A new paradigm for Indian agriculture. From agroindustry to agroecology

The importance of agriculture in an economy usually declines as it climbs the development ladder. Raising agriculture productivity has been known to be an important precursor. Labour productivity in agriculture can either be increased by higher land productivity or higher land availability per farmer and mechanisation. In India, however, the dramatic increase in land productivity through industrial farming has caused severe environmental damage and did not boost agricultural labour productivity. Going ahead, India faces the challenges of both increasing farm productivity and increasing sustainability and resilience to climate change. These policy goals have the potential of creating a trade-off for policymakers. By showing that India's path of structural transformation is unsustainable, this paper calls for a new paradigm in Indian agriculture through the adoption of agroecological principles at scale.