Agricultural Investment and Food Security in India

The problem of food security is likely to be aggravated in India due to increase in its population, growing urbanization, shift in acreage from foodgrain to non-foodgrain crops, and increase in per capita real incomes. To attain food security, top priority must be given to promoting sustainable agricultural production systems by increasing investment on agriculture. The share of agriculture and allied sector in total plan outlay was 14.9 per cent ( 354 crore) during 1^st five-year plan which has decreased to 3.7 per cent ( 136381 crore) during XI^th five-year plan (2007–12). The important segment of agricultural investment was crop husbandry ( 7431 crore), followed by forestry and wildlife ( 782 crore) during 2011–12. The government investment in agricultural research over the past decade has certainly increased in absolute terms, but has declined relative to the size of agricultural sector. The private sector investment in agriculture has continuously increased and has contributed more than the public investment. More than three –fourth share in total investment is of the private sector. Thus, there is a need to enhance public sector investment in agriculture and allied sector to boost infrastructure in agriculture so that the productivity of this sector can be enhanced.