India believed in self sufficiency. For that agriculture to be in the forefront is imperative. The green revolution of 60s helped India to maintain self sufficiency in agriculture. I agree with Rajeev that our policies are languishing & we have far more scope for improvement. Acknowledging it is a first step
Agriculture is still disorganized and the population explosion makes farm land smaller and smaller as their family splits. Removing the land dividers will free up more arable land. Capitalism and privatization as many point would diminish farmers, robbing the rich genetic diversity preserved by them and leading to large monoculture farm lands. We do not need large corporates with genetically engineered products eager to impose standards & techniques benefiting their bottom-line.
What we need is a Comprehensive policy on Seeds, fertilizers, Marketing, Patenting, Insurance, & reducing food decay. One should aim for a collective/co-operative society where a farmer has its own stake, for sustainable development of their community based on ages old Indian farming methodology. We would be better off using our strengths, our population rather than copying western models.
