Agriculture in India happens to face several constraints and challenges especially in the areas of natural resource management as well as for application of modern technologies to achieve reduction in cultivation cost, lowering of the adverse environmental impact, better health management and value addition.

India's strategy for reducing poverty and hunger has always placed a great deal of importance on the agricultural sector, reflecting the fact that 70 percent of the population lives in rural areas and the overwhelming majority of them depend upon agriculture as their primary source of income. The focus of attention has of course changed over time.

The Indian Agriculture is traditionally organic and farmers were following organic cultivation till the middle of the last century (1950). The Green Revolution was ushered in India during sixty and it has been the cornerstone of India's agricultural achievement, transforming the country from the stage of food deficiency to self-sufficiency. During the period, the production of food grains has increased four folds, from 50.82 MT in1950-51 to 227.3 MT on 2007-08.

Between the 1950s and 1970s, major advances in technology such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, improved seed varieties, better irrigation and farm technology led to huge gains in the amount of food the farmers were able to grow.This "green revolution" caused crop yields in to shoot up, protecting many people from starvation.

The changes in agri food systems have significant implications for growth, poverty and food security. On the positive side, trends show that there is a rapid increase of value addition opportunities through agribusiness relative to primary production. Agro-processing enterprises are increasing demand and the effective size of market for farmers’ products.

Although some of these technologies were found to have drawbacks — for example, chemical fertilizer can deplete the soil of nutrients and pollute water — the green revolution undeniably saved lives. But indiscriminate and excessive use of chemicals during this period has put forth a question mark on sustainability of agriculture in the long run calling attention for sustainable production which will address soil health, human health and environmental health and eco-friendly agriculture.

The most important among the internal threats to sustainable food security is the damage to the ecological foundations essential for sustained agricultural advance, like land, water, forests and biodiversity. Second, a technology fatigue / technology destroy the very basis for future production, by degrading the soil and generating pest and weed problems, it becomes increasingly difficult and costly to sustain yields. Linkages between the laboratory and the field have weakened and extension services have often little to extend by way of location, time and farming system specific information and advice.

It is unclear whether high-intensity agriculture can be sustained, because of the loss of soil fertility, the erosion of soil, the increased incidence of crop and livestock diseases, and the high energy and chemical inputs associated with it.The search is on for practices that can provide sustainable yields, preferably comparable to those of high-intensity agriculture but with fewer environmental costs. We could derive from the knowledge of our traditional agricultural practices which is being popularized as organic agriculture.

How do we come to terms with these facts?
The promise, and perhaps the greatest challenge ever faced by us, is that this present form of agriculture cannot continue. The Green Revolution has increased energy inputs to agriculture to levels around 50 times those of traditional agriculture. To succeed is to survive – to avoid more widespread hunger, and develop sustainable, healthy food systems.

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