employed 60% of the total workforce, despite a steady decline of its share in the GDP, it is still the largest economic sector, and Indian agriculture plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic development of India.
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