Agriculture is a way of life and a tradition for millions of cultivators in India for centuries. More than 60% of people depend on agriculture, directly or indirectly. Agriculture and allied sector accounted 13.9% of the GDP in 2013. Since independence, Indian agriculture has made rapid strides. At the time of independence India was facing the problem of food shortages. The annual food production at that time was 51 million tones. It increased to 259.32 million tones by 2011–12. The first National Agricultural Policy was announced by the Government of India during 2000, for the development of agricultural sector. Agricultural policies influence through their influence on prices of input and output. While self sufficiency in food grains was the objective of Agricultural policy in the initial years of planning in India, later it was shifted towards increasing the returns on investment in Agriculture. The Policies adopted by the Government of India resulted in attaining self sufficiency in food grains. After the introduction of agriculture policy, there is a shift in the cropping pattern resulting in the decline continuously in area under food crops and increase in the area under non- food crops continuously. This has an influence on the prices of food grains and the food security.
In the present study analyzes the influence of agricultural policy on changing cropping pattern in India, before and after announcement of the Agricultural policy in India 2000. In analyzing the impact the study looks into the prospects for food security in India.
