For increasing the availability of food several steps have been taken such as the following:

• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana with an outlay of Rs. 25000 crore.

• Naitonal Food Security Mission with an outlay of about Rs. 6,000 crore.

• National Horticulture Mission with an outlay of Rs 10,363.46 crore during the 11 the Five-Year Plan period.

• There are many other schemes dealing with different areas of production, such as soil healthcare, crop protection, and irrigation. Inspite of all these schemes our agriculture is still very vulnerable to the behaviour of the monsoon.

• Our country faces the challenge of producing food not only for 1.2 billion people, but also for about a billion farm animals.

• Nearly seventy per cent of our population lives in villages and their main sources of livelihood are crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, agro-forestry, agro-processing and agri-business

• The National Commission on Farmers (2004-06) has provided a detailed strategy for the agricultural progress of India.

• Food is the first among the hierarchical needs of a human being. Therefore, food security should have the first charge on the available financial resources.

• A National Food Security Act giving legal rights to food can be implemented only by attending to the safe storage of both grains and perishable commodities like fruits, vegetables and milk.

Indian Agri-Business:

Facts and Figure:-

1. 2nd largest arable land (184 million hectares) in the world

2. Largest irrigated land (55 million hectares) in the world

3. Largest producer of wheat (72 million tones), accounting for nearly 15% of global wheat production

4. Largest producer of pulses (15 million tones), accounting for nearly 21 % of global pulse production

5. Largest producer of milk (90 million tones)

6. Largest producer and exporter of spices

7. Largest producer of tea, accounting for nearly 28% of the global tea production

8. 2nd largest producer of rice (92 million tones), accounting for nearly 22% of global rice production.

9. Largest producer of world's best basmati rice

10. 2nd largest producer of fruits (50 million tones) and vegetables (100 million tones)

11. 2nd largest producer of sugarcane (296 million tones), accounting for nearly 21 % of the global sugarcane production

12. 3rd largest producer of coarse grains (31 million tones), including maize, accounting for nearly 4% of the global coarse grain production

13. 3rd largest producer of edible oilseeds (25 million tones), accounting for nearly 7% of the global oilseed production

14. Largest livestock population

15. India produces 6.3 million tones offish (3rd largest in the world) Meat production is estimated at 2.3 million tones.

Progress under the national horticulture Mission:

• Between 2005-06 to 2009-10, 2199 new nurseries were setup, additional area of about 16.56 lakh hectares was brought under new gardens of various horticultural crops and 2.78 lakh hectare of old and senile orchards was rejuvenated under the national Horticulture Mission. An area of 1.37 lakh hectare was covered under organic farming. Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) were adopted in an area of 7.48 lakh hectares apart from setting up of 307 INM/IPM infrastructure which include 66 disease forecasting units, 78 bio control labs, 95 plant health clinics and 68 leaf/tissue analysis labs. Under Post Harvest Management Component, funds have been provided for setting up of 1328 pack houses, 343 cold storage units, 5 CA storage, 30 refrigerated vans, and 346 mobile/primary processing units. To ensure proper handling and marketing of horticulture produce, funds have been provided for setting up 32 whole sale markets and 298 rural markets. 7.74lakh farmers have been trained under various horticultural activities.

• A web enabled progress monitoring system has been put in place to monitor progress under NHM on monthly basis. The system enables online uploading of physical and financial progress for each of the activities approved for implementation as per the Annual Action Plan at the state level as well as at the district level on the NHM web site. The System also facilitates the generation of different types of reports at national, state and district levels for the purpose of analysis and review.

• AGRICULTURE in India still accounts for 52% of employment .12 % of national export and 17.8% of GDP.

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