The Aim of the Next Farm Revolution Must be to Significantly Raise Farmers' Incomes

Gist Despite achieving a consistent agricultural growth rate of 4 percent and robust food security over the last decade, India faces a critical mismatch between crop production and actual consumption demands. While basic staples like rice and wheat are heavily overproduced, the country remains overly dependent on imports for essential pulses and edible oils. Moving forward, agricultural policy must aggressively incentivize crop diversification and pioneer dual-use land models, such as agri-photovoltaics, to sustainably multiply farmers' real incomes without placing additional strain on the exchequer. Background Historically, India's agricultural strategy heavily favored cereal production through assured procurement and massive input subsidies covering power, water, and fertilizers , which successfully eliminated food scarcity but created immense ecological and economic imbalances in Green Revolution states. Under the current administration, national agricultural growth has been stabilized, supported by a significant expansion in irrigation—now covering nearly 60 percent of the gross cropped area—and risk mitigation via the PM Fasal Bima Yojana . However, the ultimate policy goal of doubling farmers' real incomes remains unfulfilled. The traditional approach of diversifying into high-value perishables dairy, horticulture is…