Agricultural Revolution in India Continues with a Greater Vigor

Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, continuous reforms and farmer-centric initiatives have led to steady growth in the agriculture sector and the country has achieved record production of paddy, wheat, maize, groundnut and soybean.

- Shivraj Singh Chouhan

As per the third Advance Estimates for the production of major agricultural crops for the agricultural year 2024-25, Total food grain production in the year 2024-25 is estimated at 353.96 million tonnes which is the highest food grain production till date and 40% more than the year 2014-15 (252.02 million tonnes).

Indian agriculture has transformed from stagnation and food insecurity before the 1960s to achieving food surpluses today, disproving the Malthusian belief that population growth would outstrip food production. In 1967, William and Paul Paddock predicted famine in India, claiming it couldn't feed its growing population and controversially argued against food aid, fearing it would worsen future starvation.

The Green Revolution, driven by high-yielding rice and wheat varieties, agrochemicals, and irrigation, proved the Paddocks wrong by boosting India’s foodgrain production from 74 million tons in 1966-67 to 130 million tons by 1979-80. Annual gains peaked at 8.1 million tons (2014-2025), reaching 354 million tons. Horticulture also surged from 40 million tons in the 1960s to 334 million tons in 2024-25, with recent annual increases of 7.5 million tons. Crop production has also become more stable due to advances in stress-tolerant varieties and resilient farming practices.