What do we know about the future of food systems in India?

Sedithippa Janarthanan Balaji, Pratap S. Birthal and Barun Deb Pal

Chapter 25 in What do we know about the future of food systems?, 2025-07-21, pp p. 145-150 from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: Rapid growth in the livestock and fisheries subsectors, driven by increasing demand, has advanced the frontiers of agricultural growth in India. Irrigation plays the dual role of enhancing both productivity and resilience in agriculture, but increasing reliance on groundwater for irrigation and the consequent decline in groundwater levels impede the sustainable transformation of India’s agrifood production systems. Although climate change is a significant challenge to the sustainability of agriculture, implementation of climate-smart interventions can significantly improve agricultural productivity and resilience. Changing dietary patterns reinforce the need to reshape agricultural policies to promote diversification of agriculture in favor of nutrient-dense foods, including animal-source foods and fruits and vegetables. Diversification may contribute to the enhanced sustainability of natural resources, mitigate risk, and augment farm income, thereby addressing nutrition insecurity and reducing farm poverty. Enhancing self-sufficiency in specific commodities, such as edible oils and pulses, requires technological advancements and safeguards against low-cost imports.

Keywords: food systems; agrifood sector; groundwater irrigation; climate-smart agriculture; agricultural productivity; agrifood systems; livestock; India; Asia; Southern Asia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-07-21
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175512

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:ifpric:175512

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in IFPRI book chapters from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().